Chapter Text
Bakugou knew Kirishima and Deku had become closer since they worked together on that mission. But the way they appeared to casually lean on each other was really starting to grate on him. It wasn’t that he was jealous (or maybe he was) but more because he wasn’t getting as much attention or time with Kirishima as he used to.
Like now, for instance. They were both sitting on a sofa in the common room, Kirishima had his arm draped over the back of the sofa and Deku was closely sat next to him, leaning into Kirishima's side as he showed Kirishima something on his phone. Every now and then Kirishima’s fingers would skim over Deku’s shoulder or neck and Bakugou couldn’t tell if it was intentional or not.
Knowing Kirishima, it was probably an innocent action of his friendliness and ridiculously kind nature. Bakugou was most likely blowing the whole thing out of proportion but it didn’t stop this strange feeling from bubbling up inside of him.
He wasn’t jealous that Kirishima was touching Deku. No. He was jealous that Kirishima wasn’t touching him.
Bakugou was perched on the counter in the kitchen sipping the remnants of a protein shake. He had a clear view of the whole common room and could see what everyone was doing. This included Todoroki fucking Shouto. It hadn’t escaped Bakugou’s notice that Todoroki had also been watching Kirishima and Deku from his seat at the dining table.
He couldn’t deny that he was restraining himself from going over to Todoroki and questioning why he was looking at the two boys.
Bakugou had a legitimate reason; he fancied the fuck out of his best friend but couldn’t figure out what to do about it. Kirishima didn’t appear to feel the same way, but they did have the odd moments of lingering eyes or hugs that lasted a few seconds longer than normal.
Instead of getting up, Bakugou waited until Todoroki finally wandered over to the sink next to where Bakugou was sat.
“Hey, Icy-hot,” Bakugou said casually, smirking in his amusement.
Todoroki glanced at him and raised an eyebrow uninterested.
“What do you think’s going on with Kirishima and Deku?” Bakugou really didn’t know much about Todoroki and Deku’s relationship. But he did know that Todoroki stared at his green-haired friend more than was necessary.
“How am I supposed to know?” Todoroki replied and folded his arms across his chest.
“Well he’s your best friend, isn’t he? Aren’t you curious why him and Kirishima have started acting like… that,” Bakugou said, nodding his head in their direction.
Todoroki sighed. “What has that got to do with me?”
“Nothing,” Bakugou said, grimacing at the thought of it being his business. “My point is, I don’t like whatever's going on over there.”
“And you’re telling me because?” Todoroki leant his back against the counter, looking over to the boys in question.
“Because you can help me get their attention,” Bakugou smirked challengingly, tilting his head to the side. “And it will probably benefit us both in the long run.”
“Your jealous that they’re getting close?” Todoroki almost looked amused.
“I’m not jealous,” he huffed, pouting instinctively.
Todoroki rolled his eyes at Bakugou's protests. “What do you have in mind?”
“Wait,” Bakugou faltered, not thinking it would be so easy to get Todoroki involved. “You’re in? Not got any more annoying-ass questions?”
“I’m not agreeing until I know what you’re planning.”
“Hmph,” Bakugou couldn’t argue with that. “I just want them to notice us, see that the way they are doesn’t look as casual as they think it does.”
“You want to make them jealous the way you are?” Todoroki asked, turning his head toward Bakugou.
“I told you I’m not jealous,” Bakugou said firmly. “I just want Kirishima’s attention.”
Todoroki huffed out a laugh. “You’re attention seeking?”
“Don’t make it fuckin’ sound like that. I’m not attention seeking. I just want Kirishima to want to come to me, rather than me deliberately interrupting them. I don’t want to look like a clingy best friend.”
“But you are clingy,” Todoroki said as a matter of fact.
