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Kirishima can feel the beat of the music through his skin, the thrum of the guitar and drums through the loudspeakers. Everything is so bright and loud and perfect, Kirishima can’t help but smile.
From his place near the top of the auditorium, Kirishima can see the hundreds of kids or at least that's what it looks like. He can hear their screaming and cheers as the band winds down. Everything looks so perfect, so amazing. All their hard work has paid off. Kirishima wipes the sweat off his brow, huffing out another breath.
He looks down onto the stage, toward the band, though they all look so amazing down there he only has his eyes on one person. He can almost hear Bakugou’s yelling from here as he slams the drumsticks onto the drums, playing as hard as he can. He looks beautiful down there. Sero nudges him with his shoulder, smirk as always on his lips.
“He may not be able to see you from up here but that doesn’t mean that we can’t.”
Kirishima can already feel the red pooling in his cheeks, “What do you mean?”
Todoroki lays on the railing, eyes on the crowd, “You’ve been looking at Bakugou this entire time, even I noticed.”
“No, I haven’t!” It’s not manly to lie but the words are falling from his mouth before he can stop himself. Todoroki and Sero give him a knowing look. They all know how he is lying through his teeth.
“Okay! So what about it?” He drops his head to roll on his shoulder, not being able to look at the two. “Maybe I just like the show okay?”
Todoroki scoffs, a sound Kirishima has barely heard, “Maybe but not when you're looking like a middle school boy seeing a girl for the first time.”
“Yeah! And you always have that look in your eyes!”
He should just leave right now, maybe just say he has to use the bathroom or get a headstart on the cleaning. But he knows they are right, as always.
It’s been like that since they started this whole thing. Since he first stood up here and stared into the abyss of the floor, since the band started playing. He always found himself looking back at Bakugou. But that wasn’t his fault! He just looked really nice drumming, putting all his passion into it, screaming his heart out. He just looked so manly down there. Kirishima almost wished that he was there with him. He didn’t exactly get the chance to see him while he played but he could imagine.
“I have no idea what you're talking about.”
It was another lie, another bold-faced lie. And he knew it, Todoroki knew it, Sero knew it, hell maybe everyone in the room knew it.
“Okay, so maybe if it's true! He just...He looks so manly down there. He is so passionate, so amazing, so-”
“God, your so gay.”
Kirishima snapped his head toward them. He couldn’t tell who said it but he knew his face was burning. He would probably lie again, say that nothing he thought about Bakugou was gay but he couldn’t.
“He’s hot okay!”
It was the only logical thing to say, that was the only thing on his mind so why not just come out and say it. Sero and Todoroki laughed. Kirishima couldn’t help but feel hot, cheeks burning red (like the room wasn’t hot enough).
“Your pining so hard dude, just like go up to him afterward and ask him out of something!” Sero gave him a hopeful smile, nudging him with his large elbow. Maybe he should. He’d spent this long watching him from up here. He had to be manly, right? He had to take a chance.
“I’m sorry, do you know Bakugou?” Todoroki’s words were ice cold.
And there went any thought he had of Bakugou saying yes.
He heard Sero and Todoroki bicker, Sero claiming that Bakugou wasn’t like that and Todorki saying that's all he was. Kirishima found himself falling out of the conversation and looking back towards the stage. The last song was over, no more music played, all that could be heard now was the sound of cheering and people going to leave. It was faint but Kirishima knew it was there, even if he was all the way up here. Bakugou was smiling.
“If you really do like him though, why not just tell him. Bakugou may be a brash person sometimes but he is different with you. Maybe that means something.” Todoroki meant it, despite the cold look in his eyes, his lips lifted to a soft reassuring smile.
Maybe he should go for it.
The place was trashed. There was litter and glitter everywhere, coating the walls and floors. Kirishima found himself inwardly groaning. He wouldn’t be able to go out and see the rest of the festival with this mess.
“Alright, guys!” Iida called for attention at the edge of the stage, looking very exhausted, “Once we clean this mess up we will be able to join the rest of the activities but until then we still have a job to do!” His hands sliced through the air as he spoke.
“There are wheelbarrows for the ice and trash bags for the garbage up here!”
Kirishima let his head roll on his shoulders, groaning again. Why couldn’t they just pick up later? Why cou-
“Hey, Shitty Hair! Help me with this ice.”
