Work Text:
The weather today in Sh--
And it’s a home run-
Buy now for onl-
Katsuki groans from where he sits on the couch, clicks the TV off, and hangs his head over the backrest, eyes bored as he stares at the ceiling. He had just finished his first semester at UA, having written his last exam a couple of days ago. Now he sits at home, bored out of his mind, killing time until the summer training camp that was being organized for the first years. The week long break allows him to sleep in as much as he wants, but there isn’t much to do at home. Homework and assignments were one thing, but at least he got to train and use his quirk during hero training classes. Groaning again, Katsuki rolls his head to look to his left, eyes landing on the phone he had abandoned when he first sat down on the couch.
Reaching over and grabbing his phone, he unlocks it to thumb through to his conversations. He’s about to open his most recent text message when his parents come through the door.
“Katsuki! We’re home! I bought ingredients for hiyashi chuka tonight so get ready to help me in the kitchen in a bit.”
Katsuki hears the rustle of grocery bags, and grunts in response as his mom walks past the couch and into the kitchen.
“Oh Katsuki, you have a letter here,” His dad says as he neatly lines up the shoes, “from a place called I-Island?”
Katsuki sits up to face his dad, interest peaked at the name. His dad comes by behind the couch and hands him the letter before retreating to upstairs.
It’s a plain white envelope addressed to Katsuki, with the logo for “I-Island” printed into the upper corner. Brows furrowed, he carefully opens the envelope and pulls out the letter. Katsuki’s heard of I-Island before, the giant artificial island that houses scientists from all over the world to pool their knowledge and resources into quirk and hero item research.
“Dear Bakugou Katsuki,
I-Island will be holding it’s very first exhibition, I-Expo, this weekend to showcase the latest discoveries in quirk and hero item research. We are extending an invitation for you to attend the exhibition before the general public, as congratulations for placing first amongst the first years at UA’s Sports Festival this year. Travel and accommodations will be provided and you are welcome to bring a guest. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at the address, e-mail or phone number below. We look forward to having one of UA’s most promising students attend.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”
Katsuki crumples up the letter and chucks it across the room, barely avoiding burning it with the crackling from his palms, his anger flaring as memories of the Sports Festival come back. That final match was bullshit. Memories of him yelling at fucking Half and Half to use his fire against him, watching him hesitate, and consequently knocking him out of bounds flash in his mind. He’s seething on the couch, fists clenched and palms smoking when his mom speaks up.
“You should bring that cute redhead with you. The one you study with all the time. Kirishima, was it?”
“What the fuck?”
Katsuki whips his head towards his mom, momentarily snapped out from his anger, not quite comprehending the bullshit spewing from her mouth. His mom is holding the letter from I-Island, having smoothed it out and read it herself.
“What the fuck did I tell you about swearing in this house you damn brat!”
“Mind your own damn business you old hag!”
“Why you little-”
His dad comes down into the living room just as Katsuki is smacked upside the head.
“Hey hey what’s going on?” he asks, with that mediating tone his voice takes on whenever Katsuki and his mom fight. Which is often. Almost daily, actually.
“The little shit here got invited to attend some big fancy exhibition overseas, but he doesn’t want to go because he’s still bitter over the Sports Festival.”
“Yeah ‘cause the Sports Festival was absolute bullshit!”
Katsuki is standing now, fists clenched at his side as he glares at his mom. Being invited to I-Expo because he was “first” at the Sports Festival was just another blow to his pride. He opens his mouth to yell some more when he feels a hand land on his shoulder. He recognizes it’s his dads and the words escape him as he turns to look at him. His dad always had a calming effect on him, much like his effect on his mom. Katsuki didn’t like yelling at his dad, he was much too soft and timid to deserve such reactions from him.
“Katsuki, from what I looked up about I-Island just now, it sounds like a really good opportunity. I understand how you feel about the Sports Festival results, but refusing to attend will not change that.” His dad gives his shoulder a squeeze before walking over and grabbing the letter from Katsuki’s mom, offering it to him again, “So why not seize every chance you’re given, to help you become that #1 hero you’re aiming to be.”
Katsuki looks up from the letter to his dad, seeing the soft smile on his face and the gentle crinkle of his eyes. Katsuki furrows his brows and scrunches his nose before taking the letter into his hands. His parents have always believed in him and his dreams, cheering him on by his side in their own unique ways. Katsuki huffs a sigh, his shoulders relaxing as he looks at the letter again.
“Fine.”
“Okay great, I’m glad that’s settled. Now come into the kitchen and help me cook you brat.”
His dad huffs a laugh through his nose, and gives his mom an amused smile before ruffling Katsuki’s hair and returning to his office. His mom walks back into the kitchen as Katsuki picks up his phone again.
You
Hey you free this weekend?
Shitty Hair
yeah i am!! why what’s up?? (๑•̀ㅁ•́ฅ)ﻭ✧
Katsuki is just stepping off the escalator when he immediately spots the familiar bright red mop of hair. He took the train from Shizuoka to Narita, having told Kirishima to meet him at the terminal gate an hour before their departure to board the plane together. He has his bag hanging off his shoulder, a black duffle with orange straps and olive side pockets. His dad had bought it for him because it had a colour scheme similar his hero outfit, and even embroidered a small orange X onto one of the sides. His mom saw this and bought a little grenade keychain and attached it to his bag without his permission. Katsuki wasn't one for themed bags or cute keychains, his aesthetic primarily consisting of black, skulls, and more black, but he appreciated the sentiment. He did like the idea of merchandise being styled after his hero outfit for when we became the #1 hero though.
“Oi Shitty Hair,” Katsuki barks in greeting, plopping down onto the seat beside the redhead. He sets his bag down at his feet, rolling his neck and shoulders to release some tension in his muscles. Their hero outfits were being mailed to their hotel and since they were only going for the weekend, Katsuki packed fairly light, bringing only what was necessary for the trip. But of course his mom had loaded his bags with unnecessary shit, claiming they were various gifts she wanted to give to Kirishima since she had promised him some things the last time he had visited their house.