“I’m not.” Bakugou wiped the building sweat from his palms on his trousers. “I just miss him. He’s been spending a lot of time with Deku, and I know he’s enjoying it, so I don’t want to take him away from that. But, I also want to spend time with him. If he sees me hanging out with you, he’s bound to get curious.” Bakugou smirked questioningly at Todoroki. “Deku will also be curious. He can’t fucking help it.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if the four of us were to hang out together?” Todoroki looked thoughtful, yet also unsure.
“W-what? Fuck no!” Bakugou felt his cheeks burning slightly and hid his face from Todoroki.
“I thought we had some kind of mutual understanding going on now.” Todoroki leant down to try and peer at Bakugou’s face. “I wouldn’t object to us hanging out. If it means we can spend more time with our friends, of course.”
“Fucking fine. Whatever.” Bakugou twisted his lip out of stubbornness, not wanting to appear like he was keen on the idea. “But right now, they have a perfect view of us like we do of them.”
Bakugou nudged Todoroki’s arm with his knee, grinning mischievously at Todoroki’s inquiring gaze. Todoroki blinked at him, waiting for Bakugou’s next move.
So Bakugou swallowed his pride and forced up his don’t-give-a-shit courage. He leant over towards Todoroki, brought his forearm up to rest on Todoroki's shoulder and dipped his head down so he could talk closer to Todoroki’s ear.
“What do you think they’re talking about right now?” Bakugou asked, voice smooth and calm, quiet but still his normal tone.
Todoroki didn’t react at all, relaxing back on the counter, hands in his pockets and expression neutral. His eyes looked side on at Bakugou when he spoke down his ear. “Could be anything, we both know they like to talk.”
Bakugou hummed, attention focused on Todoroki’s face. “Don’t watch them anymore, small glances are okay, but we don’t want to be obvious.”
“Fine,” Todoroki said, moving to the corner counter next to Bakugou. He hopped up in the middle, so their legs were touching and they were still within reaching distance. Like this, Todoroki was side on to the common room and he would only be able to see the others if he deliberately turned his head.
“Why do you gotta be so fucking composed all the time?” Bakugou growled out, frowning at how casual Todoroki was being about this. He’d expected him to put up more of a fight, but having him go along with this so easily was ironically pissing him off more.
“I’m not,” he said simply. “I have nothing else to do right now. And I have to admit, I’m also curious about how Midoriya would react to us talking like this.”
“Fucking Deku… What do you see in him anyway? I know you like him.” Bakugou huffed, sounding more interested than he intended to.
Todoroki smiled. He smiled, the fucker, like Deku was something to smile about.
“He was the first one to see me as my own person, rather than just ‘Endeavor’s son’.” Todoroki was smiling, yet his eyes held a fleeting sadness that was gone as quick as it came.
Bakugou kicked his shin lightly, making Todoroki look at him. Why the fuck he did, he had no idea.
“He’s genuinely a nice guy, who wants to do right by everyone and become a hero so he can save people and make a difference. He does it because he’s good, not because he wants some kind of hero status, or to prove he’s the best.” Todoroki looked thoughtful, and Bakugou could tell he had it bad.
“You’re shitting me,” Bakugou scoffed, realising that he was the complete opposite of what Todoroki liked about Deku. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
An uncommon blush spread lightly across the tops of Todoroki’s cheeks. He maintained Bakugou’s eye contact as he seemed to think over what Bakugou was asking him.
“I don’t know if I like him yet. I’m not even sure what it means to like someone as more than a friend. Our relationship with each other has always progressed gradually, and he’s the first friend I’ve ever had. Unlike you and Kirishima, who seemed to bond straight away as soon as the possibility of friendship was there.”
“Yeah, I get it,” nodded Bakugou understandingly. “That’s thanks to Kirishima though. He never gave up on me, even when I was closed off to start with.” Bakugou smiled to himself, trying his hardest not to look over at his friend across the room.
“How did you know?” Todoroki asked, leaning back on his hands on the counter. “How did you know you were… that you like him?”
