Chapter Text
Bakugo hadn’t gone to UA to make friends. He knew no one would like him, and he was fine with that. He didn’t like anyone. There wasn’t much point in getting attached to people who would just hold you back. In primary and middle school, his ‘friends’ were more like lesser members of his pack. He was always the alpha.
He honestly hadn’t expected someone to try and befriend him, and he hadn’t expected that he would start to grow fond of another human being (not that he would ever tell him that). And fuck, that was friendship and it felt good.
Then after a while, Bakugo’s view started to shift, and he realized that his friend meant more to him than that. It was bizarre. He’d listened to his old cronies talk about their crushes, and he’d thought he would never feel that way. Caring so deeply for someone would slow him down.
But shit, he was willing to stop in his tracks for Kirishima.
It was actually pretty easy, hiding it. He acted the same as before, but toned down some things so none of the the other idiots would notice. He called him ‘Shitty Hair’ more and sat next to him at their lunch table less. It was easy. Of course it was, he was Katsuki Bakugo, after all.
Unfortunately, three days ago, two weeks after his realization, Bakugo was hit by a quirk that caused his every feeling to be intensely amplified, including pain. When he stubbed his toe, it felt like it had been shattered into a hundred pieces. Any time he saw Deku, he had an irresistible urge to blow off the fucker’s face right then and there. Those were simple enough to deal with. Pain was temporary, and his anger leveled off when his line of sight was interrupted. Everyone knew about his condition, so they kept him away from Deku, Half n Half, and other annoying extras. The real problems were rooted in his newfound crush.
It was hard to even be within a meter of Kirishima, let alone talk to him. Bakugo had thanked his genes for making him a mostly not blushing person, because otherwise he would be red as Kirishima’s hair during their tutoring sessions. And it only made it worse that he had no idea when it would wear off.
“Bakugo! Me, Sero, Mina, and Kaminari are going to watch a movie in the common room tonight. You should join us!” came the voice that made Bakugo so annoyingly soft. Fuck, he was noticing things about Kirishima that he hadn’t before. Like the way one of his sharp teeth would poke out over his lip, how his eyes looked like a cat’s, like- damn. He needed to stop.
“Yeah, whatever, Shitty Hair. I’ll come if I don’t have anything better to do.” He couldn’t outright say no to Kirishima before so how could anyone expect him to do that now? Luckily, he was still able to keep up his nonchalant front for the most part.
Kirishima grinned. “Great! See you there!” Bakugo had to stop himself from clutching his chest. It almost physically hurt, but it also felt really good. Why did such a nice feeling have to send panic signals to his brain?
Bakugo tossed a rubber ball from hand to hand as he lay back on his bed, contemplating whether to go down to the common room. Pros? Kirishima. Cons? Kirishima. His boredom was the tiebreaker, since the quirk made him want to claw his eyes out. He trudged down the stairs and into the common room. The common room was dark except for a few lights in the kitchen area and one of the televisions playing a movie. As he approached, Bakugo saw Kirishima, Ashido, and Kaminari on the couch and Sero sitting on the ground. Without saying anything to any of them, he sat on the arm of the couch next to Kirishima and tried to focus entirely on the movie, even though he had no clue what was going on.
He felt a nudge on his hip and glanced down to see Kirishima grinning at him. He felt a twinge in his gut and quickly looked away, crossing his arms. It was hard to pay attention to the movie when his brain kept chanting he smells like cinnamon he smells like cinnamon he. smells. like. CINNAMON. Does he taste like cinnamon too- fuck
At some point Bakugo ended up on the couch. He didn’t remember how he got there but he observed Kaminari now sitting on the ground with Sero. And Kirishima was right next to him, why is that such a big deal?? Why did this fucking quirk have to even exist MMMMNGH.
Sero turned down the volume on the TV because Ashido and Kaminari had fallen asleep, slumped over in their spots. Pathetic, Bakugo thought. Can’t even stay awake for a whole movie. It came to him that it was actually past his regular bedtime, but he tried to ignore it. He’d stay awake longer than everyone else.
Well, he was right, but with unintended repercussions. Sero was the next to go but then came Kirishima. He’d been slowly relaxing into the couch with sleepy eyes NOT THAT BAKugo was sneaking glances at him. No he wasn’t. Anyways. Kirishima had fallen asleep (amazingly, during one of the loudest scenes of the movie) and his?? head?? tilted onto??? Bakugo’s shoulder??? closeclosecloseclosecloseclosecloseclose MMNNNNNGH. NNNNNNGH. MMMMMNMNNMNMNNGGHHHH!! He really wanted to move but he also wanted to stay and it gave him a fucking headache. He took a deep breath and tried to enjoy this little moment. No one else was awake to see, so he took advantage of that and rested his head on Kirishima’s. The cinnamon was stronger… must be his shampoo. Bakugo felt strangely tranquil and content like this, compared to his actual heart attack four minutes ago. With a soft sigh, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.