It annoyed him how well they got along, chatting up a storm the first time Kirishima had come over after they had gone to the arcade together. It was a day sometime after the Sports Festival, the boy approaching him more and more, asking to hangout or have lunch together. Out of all the idiots in his class, Katsuki supposed the redhead wasn't the worst person to spend his free time with.
“Hey Blasty!” Kirishima exclaims, his bright grin showing off his sharp teeth as he pulls out his earbuds from his ears. Hot pink, Katsuki notes, God why.
Kirishima is wearing his hair down today, tied back at the nape of his neck in a short ponytail, pieces the hair tie couldn't contain framing his face. He's donning a camouflage canvas jacket on top of a colourful geometric band t-shirt and cargo shorts, bright orange Crocs adorning his feet. With the addition of his maroon suitcase and hot pink earphones, Katsuki questions why he still found it all so... endearing?
“How was your train ride down? How're your parents doing?”
There's that blinding smile again.
Katsuki snaps his eyes away from the tiny ponytail and starts rummaging through his bag, occupying his hands to distract himself from the fact that he caught himself staring.
“Fine. Mom has a bunch of shit she wants to give you.”
Katsuki hears a gasp from beside him and looks over to see the fuckers eyes are practically shining.
“Your mom didn't have to!”
Despite saying that, Kirishima is sitting there hands in his lap, excitable energy barely contained as he awaits the gifts. It's not visible, but there's definitely a tail wagging behind the redhead.
Just like a puppy.
The comparison brings a small smirk to his face but Katsuki shakes his head to get rid of those thoughts, and hands over the first of many gifts to the boy.
“Oh wow she remembered! Tell her I say thanks!”
It's a small bag of sweets, a unique sweet and sour kind that doesn’t seem to be available in Kirishima’s area. He had it for the first time at the Bakugou household and absolutely loved it. His mom proceeded to promise to buy him some and clearly did not forget.
“Aw it’s so yummy thanks Blasty for bringing it for me!”
Katsuki watches the redhead happily chew on the sweets, the boy swaying side to side a bit with glee. Honestly he can see why his mom got along so well with him. Who wouldn’t? The fucker was literal sunshine contained in a body full of opposing images that just held your attention. A hard body with a soft heart. Sharp teeth with the sweetest of smiles. And a laugh full of joy that could brighten up anyone’s day. So no, he couldn’t fault his mom for taking such a liking to him as she did.
Katsuki rips his eyes away from the boy again, cheeks just flushed, angry that he caught himself staring again.
“Yeah well that’s not all of it Shitty Hair, she shoved so much crap into my bag just fucking take it.”
Katsuki is pulling out a variety of things now, from cute stationery to hair clips, more snacks to a small red gear keychain. He groans internally at the last one, seeing what his mom was trying to do.
“Oh wow! She remembered a lot! Definitely tell her I say thanks for everything!”
“Tell her your fucking self asshole.”
Kirishima sits stunned silent beside him, eyes slightly wide as he looks at him. What the fuck now?
The redhead seems to snap out of whatever the fuck that was, grinning at him as he rubs the back of his neck, looking sheepish.
“Yeah I guess I’ll definitely do that the next time I come over then.”
Katsuki notes the light flush on the boy’s cheeks but rolls his eyes and grunts in response. Idiot.
As Katsuki is zipping his duffle bag back up, he hears Kirishima coo beside him.
“This gear keychain is so manly! I’m definitely putting it on my bag right now.”
Kirishima is fiddling with the keychain when Katsuki see the boys eyes dart over to his own black duffle bag.
“Hey that’s a cool grenade keychain! I wonder if your mom bought these two together.”
Katsuki feels his eyebrow tick in annoyance, knowing that’s exactly what his mom did. Damn hag. What does she think she’s trying to do?
Kirishima already has the small red gear hanging from his duffle bag at this point, and is holding it up to Katsuki to see. “Super manly right?”
The boy is peeking out from behind his bag, the grin on his face at max intensity.
Cute.
Before Katsuki can respond, an announcement is made over the speakers indicating that passengers should start lining up for their specific zones. Hearing this, the boys pack up their things, disposing of any garbage they had into their respective receptacles before lining up.
They shuffled onto the plane in relative silence, settling into their seats and preparing for the flight ahead of them. I-Island wasn’t too far from Japan but it was still a two and a half hour flight. Katsuki shuffled around until he was comfortable, breathing out a long sigh as he closed his eyes.
An overseas trip to an island for the weekend. Just the two of them. God why did he think this was a good idea.
Oh. Right.
“So you’re bringing Kirishima with you right?” His mom casually brings up again as she’s preparing ingredients for dinner that night. They were having hiyashi chuka, a cold ramen dish to help cool off from the summer heat. Katsuki was chopping up vegetables and nearly stabbed the knife into the cutting board when he heard this.
“What is with you and constantly bringing up Shitty Hair?”
“I like him! He’s a sweet, polite and cute boy! Besides he’s the first friend you’ve brought over in years. In fact maybe the first ever now that I think about it…”
Mom trails off in silence, probably trying to recall any other times that Katsuki has brought a friend over.
He hasn’t. He’s never had a friend over before. He always played outside as a child, meeting up with other neighborhood kids to play there instead. Shitty Hair was the first. But that wasn’t any reason for his mom to make a big deal out of it.
“Anyway, he’s your plus one right? Who else would it be?”
Katsuki contemplates that for a moment. She’s not entirely wrong... There isn’t anyone else he could think of that he could tolerate bringing to something like this. Sharing a room and basically spending all of their time together for two whole days.
Shitty Hair isn’t the worst to have around.
“None of your damn business witch,” he grumbles, resuming to chopping the vegetables.