Bakugou smirked knowingly, feeling slightly superior to Todoroki over the fact he was telling him how it felt. “When you can’t stop thinking about them. You always want to be near them, talking to them or having some kind of close contact.”
“Close contact?”
“Like leaning on each other, putting your arm around them, holding hands, hugging. Stuff like that, I guess. It’s different for everyone though.”
“I see,” Todoroki said thoughtfully.
As he looked down, his hair fell over his eyes, shielding his scar. Bakugou didn’t know what came over him, but he tentatively reached out his hand, delicately touching the pads of his fingers to Todoroki’s cheek below his scar. When Todoroki didn’t flinch away, Bakugou daringly slid Todoroki’s hair up and out of his face, tracing the edge of his scar along the way.
Todoroki watched him, eyes trained on Bakugou’s face as he allowed Bakugou to touch him. There were no thoughts running through Bakugou’s mind, only the urge to reach out and see Todoroki’s face completely.
“Aren’t you going to ask?” Todoroki interrupted him, causing Bakugou to return his stare suddenly.
“Ask what?” Bakugou questioned, mind stumped all of a sudden.
“My scar,” Todoroki said, turning his whole head towards Bakugou and causing Bakugou’s hand to brush further into his soft hair. “You want to know how I got it.”
Bakugou frowned at him, feeling offended that Todoroki would think he was even interested in his life. Besides, Todoroki didn’t need to know that Bakugou had overheard him telling Deku about how he got his scar. He wasn’t an eavesdropper, but it hadn’t felt right to interrupt them at that time. Bakugou hadn’t been sure if Deku was about to tell Todoroki how he got his power back then. Todoroki’s guess wasn’t half bad, but nonetheless, he hadn’t been right.
“No,” Bakugou said firmly. “That’s your business. If I wanted you to tell me, I’d ask directly, not touch your face.”
“Then why… are you touching my face?” His voice was unsure as he peered at Bakugou in confusion.
Bakugou felt an immediate urge to pull his hand away from Todoroki’s hairline, but didn’t want to appear embarrassed or caught out.
“I don’t know,” he said, biting his lip. “I wanted to see your face, and try to read your expression.” Which was a shit excuse, because honestly, Bakugou had no idea why he did, as his hand had moved before he knew what he was doing.
“Oh,” Todoroki said, eyebrows coming together. “I’m surprised.” He pulled Bakugou’s hand down, placing it palm up in one hand, while the other probed at the skin, delicately running his fingers along the surface and making Bakugou’s hand start to sweat from the tickling sensation. “I expected you to have rough skin on your hands.”
“Huh, well I don’t,” Bakugou replied lamely, slowly pulling his hand away and wiping the flammable sweat on his trousers.
It felt too intruding to keep looking at him, so Bakugou went to peek at Kirishima again, only to see him and Midoriya walking over to the kitchen.
“Fuck,” Bakugou whispered, attempting a casual look away and knocking Todoroki’s knee with his own. “Incoming,” he said under his breath, making sure only Todoroki would hear him.
Todoroki responded by nodding and knocking Bakugou’s knee back a lot more forcefully.
“You fucker,” Bakugou laughed, becoming slightly dislodged from his seat.
“And here I thought you two were getting along,” Kirishima chimed, strutting over to Bakugou, leaning on the counter next to him and propping his elbow up on Bakugou’s knee.
Bakugou raised at eyebrow at him. “Seriously?” Kirishima only grinned back at him, so Bakugou dislodged his leg and slid off the counter. He waved half-heartedly at Todoroki and pulled Kirishima’s arm to drag him away with him.
“Dude!” Exclaimed Kirishima once they were in the elevator. “You looked pretty cosy with Todoroki just now,” he winked, nudging Bakugou in the ribs.
Bakugou whacked his elbow out of the way. “Fuck off, can’t we talk without it being a big deal.”
