Work Text:
“I’m still not convinced Bakugou.” Todoroki trudged behind him nervously.
“And yet, here you are,” The blond rolled his eyes and kept pulling Todoroki off the path through the darkened grass. His plan was perfect. He’d doubled back when Todoroki went to buy a mask to buy one of his own, and they were going to beat their classmates to the firework watching field. Hopefully they would get a better spot, but the most important thing would be they were lost in the crowd and totally unidentifiable if they kept their masks on. The mask was perfect for hiding Todoroki’s telltale hair. He wasn’t trying to get IcyHot alone, per se. Just away from everyone else.
It was the glowing lanterns around them, the way the light hit Bakugou, they did funny things to Todoroki’s head. Like convince him to run off with the blonde when their group would surely notice their absence. The Bakusquad alone would notice immediately. Yes, this was the kind of thing that went against their loose ‘do not speak about this mutual attraction to anyone, not even ourselves’ agreement. Directly against it in fact. One sparring match too late was all it had taken to push them over that dangerous edge. They’d not spoken or looked at each other for three days after that particularly heated moment. They were in a precarious teenage situation. It was extremely important that this class outing to the Tanabata festival not resemble any kind of date, or even so much as hint that the two of them got along any better than they ever had from the beginning. Todoroki was sure he already had been pushing his luck.
It was a shame really. Even though he was wearing all black as always, Bakugou looked unusually relaxed that evening and Todoroki had found himself powerless to stop himself from looking more than he should. He’d caught Bakugou’s eye by the takoyaki and gotten an all too quick, shockingly sweet smile. It had made him jumpy all afternoon.
“Would you hurry up please?” Bakugou’s warm hand against his cool one tugged harder without looking back.
“I can’t, unlike some jerks, I’m dressed nicely.” He replied, but with no real bite. He was kind of overdressed compared to everyone, save Momo. He had first eyed Bakugou’s Nike sandals reproachfully, but now they seemed enviable.
“The whole point was ditch them, and now they’re just gonna see us.” He complained. “We should just go back.”
“What about your great spot? The point was to see the fireworks anyway.” Todoroki stopped, avoiding a tree root under his sandal. “I want to see them. I don’t particularly care where.”
Bakugou bristled. “MY POINT-” He took a breath. “It’s not a spot, it’s the fucking river, you can see them anywhere without fucking trees.”
“You lied about the spot?”
“No I didn’t lie, -”
“You wanted to ditch them.” Todoroki finished breathlessly. His throat was suddenly having an issue expanding.
“Just… a little.” Bakugou’s face had an unplaceable expression sliding across it. It looked like discomfort, or the look before someone sneezed.
“Okay then.” Todoroki tried to keep his smile under control, thankful for the red lights around them. They might make Bakugou look better than normal but they also helped him not look so stupidly embarrassed, and that was priceless at this point. His hand was probably sweatier than Bakugou’s.
“Okay then, what?”
“Then let’s go. And ditch them.” Todoroki nodded. He wasn’t about to take off his shoes or pull his clothes up, but he’d make a suitable effort. Just for this.
Bakugou pulled his mask on and smiled back at him. He squeezed his hand a little bit tighter. “Ok then.”