Katsuki receives a smack upside the head for that but the conversation dies, the both of them continuing with dinner prep in relative silence.
Mom has seen him interact with the redhead plenty of times now. First at the Sports Festival, when it was broadcasted on TV stations all over Japan. His parents had been watching from home, cheering him on as he successfully moved on to the final stages. Katsuki was in the worst of moods when he returned home that night. He guessed their tactic to calm him down that night was to distract him. He remembers his mom asking about the cute muscular redhead that he was riding in the Cavalry Battle, a very obvious teasing tone to her voice. Katsuki was momentarily shocked embarrassed out of his anger, throwing insults at his mom to shut the fuck up. Mom ended up just laughing herself to tears while Dad tried to mediate.
The second was when Shitty Hair came over for dinner after their afternoon spent at the arcade. It was something the redhead suggested to celebrate the both of them receiving internships, Katsuki with Best Jeanist and Kirishima with Fourth Kind. They were actually having a lot of fun until some dumb extras showed up and invited themselves to hang out with them. It wasn’t the worst, since Team Bakugou (which consisted of himself, Shitty Hair and Pikachu) completely annihilated Team Nerds (which consisted of the Shitty Nerd, Half and Half and Glasses) in an impromptu tournament style set of arcade games.
Katsuki had texted his parents prior to bringing Kirishima over for dinner so they weren’t surprised that Katsuki had a friend. No they were surprised at how nice he was. His mom couldn’t get over how polite he was and kept asking if he was sure he wanted to be friends with their ingrate of a son. Shitty Hair just laughed it off, assuring them that he did indeed like the blonde and enjoyed spending time with him. His mom subtly raised an eyebrow at that, giving his dad a significant look before continuing the conversation. Katsuki had eaten dinner in relative silence, watching his parents interact with the redhead. At some point Shitty Hair had shown his mom the photobooth pictures they had taken at the arcade, groaning in annoyance when he just knew what he’d be hearing about from his mom for days.
“Oh aren’t you two just adorable!”
The fucker had the audacity to look embarrassed, his cheeks a soft rose as he sheepishly rubbed the back of neck. From his side of the table he could feel the smirk his mom was giving him and resolutely ignored it, silently getting up from the table and started to clear the plates.
The following times were various study sessions, the two of them preparing for the final exams at the end of the semester. They initially studied at his house but his mom would never shut up so they moved to the library instead for their next study session. That was their first and last study session in the library however, apparently he was being “too loud”. They ended up having the remainder of their study sessions in a café not too far off from UA. It provided large tables and accepted the volume of Katsuki’s tutoring methods. The café also served food and beverages so the two would often split something to tide them over for dinner.
Katsuki knew his mom knew. She knew him better than he probably knew himself.
That didn’t mean she had to constantly bring it up.
Katsuki slowly opened his eyes when he felt the rumbling of the plane beneath him. He turned his head to look at the redhead beside him, having given him the window seat since it looked like the boy was itching for it when they were boarding.
The redhead was currently smooshed against the window, hands on either side of the glass, his eyes intently watching the painted lines on the asphalt rapidly pass by as the plane prepared for take off.
Katsuki vaguely remembers him saying he rarely gets to fly in airplanes, that his family didn’t have many opportunities to travel with such a big family. Shitty Hair had profusely thanked him for bringing him along as his plus one, asking him if he was sure that he didn’t want to bring someone else. Katsuki had snapped at him then, telling him he would just go alone if the redhead didn’t shut up about it.
The plane had taken off from the ground, gently shaking its passengers as it ascended in altitude above the clouds. Kirishima was still glued to the window, his eyes wide with a small awed smile on his face, watching the clouds float by.
Katsuki allowed himself that moment to just take the boy in. The sparkle in those crimson eyes. How impossibly cute he looked with his small ponytail. His absolutely horrendous sense of fashion.
Yeah, you’re not the worst to have around.
The time spent on the plane flew by fairly quickly, Kirishima occupying most of that time with random spurts of conversation about everything and anything. Katsuki spent most of that time listening, supplying the boy with responses where he deemed necessary. This was normal for them, Kirishima carrying the conversation while Katsuki gave his input here and there. It was a comfortable routine the two had fallen into over the months spent together, an unspoken familiarity that they had established in their friendship.
They landed shortly after and were shuttled to their hotel, listening to their guide talk about the various attractions that I-Island had to offer. They checked in with no problems and things were going fairly well.
Until they opened their hotel room door that is.
“What the fuck is this?!”
Katsuki stomped into their shared room, throwing his duffle bag by the door as he looked around the room. The decorations were definitely a choice. The walls were decorated with a teal argyle wallpaper, the closet doors painted teal, pink and purple with the ugliest handles he’s ever seen. The worst part? There was only one bed. What kind of cliché was he living right now?! To make things even worse, the bed fit the aesthetic of the room, with purple and pink sheets and roses painted onto the headboard.
“Wow this place is nice!”
Katsuki whips his head around to stare at Kirishima incredulously. Of course the fucker thought this place was nice. Just looking at him in his overly clashing outfit with the hideous room as his backdrop was hurting Katsuki’s eyes. He watches the redhead fully enter the room, turning this way and that to take in all in.
“Oh. There’s only one bed.”
“No shit dumbass.”
Kirishima’s giving him a look of concern, his brows furrowed and his bottom lip jutting out in the slightest of pouts.
“We can go to front desk to try and get this resolved? I don’t mind sleeping on the floor or sharing a bed but you very obviously do not like this.”
Kirishima’s looking at him now, his eyebrows upturned, with the expression he usually wears when he’s trying to calm the explosive boy down.
Katsuki groans and buries his face with hands, taking a seat on the bed so he can lean his elbows on his knees.
“It’s fucking fine Shitty Hair,” he mumbles past his hands, “it’d be too much of a hassle now to change rooms.”
“Are you sure? I can go dow-”
“I fucking said it’s fine didn’t I?! Now unpack your shit I want go to check out the exhibition.”