He feigned annoyance but was smiling internally at the thought of his plan working already. Except for how Kirishima was grinning right now, rather than getting jealous as he had hoped.
“What were you guys talking about anyway?”
“Nothing really.”
“Yeah right! You two only talk if you have to. It had to be something big.”
The elevator doors opened on their floor and Bakugou sauntered out, choosing not to answer Kirishima because he didn’t want to lie to him.
As he walked into his bedroom, Kirishima followed. Bakugou sat on his bed and flopped back to lie down with his hands behind his head. Sitting down next to Bakugou, Kirishima leant against the wall with his legs crossed and looked down at Bakugou expectantly.
“Did Deku have to sit on your lap while you looked at his phone?” Bakugou asked instead of answering, raising an amused eyebrow at Kirishima’s alarmed expression.
“He-he wasn’t sat on my lap,” Kirishima protested, pouting exaggeratedly. “We were just sat close because he was showing me something.”
“What was he showing you?” Bakugou asked, not actually caring what it was but wanting to watch Kirishima’s reactions.
“Oh, it was some upcoming hero that made it into the top 20 who has this really interesting quirk, and Midoriya got excited and wanted to show me.” Kirishima’s expression turned fond all of a sudden, then changed back to his usual smile when he looked at Bakugou again.
“Of fucking course he was, hasn’t that nerd got anything better to do?” Bakugou said tiredly.
Kirishima slumped forward, leaning into Bakugou’s space as he said, “you don’t have to be a dick about it. You like hiking, he likes analysing quirks. I thought you already knew that.”
“Tch,” Bakugou flicked Kirishima’s head without force and he laughed back. “Just because I know it doesn’t mean I think about it. Don’t you get bored listening to his mumbling?”
Kirishima gave a little shrug and grinned. “I don’t mind listening, even if I have no idea what he’s saying most of the time. That’s what friends do, right?”
Kirishima flicked Bakugou’s head back, except it hurt, causing Bakugou to flinch, and quickly grab Kirishima’s wrist. He twisted his hand so Kirishima’s arm bent, smirking once he had the upper hand.
“Alright, alright,” Kirishima laughed, making no move to pull away.
“Hmph,” Bakugou rolled his eyes, letting go of Kirishima. “It’s boring when you don’t fight back.”
“I don’t want to right now,” he said, stretching his arm out and moving to lie next to Bakugou.
They lay there for a few minutes, both staring up at the ceiling and relaxing in the comfortable silence. Bakugou was restraining himself from rolling on top of Kirishima and confessing right there and then, but he knew now wasn’t the time or place.
A horrible feeling had started niggling at Bakugou, one that made him think Kirishima liked Deku. He didn’t want to think it, but also couldn’t differentiate between Kirishima’s behaviour towards a friend or towards someone he liked. After all, Kirishima was nice to everyone.
Then Kirishima’s phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket to check it. Bakugou didn’t look at his screen, but he could have if he flicked his eyes to the side.
“Oh!” Kirishima exclaimed. “Midoriya just asked if we wanted to hang out this weekend?”
“Fuck no!” Was Bakugo’s immediate response. There was no way he would willingly go spend time with Deku outside of school.
“With Todoroki, too…” Kirishima added on slyly, as if Bakugou was supposed to agree from that information alone.
Great. Now Bakugou was going to look like an idiot if he said yes only after Kirishima mentioned Todoroki. But on the other hand, it could work in his favour.
“Where?” He said instead, not yet giving a definite answer.
“I don’t know yet, want me to suggest hiking?”
Bakugou knew Kirishima was smiling smugly, but he didn’t want to look and be caught out on his obvious wanting to do that.
“No,” he said instead, stubbornness overtaking him out of spite. “I won’t go unless I know what we’re supposed to do. There’s no way I’m going to do something shitty.”
//
They ended up deciding on an amusement park. And even though Bakugou considered them to be pretty fucking shitty, he didn’t want to let Kirishima down, as well as not passing up the opportunity to see if his plan would work.