Kirishima could already feel his heart beating in his chest, his face growing warm. Damn those two, he wouldn’t be like this if they hadn’t said anything.
“U-uh yeah, sure!” He cursed himself for stuttering before jogging over to see a large chunk of ice on the floor. “What do you want me to do?”
“Use your quirk idiot.”
Kirishima hardened his hand, before looking over to Bakugou.
“You did great out there. Guess all that practice really worked, huh?”
Bakugou scoffed, “I didn’t need any practice.”
Kirishima brought his fist down onto the cold ice, shattering it. “Sure you didn’t. Hey! Why aren’t you doing this? You have a quirk to!”
Bakugou glared at him, “Iida got mad at me and said I was going to make the ice melt which means we’d have to mop up.”
Kirishima bent down to the smaller pieces of ice, Bakugou following suit and began to pile them into the wheelbarrow. It wasn’t an awkward silence that followed but it wasn’t comforting. Kirishima could see Bakugou’s eyebrows furrow together mixed the usual scowl on his face but he said nothing. He wanted to say something though, anything but his words caught in his throat and he could only watch on as they cleaned.
Kirishima could feel the soft ache in his back from having to bend down to pick up countless pieces of ice and trash. Was this what being old was like? Bakugou, however, showed no signs of pain, leaning casually against a pillar.
“Fellow classmates! You all have done a good job here! You may now go out and do as you please!”
There were many cheers that followed but Kirishima’s wasn’t one of them. He could feel the anxiety bubbling in his stomach, churning and turning. Should he ask Bakugou now? Or should he just wait for later? Should he even ask at all?
Following the flow of his classmates, he walked into the open space outside the auditorium. The bright sun a big contrast compared to the darkness inside. Kirishima had to squint until he saw a figure approach him.
“You ask him yet?”
Kirishima moved away, almost running to someone else. Anything to avoid talking about this. Sero quickly tapped him back to his side.
“First of all how did you think you could run away from me? And secondly, why not?”
Kirishima pulled the sticky tape from off his arms, “I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t even know if he likes me.” He could feel the cold grasps of doubt holding him.
Sero pushed him, “He literally is only nice to you.”
“No, he isn’t! He treats you guys nice!...Sometimes.”
Sero just sighed, “He likes you okay, what more do you need? Do you want me to get Mina to get someone with actual experience?”
“No!” Kirishima could only imagine the mess that Mina would make out of this.
“Then go! Now is the time!” Sero nudged him again with his elbows.
“What are you some romance expert?” Kirishima questioned, shoving Sero away from him.
“I may not be but I know an opportunity when I see it!” Sero looked at him, a meaningful glare in his eyes. “I’m not gonna force you okay but I’m just saying-” He pointed over to Bakugou who was leaning back on a bench. “-He looks like he could use some company.” Sero brought his hand down to his shoulder. “All I’m saying is, you got this.”
Kirishima could feel the doubt fill him, gripping him. Then he felt Sero’s fingers clutch at his shoulder, a reassuring touch. He is a man, he should go out there and take the chance right?
“Okay, fine.”
Sero smiled, the same large smile he always had. “Wish you luck!”
Kirishima nodded and trekked over to Bakugou, anxiety tingling in his fingers. He had this, right? He could talk to his best friend without looking like a dumbass! Bakugou opened one eye upon seeing him, eyebrow raised in suspicion.
“What do you want Shitty Hair?” His voice was rougher than usual, probably due to his screaming during the festival. Kirishima let out a deep breath and meet Bakugou’s stare.
“Wanna go look at some games? I heard they have a few-”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” Despite how cool Bakugou tried to look, his face snapped to the side, shoulders rolled back he still answered far to quickly. To unlike Bakugou to be not be noticed. Kirishima didn’t bother to hide his laugh.
“So where do you wanna go first?”
Bakugou turned back to him, hands stuffed in his pockets. “I don’t care. We can do whatever.” There wasn’t an edge to his voice or a pop of his explosions. It sounded the calmest Bakugou had ever been.
Kirishima found himself wanting to say something about it, maybe an off-handed compliment or just a casual mention but he found himself speechless.
“Sure, okay.”
The crowd was thick and loud but Kirishima stayed near Bakugou, pulling him to game after game. Kirishima didn’t notice but Bakugou enjoyed the entire time.