Katsuki hears Kirishima hesitate for a few seconds before mumbling a quiet “If you say so…” before unzipping his suitcase to unpack his things. The blonde still sat with his face in his hands, furiously willing the blush to leave his damn face already.
It’s just one night. In one bed. With Shitty Hair.
Calm the fuck down.
They had unpacked their bags with few interruptions, probably because they were both itching to get into their hero costumes and see what the exhibition had to offer. The first thing that Kirishima did was style his hair, Katsuki glancing over from time to time to watch the process. He’s never seen his hair undergo the daily transformation so it was fascinating to witness. He’d miss the soft unstyled locks though.
The redhead started to strip off his clothes, making Katsuki avert his eyes and focus on putting his own costume on. Katsuki wasn’t uncomfortable with changing in front of the other, having done this almost daily back at the UA changing rooms. It just felt different in this room. The blonde snuck a peak over his shoulder at the redhead, eyeing the well defined muscles of the boy’s back. Katsuki could appreciate the effort Kirishima put into maintaining his physique, and with how the other designed his hero costume, he had plenty of opportunities to do as such.
“Hey what did you want to check out first?”
Katsuki whipped his head back around, tugging on his gauntlets a bit harder than necessary.
“The hero support item display floor. I want to see if I can get ideas on how to improve my gauntlets.”
If the redhead noticed the tightness to Katsuki’s voice, he didn’t comment on it.
“Okay cool! I wanted to do the same, see if there’s a material I could use to cover my arms or something.”
They gathered their things, bringing only what they needed for the day before locking up. Kirishima walked ahead of him as they made their way to the exhibition, chattering away about all the things he wanted to do that day.
From behind him, Katsuki wore a small soft smile, hidden away from the others view as he listened to him talk. Sure the hotel room was most definitely a test from the gods but at least there was no one else here that they knew to potentially witness his embarrassed fumbling around the other boy.
Finally stepping out into the sun and past the entrance gates of I-Expo, they gave each other mirroring grins before setting out to see what this place had in store.
I-Island is all about allowing people to use their quirks for various attractions and displays, using support items to best utilize their powers. There were galleries, museums, shows and a variety of things to see and do to occupy the boys’ time. There were even people with food related quirks, similar to the one Lunch Rush has. They spend a bit over an hour for lunch, stealing bites from the each other’s food.
“I just wanted to try a bit!” Kirishima had said with a laugh as he ran away dodging explosions from Katsuki, all the while chewing on the piece of crepe he had stolen.
Later when Kirishima sees that he is missing a piece of his steak, Katsuki could only claim that it was equivalent exchange.
With a pout, Kirishima proposed a truce and an agreement to just share everything because running away dodging explosions to the face was not sitting well for his stomach and all the food he had just eaten.
Katsuki rolled his eyes but offered over his drink nonetheless, ignoring the way how happy Kirishima sounded when he thanked him before taking a sip from the straw.
Shitty Hair didn’t need to know that Katsuki offered his drink with an ulterior motive. He listened as the redhead animatedly recounted the show they had just watched, pulling the straw between his lips to take his own sip. He didn’t need to know.
Some time after lunch, having let the food settle in their stomachs, the two decided to take on some challenges that the exhibition had located throughout the island. They blew through various challenges, mostly physical-based courses that played well into their quirks. The last of the challenges was a large artificial mountain structure located in the middle of the park. There was a large screen displaying various names and times at the front of the gate. Having watched a couple of attempts from other attendees, the two had devised their own strategies for the challenge. Robots randomly popped up in the mountain range and the goal was to destroy them all as quick as possible. Simple enough.
Kirishima took his turn first, activating his quirk as he stood at the starting launch pad. With a clash of his fists, the hardening of his skin rippled along his arms, he stood in that classic stance of his.
“Bring it on!”
Given the cue to begin, Kirishima jumped and attacked at the various robots, smashing them with his arms or straight up barreling through them with his entire hardened body. Katsuki watches with a nearly feral grin on his face, tracking the boys movements with his eyes to better strategize for when he went up next. Seeing the redhead’s confidence practically roll off of him in waves always spurred a competitiveness in him.
“Cleared in thirty three seconds! Rank eighth!”
They high five as Kirishima steps off and as Katsuki steps onto the stage.
As soon as he’s given the go, Katsuki propels himself with his explosions, very carefully aiming himself at every robot to best utilize his momentum, all the while grinning like a manic fool.
“Die!” he yells for the last one, his grin splitting his face in two. It’s obvious he’s having a lot of fun. He was bored restless at home so it’s nice that he gets to expel some excess energy.
“This is great! Cleared in 15 seconds! First rank!”
Katsuki looks to Kirishima, the redhead giving him a wide grin as he clutches his right bicep with his left hand, his right clenched in a fist. The classic “You're so manly!” pose he often receives from the other. Katsuki then looks to the scoreboard on the screen, feeling his pride swell when he sees his name appear beside the #1 rank.
“Isn’t that Midoriya?” he hears Kirishima ask, his eyebrow twitching at just the mention of the shitty nerds name.
He turns to look up at the spectator floor; there he spots Earphones, some blonde girl he doesn’t recognize, Round Face, Ponytail, fucking Deku and Glasses.
Are you fucking kidding me?! It’s the arcade all over again.
Katsuki propels himself up onto the spectator floor, grabbing onto the railing in front of Deku, snarling viciously in his face.
“Why are you here?!”
Katsuki had believed he was the only one invited from UA and had been really looking forward to spending the weekend with Kirishima, just the two of them to do whatever the fuck they wanted without worrying about annoying extras getting in their way. Now he sees that a bunch of side characters have shown up and ruined everything. Again.
“Stop it Kacchan, lots of people are watching,” Deku says as he takes a step back, both hands held up in front of him, trying to calm him down as if he were a wild animal.