They took the train there and Bakugou sat next to the window with Kirishima next to him and Todoroki opposite. With Deku sat next to Todoroki, there was only a wobbly table separating him from Kirishima. It was difficult for Bakugou to try not to glare, but he knew there were times when he couldn’t help it.
He no longer hated Deku and they’d been on civil terms for a while now. But that didn’t deter from the fact that Deku was getting closer to his best friend and Bakugou didn’t like that one bit.
A foot kicked his shin from under the table and he turned his glare towards Todoroki instead. As Todoroki raised an eyebrow at Bakugou, he clasped his hands together and placed them in the middle of the table.
“What?” Bakugou asked plainly, knowing that he was staring daggers into Deku through his reflection in the window but not caring in the least.
“You like watching the scenery?” Todoroki asked smugly.
“Fuck off, half an’ half,” Bakugou grumbled, attempting to kick him back, but Todoroki’s right hand had retreated from the table and grabbed his foot, quickly skirting up to Bakugou's bare ankle and spreading a chill through his skin. Bakugou tried to pull away without it being obvious he’d been caught off guard, and also not wanting to show that Todoroki’s literally freezing hand was starting to hurt.
All he could do was stare daggers at Todoroki, not letting go of their eye contact and wanting to make it clear that he wasn’t happy and without the other two noticing. Sparks were lighting in his hand that was gripping the table, and just as Bakugou was about to yank his foot away - and would probably cause the table to be shaken in the process - Todoroki’s grip eased off. But then his thumb brushed over the sensitive skin above Bakugou's tibia bone, sending Bakugou’s eyes wide at the strangely good sensation that sent shivers down his spine. There was no way he was blushing. Absolutely no way.
Pulling his foot slowly away, Bakugou cast his eyes back to the window, resting his face on his hand and hoping to hide the heat in his cheeks. Fucking weirdo Todoroki doing weird things. Bakugou was not embarrassed, just taken by surprise. He was just glad that Kirishima and Deku were still caught up their animated conversation. Todoroki, however, was still staring at Bakugou and it was fucking annoying.
Bakugou turned to Kirishima, nudging him to get his attention. “How long does it take to get there?”
“I think it’s about thirty minutes,” Deku answered, pulling something up on his phone. “And then it’s another 15 minute walk to the entrance.”
Bakugou nodded at him wordlessly.
“Guys, I’m so excited,” Kirishima exclaimed as he rubbed his hands together. “What rides should we go on first? Or should we go for the haunted house?”
“I don’t really like haunted houses…” Deku said sheepishly, nervously scratching at his face.
“You don’t?” Asked Kirishima, leaning forward on the table. “But you always have to deal with scary situations with our hero training and the things our class has gone through.”
Deku shrugged his shoulders, biting his lip awkwardly.
“It’s okay, Midoriya,” Kirishima fake whispered. “We won’t let any scary ghosts hurt you.”
“Hah?” Bakugou butted in. “Who said anything about us? Deku can look after himself.”
“Not cool Bakugou, he can obviously look after himself but that’s beside the point.”
“Then what is the point?” Bakugou questioned blankly.
“Uh, that, we can still find things scary, even though we’re training to be heroes?”
“The fuck? What is this, some kind of hero therapy?” Bakugou frowned at Kirishima’s sincere face and Todoroki laughed at the exchange. “Why are you laughing?”
Todoroki smirked at him. “Because you’re so shit at saying things nicely.” He leaned back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest.
“Am not,” Bakugou protested. “I can be nice if I want to.”
“I bet you can’t be nice for the whole day?”
“Is that a fucking challenge?” Bakugou slammed his hand on the table, leaning forward to growl at Todoroki.