“So what?!” Katsuki screams even louder, not paying any mind to the various onlookers he has attracted.
Deku steps back further, cowling behind both of his arms as Glasses runs in and stands between the two, with both of his arms up.
“Stop it Bakugou-kun!” Glasses shouts, holding his position between Katsuki and Deku.
“I have no business with you!” Katsuki yells as he continues to thrash wildly while holding on to the railings.
“The position of class president applies everywhere!”
Meanwhile, Momo walks over to the railing and leans over the side to speak to Kirishima who was still down below on the challenge grounds.
“Kirishima-san did you receive an invitation to I-Expo as well?”
Kirishima turns to address Momo, peeling his eyes away from where Bakugou is yelling at Iida and Midoriya.
“No, only the winner of the UA Sports Festival, Bakugou, received the invitation,” he answers, jabbing a thumb at himself as he grins, “he brought me along as his plus one!” The redhead turns again to thumb at the challenge stage next, “Did you guys want to try it?”
Katsuki turns to yell at Kirishima, his anger flaring the more time he has to spend with these extras.
“There is no point in trying! None of these idiots can beat my rank!”
“Yeah, that’s right, yes,” Deku agrees, simply saying anything to placate the explosive boy.
“But, if we haven’t tried it, we won’t know, right?” chimes in Round Face, her chin in her hand as she looks at Deku.
“Yeah, that’s right, yes,” Deku agrees once more, “...wait.” His round green eyes widen when he realizes what he just said.
Katsuki propels himself over the railing and storms toward Deku, invading the curly haired boy’s personal space and getting up in his face.
“Okay then, show us your pathetic rank, Shitty Nerd,” he spits.
“Okay..!”
Katsuki stands beside Kirishima and leans against the railing, his back to the challenge ground. He watches over his shoulder, attempting to give off an air of nonchalance. He really didn’t care for what the Shitty Nerd could do, he knew there was no way we could beat his score anyway. His eyes track Deku’s movements, tutting in annoyance when he realizes the shitstain basically copied his moves.
“Wow Midoriya is doing really well!” exclaims the redhead from beside him, which only fans his anger hotter.
The MC announces that Deku took sixteen seconds to complete the challenge, ranking him second, one below Katsuki. It annoys him how closely the Shitty Nerd scores to him, but at least everyone knew that Katsuki was better than him.
Katsuki looks over to the redhead beside him, who’s giving him a sheepish grin as he rubs the back of his neck.
“I didn’t get to say it earlier, but you did amazingly Blasty! Super manly!”
Seeing that bright grin directed at him made things slightly better. Only slightly. Having these extras around really ruined his mood. Distantly he hears Round Face and Glasses clamber around Deku, giving him praise for his run on the challenge grounds.
“I still beat you Shitty Nerd!”
At that moment a rumbling is heard on the challenge grounds, drawing Katsuki’s attention away from the trio to see the entire mountain structure has frozen over. Half and Half was crouching on the ground, his right hand the source of where his ice had spiraled outward.
“That’s so cool! Fourteen seconds! He immediately topped the rank!” Katsuki hears, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance. More damn extras?!
Katsuki has reached his breaking point, his limited tolerance for these shitstains crumbling as he propels himself down to Half and Half, yelling in his face and challenging him once more. As if he’d be bested by this loser! Distantly he hears the MC’s trembling voice behind him, telling him that there was another challenger up next. Katsuki predictably yells in her face to shut up and that he was going to be next again.
In reaction to Katsuki’s outburst, Iida bursts into the scene, arms swinging in perfect right angles as he yells, “Don’t bring shame upon UA!”
Deku and Kirishima follow shortly afterwards, all pooling their efforts in calming the explosive boy down. Distantly he feels a pair of arms wrap around his torso, holding him back against a strong chest as he thrashes and tries to escape them to attack Half and Half.
This fucker thinks he can just beat me like that?!
It takes a while, but eventually Katsuki calms down and is left to stew in his annoyed silence off to the side as Kirishima converses with their classmates. Sometimes he hated how friendly Kirishima was, always wanting to talk to other people, being nice and shit.
Katsuki curses under breath, shaking his head of the thought. He was being selfish and possessive. Yes, Kirishima was his friend. But Katsuki wasn’t Kirishima’s only friend. Besides, his friendliness is probably what brought them together in the first place. As much as he hated it in that moment, it was one of the qualities Katsuki admired most about the boy.
The redhead walks over to him, a gentle smile on his face, “Hey let’s head back?”
The sun was starting to set below the horizon, casting a warm glow of orange and yellow hues on the redhead’s hair. It made him look warm, inviting, as he expectantly looked to Katsuki for his answer.
“Yeah let’s go Shitty Hair.”
Katsuki was exhausted.
He spent all day running around I-Expo with Kirishima, and with the unexpected appearance of those damn extras, he really didn't have the energy to do anything else besides lounge around for the rest of the night. He was really looking forward to a relaxing evening in with the other boy.
He had showered and changed out of his hero costume first, donning his usual lounge wear that consisted of his favourite black skull t-shirt and black sweatpants. He was currently lying down on their shared bed, taking up as much space as possible as he stared up at the ceiling, listening to the redhead shuffle around the room.
“Today was a lot of fun huh?” he hears Kirishima say as the boy sifts through his suitcase.
Katsuki closes his eyes for a moment, recounting all the things that they did that day. It really was a lot of fun. Looking at hero support items, gaining inspiration for their own costumes, talking to pro heroes and receiving advice, watching some spectacular shows, eating lunch together and absolutely destroying the exhibition games.
Sounds like you had a fun date, a voice in his head supplies, that annoyingly sounded a lot like his mom.
Katsuki frowns, ignoring how warm his face felt, desperately hoping Kirishima wasn't looking at him at that moment.
It did feel like a date though, just at a hero themed amusement park if you wanted to look at it that way.
Katsuki could only grunt in agreement, certain the other boy understood him anyway.
An image of them sharing drinks pops into his mind, which only causes him to flush further.
Indirect kiss.
Katsuki groans and flops over onto his stomach, burrowing his face into the pillows to get his face to cool down.
This is stupid. You're being stupid.
Behind him he hears Kirishima list his favourite activities from the day: the shows, the games and lunch. The redhead goes into detail for each one, giving Katsuki a moment to calm the fuck down.
The blonde rolls over onto his back, resuming to stare up at the ceiling as he listens to the boy chatter away. There was a quality to the redheads voice that always caught his attention. He liked listening to the different tones and emotions the other seemed to weave into every word, in tune to the redheads moods.
Katsuki took pride in believing he was the only one who could truly read Kirishima, often seeing through the cheery façade the boy sometimes put on for the class.
“Crazy coincidence running into our classmates though huh?” he hears him say, amusement lacing his words. Katsuki's eyebrow twitches, annoyance spiking again as he recalls the memory.
“Fucking ruined my mood. I was having a perfectly good day with you alone until they showed up.”
There's no immediate response from the other boy which causes Katsuki to sit up on his elbows to see why the redhead fell silent.
Kirishima was holding his shoulder gears, frozen in place as he stares at the ground. His cheeks looked a little pink but Katsuki couldn't be sure.
“Shitty Hair?”
The redhead jolts out his stupor, nearly dropping his shoulder gears as he recollects himself.
“Ah my bad Blasty,” Kirishima says, a slight nervous chuckle to his voice, “I kind of zoned out there.”
Katsuki gives him an odd look, raising an eyebrow at his behaviour as the redhead resumes what he was doing. The blonde stares at him for a moment longer before shrugging and plopping back down onto the bed, fingers laced behind his head.
“What do you want to do for dinner?” Katsuki asks, “I was thinking we could order room service and stay in for the night.”
“Actually… I was hoping we could go to the banquet together.”
Katsuki groans from his position on the bed. He remembers seeing the banquet tickets alongside his invitation letter to I-Expo but didn't give it much attention because he had absolutely no interest in attending.
“Who wants to go to some party? Listening to strangers give speeches and clapping for them is a waste of time.”
“We can eat as much as we want there!”
Katsuki sighs, hearing the eagerness in the others voice. It sounded like he really wanted to go.
“Besides, I didn't bring any formal clothes with me.”
He hears a small triumphant noise from Kirishima, turning his head to see what has the boy so happy.
“I knew you'd say that!”
Kirishima holds up two formal outfits; a dark red dress shirt underneath a grey vest with white roses embroidered onto the back and a black dress shirt underneath a charcoal jacket, with a matching dark red tie and pocket square.
“So I got this for you!”
Katsuki stares incredulously at the redhead. Did he seriously get them matching formal outfits? Does he not see the implications this has?!
“You’re way too prepared Shitty Hair!” Katsuki yells, his cheeks a furious red as he watches Kirishima just grin even wider.
“I really wanted to go to the banquet with you so I made sure I prepared everything just in case,” he casually explains, gently placing the dark red dress shirt and vest ensemble beside him on the bed. “I hope it fits.. I think it’ll look really good on you,” his says, voice trailing near the end.
Kirishima gives him a soft smile before he turns away to hang his own attire on the closet handles. Face burning, Katsuki ducks his head and busies himself with examining the embellishments, hoping the other doesn’t notice just how red his face was. The blonde runs his fingers over the material, feeling the texture change from soft twill to silky embroidery. He had to admit, these outfits did look really good. He’s surprised that someone with such terrible fashion sense was even able to coordinate these outfits.
With his back turned to the blonde, Katsuki didn’t notice that Kirishima's face was just as red as his hair. “... So what do you think?” he hears the redhead ask, a timid yet hopeful tone to his voice.
Kirishima clearly put a lot of time and thought into preparing this, not to mention how much these must've cost. He really didn't want to go to the banquet, but hearing how hopeful the boy sounded was tugging at his heartstrings.
“Fine. We can go to the stupid banquet,” Katsuki grumbles, face still downcast as he desperately tries to hide his red face.
The other boy whips around, his eyes practically sparkling, “Great! I’ll go get ready!”
Katsuki watches as he hurriedly gathers his things, bringing his outfit and other toiletries with him into the washroom. He hears the soft click of the lock and shortly after the sound of running water.
Groaning, he flops back onto the bed, scrubbing his burning face with his hands.
Katsuki could not deny that he didn’t want to see them in matching outfits.
This is going to be a long night.
It didn’t take long for Kirishima to reappear from the bathroom, dressed in his two piece suit, hair gelled into those dumb spikes.
Holy shit. What the fuck.
“Yo! Looking manly Blasty!” he cheers as Katsuki turns away to re-adjust his tie in the mirror.
Honestly what the fuck Shitty Hair. The boy looked way too good.
Coughing, Katsuki refocuses on his reflection in the mirror. The blonde very rarely wore ties, having opted out of wearing his UA school uniform tie. He didn’t like having material constrict his neck but considering the tie was part of the ensemble that Kirishima prepared for him, he figured he could tolerate it for the night.
The redhead popped up beside him in the mirror, giving him his megawatt smile as he looked him over in the mirror, “I’m glad it fits! I was worried it wouldn’t.”
In fact it fit perfectly. Katsuki didn’t understand how but figured he must’ve asked his mom or something. There wasn’t really any other explanation for it.
Katsuki grunted in response, giving him a small nod before noticing something askew in the mirror. Turning around, he gives the redhead a scowl.
“Shitty Hair do you not know how to tie a tie?!”
Startled, Kirishima peeks down at his tie as best as he could from his angle, chuckling and rubbing the back of his neck when he looks back up at the blonde, “Haha yeah my uniform tie was tied once by my mom before our first day at school and I haven’t untied it since…”
Katsuki lets out an exasperated sigh, reaching for the boy’s tie, “Come here dumbass, I’m not going out in public with you looking like this.”
Katsuki makes quick work of Kirishima’s tie, undoing it completely before retying it for him. He did not think about how close he was to the redhead, how hard his heart was thumping in his chest. Nope. Not at all.
Once he was done, he gave the tie one final tug before stepping back, “There you go Shitty Hair,” he grumbles, shifting his eyes up to look at the redhead.
Perfect.
Kirishima’s cheeks were tinted a soft pink, looking anywhere but at Katsuki, awkwardly scratching his cheek, “Ah thanks Blasty, I owe you one.”
Rolling his eyes, Katsuki turns back to the mirror to give himself one final check over, “You done? Let’s get this shit over with.”
Katsuki hears Kirishima clear his throat before the shuffling of his socked feet, “I also brought you dress shoes!” Turning around, he sees he actually did bring him dress shoes, a dark brown leather pair dangling from his hooked fingers.
“You’re way too prepared Shitty Hair!” he repeats, the redhead just chuckling in response.
“A hero has to be ready for every situation!”
Katsuki rolls his eyes again, shaking his head as he grabs the shoes from him. He makes his way to the door, throwing a look over his shoulder as he says, “Alright let’s fucking go already.”
The pair had been walking for a while but it didn’t look like they were anywhere near a banquet hall.
“Oi, are you absolutely sure this is the right way?” Katsuki demands, doubt clearly etched into his features as he follows the redhead, hands tucked into his pant pockets.
They had gone through various hallways, taken multiple flights of stairs and even an elevator at one point but considering Kirishima was the one that wanted to go to this dumb banquet, Katsuki figured he at least looked up how to get there.
“I think it is...”
“You think?!” Katsuki echoes angrily, face held in a fierce scowl.
“Ah, actually, I left my cell phone back in the room,” the redhead replies, rubbing the nape of his neck sheepishly, “did you bring yours?”
Katsuki grinds his teeth, glaring at the redhead, “No I didn’t hair for brains.”
There was only one person he wanted to talk to that night, so he saw no point in bringing it when the redhead would be with him anyway.
“Ah I guess we just gotta keep walking around until we find it?” the redhead shrugs, a carefree grin on his face.
Katsuki continues to glare but doesn’t protest further, silently following his lead.
If he was being honest, he didn’t mind getting lost with Kirishima. In fact, he prefers they spend the rest of the night like this: alone, with just the two of them. Getting lost together in this maze of a tower, having their own adventure away from the rest of the world, where the only person that mattered was the other.
He’d be okay with a night like this.
Besides, there was no one else around to catch him staring.
After wandering around for who knows how long, the pair stumble upon some sort of greenhouse floor. A sign just outside the doors had indicated it was the Plant Factory, where scientists studied the effect of quirks on plants. It was a fairly large room, the air damp and slightly warm, lush and vibrant greens everywhere you looked. The sound of rushing water could be heard towards one end of the room, feeding into a large stream network that ran throughout the room.
“Woah this place is huge! Look at all the plants! Awesome!” Kirishima exclaims, eyes shining as they dart around the room, looking at all the different trees and flowers.
Katsuki, now walking beside the redhead, rolls his eyes and scoffs, “Sure but this doesn’t compare to the view atop a mountain. That is a million times better.”
“Eh Bakugou, are you saying you’ll take me mountain climbing?” Kirishima jokes, nudging the blonde in his side.
“Even if I did take you, you wouldn’t make it to the top hair for brains!”
“What?! Yeah I would! I can prove it to you! Bring me next time!”
Expression deadpan, Katsuki just stares at the redhead, a single brow raised as if challenging him.
“Hey come on! I could totally do it,” Kirishima defends, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout.
How cute.
“Alright Shitty Hair, next holiday break.”
“Yes!” Kirishima cheers, grin splitting his face as he fist pumps the air, “I’ll prove it to you Blasty! Some mountain isn’t going to defeat me!”
Katsuki watches the other clash his fists in that signature pose of his, bringing an amused smirk to his face, “Yeah yeah hair for brains we’ll see.”
They had been walking for awhile, easy conversation flowing between the two, Kirishima gesturing wildly while he talked, Katsuki still with both hands in his pockets. They approach the center of the room, which appeared to house an elevator leading up the upper floors of the tower.
“Finally we found you, you damn kids!”
Seriously? Another interruption? What the fuck?!
“Ahh? What did you say?” Katsuki growls in frustration, his face set in a scowl, annoyed that their time alone was cut short. Again.
Out of the corner of his eye, Katsuki sees Kirishima throw him a worried glance but he’s too pissed off to address that right now.
They approach two men wearing black utility vests, one short and bulky with black hair, the other tall and lanky with green hair and mutton chops.
“What are you kids doing here?” the shorter one demands.
“That’s what I want to know,” Katsuki angrily defies, stepping towards the men, no doubt ready to start a fight.
Kirishima puts a hand to his shoulder, the other on his chest, “Ah Bakugou, leave this to me, okay?” placating the blonde with a smile. He turns towards the strangers, one hand on the back of his head, his other behind his waist as he sheepishly smiles at the men.
“Uhm we got lost, do you know where the party is?”
The two men share skeptic looks, not believing a single word. Who gets lost and end up on the 80th floor of a tower?
“I know you guys are lying!” the tall one yells before activating his quirk, his webbed hand growing in size and throwing something invisible, aimed directly at the redhead.
Katsuki reacts instantly, running towards the boy, “What is this quirk?” he says but it appears he’s too late when suddenly ice shoots up from the ground, blocking the attack and knocking Kirishima onto the ground.
He runs up beside the redhead, inspecting the ice, “This quirk is…” he starts, turning his head to the source.
“Todoroki?” Kirishima confirms, surprised to see the boy.
Half and Half tuts in annoyance as he crouches to the ground, his right hand on the floor and creates an ice platform that lifts everyone that they had seen earlier that day, with the addition of Grapes and Pikachu.
“We will buy you time, you find the way to the top!”
What the fuck were they here the whole time?!
Concern for Todoroki choruses throughout the group as they’re lifted towards the walkways on the upper floors.
“You’re all here too? What’s up Todoroki?” Kirishima asks as he runs up to the boy, confusion laced into his words.
“You didn’t hear the announcement? This tower has been taken over by villains!”
“Huh?!” “What did you say?!”
“I’ll explain the details later. Right now we have to take care of the villains…”
Kirishima and Katsuki return to their hotel room, absolutely exhausted and extremely hungry. They never ended up going to the banquet but instead fought off a group of villains alongside their classmates and All Might. It was definitely not how Katsuki imagined his night going.
Kicking off his shoes, he lies down onto the bed.
The redhead groans and flops onto the bed beside him, face buried into the pillows. “Mmshngg,” he groans, his words completely muffled against the sheets.
“What the fuck Shitty Hair.”
Kirishima turns his head to face the blonde, his entire face scrunched into a pout somehow.
“I’m so hungry…”
Katsuki huffs a laugh, “I can’t believe you’re still hungry after all that.”
“We didn’t get to eaat,” he drawls, his tiny brows scrunching into a grimace.
“I’ll order us some room service. Get changed out of your clothes, they’re completely destroyed.”
Kirishima hums in agreement, lazily rolling over onto his back before sitting up into a slouch, eyes practically closed as he starts to undress. His sleeves were completely ripped off, most likely a casualty from the use of the boy’s quirk.
Katsuki crawls on the bed to the phone placed on the bedside table, dialing the appropriate numbers for room service. Thankfully they were still open despite the late hours. He orders them food, mapo tofu for himself and a steak for Kirishima. They probably shouldn’t be eating such hearty meals right before bed but fuck it, after a night like that they damn well deserved it.
“I just ordered us food, you take the shower first.”
Kirishima quietly assents, giving the blonde a single nod before walking over to his set of drawers. He groggily grabs his pyjamas and shuffles his way into the bathroom, eyes still practically closed.
“Don’t fall asleep in there Shitty Hair!”
Katsuki only hears a weak grunt in response before flopping back onto the bed. With all the excitement of the night, he had completely forgotten the one thing: the single bed. He spares a glance to the closed washroom door and sighs.
It’s just sleep. Beside Kirishima. Who you have a crush on.
Groaning, embarrassed by his own thoughts, Katsuki sits up to distract himself. He turns the TV on, aimlessly flipping through channels to occupy the time.
A soft click is heard and Kirishima is stepping back into the room, his hair still slightly wet from his shower. He’s wearing a loose navy shirt and black basketball shorts, his towel wrapped around his shoulders. The redhead rubs at his eyes sleepily, blindly flopping onto the bed beside Katsuki and snuggling into the pillows, unaware of how close he was to the blondes thigh.
“Oi, I’m going to shower next, make sure you’re awake for when food arrives.”
Kirishima hums, eyes closed as he nods, giving Katsuki a thumbs up before snuggling further into the sheets.
Rolling his eyes, Katsuki makes his way into the washroom, his own sleep clothes in hand. When he steps back out moments later, he sees the tray of food had successfully made it into the room, but Kirishima is very obviously sprawled asleep on the bed.
“Oi Shitty Hair wake up! You’re the one that wanted to eat,” Katsuki scolds, nudging the redhead awake as he takes a seat beside the food.
He’s removing the lid off his mapo tofu when the other slinks into the chair beside him, eyes closed and lips pulled into a pout. He sleepily takes the lid off his own plate, murmuring a soft thanks before he starts eating.
Katsuki’s somewhat amazed as he watches the redhead eat with his eyes closed, maneuvering his fork and knife so easily despite not being able to see.
Hunger conquers all challenges it seems.
They both eat in relative silence, with the occasional clicking of cutlery filling the room. They finish shortly after that, clearing away their plates and shuffling into the bathroom to prepare for sleep.
Katsuki notices they both have cheap disposable toothbrushes; Kirishima probably goes through one every week with his set of teeth while Katsuki was just an aggressive toothbrusher. Like dinner, they brush their teeth and wash their faces in relative silence, too tired to expend extra energy talking.
Soon enough they’re standing on either side of the bed, Katsuki internally freaking out as he stares at his side of the bed.
Holy shit.
Kirishima, being as tired as he is, easily slips under the covers and snuggles up into the pillows, a soft sigh escaping his lips.
“Come to bed…” he mumbles, before immediately falling asleep, his breath slowing and his body relaxing.
What the fuck Shitty Hair?!
Katsuki can feel the heat down the back of his neck as he glares at his own pillow, as if willing it to magically combust into flames. Grinding his teeth, he slowly gets into bed, leaving ample space between the two of them. He clicks his bedside lamp off, shrouding the room in complete darkness.
He doesn’t know long he lays there awake, staring up at the ceiling as he listens to the slow even breathing from the boy beside him.
Just fucking sleep.
Katsuki rolls over to face the boy, his eyes having adjusted to the dark, to see that Kirishima is facing him too, mouth slightly ajar as drool pools on his pillow. Despite how gross that should be, the blonde finds it oddly… cute.
His eyes take in what little he can see in the dark; his red hair fanning against the pillow, how he’s practically kicked off all the blankets in his sleep.
Despite all the unexpected turn of events, Katsuki fully enjoyed his time together with the redhead. It's not often they get to spend a full day together, what with classes, homework, studying and their internships having taken up most of their time.
His hand is reaching out towards the redhead before he even realizes it, brushing away his bangs, cupping his cheek, thumb gently stroking underneath his eyes. Katsuki indulges himself in that short moment, putting the feel of the others soft smooth skin to memory before bringing his hand back to his chest.
Smiling softly to himself, he lets his eyes slowly drift close as exhaustion finally catches up to him.
You're not the worst to have around.