“Dude,” Kirishima laughed. “There’s no way he can do that, Bakugou just isn’t that way. There’s nothing wrong with it, though.” Kirishima confidently placed his hand on Bakugou’s shoulder, pulling him back and hooking his arm around his neck. “We like Bakugou just the way he is. He wouldn’t be Bakugou otherwise.”
Bakugou peeked at Kirishima who was now very close to his face, resisting the urge to lean into Kirishima’s touch, Bakugou smiled at him when their eyes met.
“He’s right,” Bakugou said, not looking away from Kirishima’s widening grin. “I wouldn’t be me if I was nice all the time.”
Todoroki rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I meant,” he said quietly, turning his eyes away from them as a faint frown appeared between his brows.
“Well anyway,” Deku piped up. “We’ll just have to try and go on as many rides as we can, and, um, I’ll probably be okay in the haunted house, if I’m not on my own.”
“You won’t be on your own,” Todoroki said to him, causing Deku to smile widely, making his eyes squint and dimples appear in his cheeks.
Bakugou noticed the fond expression on Kirishima’s face as he looked at Deku, making a knot form in his stomach and a pang of sadness spread through his heart. He’d never seen Kirishima look at Deku that way before and he definitely didn’t like it. Bakugou would have to step up his game of fake-flirting with Todoroki, otherwise Kirishima might not notice him at all.
When they got off the train Bakugou discreetly tugged Todoroki back so they were walking side by side.
“Hey, Icy-hot, we need to flirt more or our plan won’t work.”
“You mean your plan?” Todoroki countered, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“Whatever. They’re not noticing us at all, so we need to change that.”
“Fine,” Todoroki said, deliberately walking into Bakugou so their shoulders bumped together.
Bakugou was about to push back and curse him out, but he noticed Deku and Kirishima glancing back at them, so decided to smirk instead, reaching up to playfully set sparks off in Todoroki’s face. He just about dodged out of the way, grabbing Bakugou’s hand and sending frost along his palm.
“Shit, that’s cold.” Bakugou pulled away without force, quickly blasting his hand to melt the frost.
“You’re not fighting are you?” Deku called out from where he and Kirishima had stopped.
“You fucking bet we are,” Bakugou grinned, knocking Todoroki’s shoulder back with a laugh as they caught up with the other two.
Todoroki shook his head at him, also walking towards the others.
They got to the theme park entrance and paid for their tickets. Once they’d walked through the gates Kirishima threw his arms over Bakugou and Deku’s shoulders.
“What ride first, then?” He asked, scanning around the park.
“Something fast and scary,” Bakugou offered. “None of that kiddy shit that doesn’t even get off the ground.”
With an energetic nod, Kirishima walked ahead where a large map was on display.
“O-okay,” Deku squirmed, clutching his hands against his chest.
“Lighten up, Deku,” Bakugou called to him, reaching out to ruffle his hair and shove his head.
“Kacchan- hey!”
With a roll of his eyes, Bakugou stepped ahead towards Kirishima and noticed Todoroki going to Deku in the process.
“Ba-ku-gou,” Kirishima sang as his fist made its way through the air to land a gentle punch on Bakugou’s shoulder.
“Hm?” Bakugou responded, turning his head to the side.
Kirishima leaned close and whispered, “noticed you playing footsie with Todoroki on the train.”
“The fuck?” Bakugou exclaimed, wrenching himself back and covering his quickly heating face with the back of his hand.
An innocent laugh bubbled from Kirishima’s mouth as he winked at Bakugou teasingly.
“I kicked him and he fucking froze my foot, that’s all,” Bakugou grumbled, displeased with Kirishima’s reaction.
“Whatever you say, bro,” smirked Kirishima.
Bakugou shook his head at him and noticed what looked like a fast roller coaster ride up ahead. “Let’s go on that one,” he called out to the others. “It looks like it goes upside down and shit. We should queue for the front row, then it's more fun.”
“Yeah!” Kirishima agreed, dropping back to ask stupid Deku if that was okay.
As they leisurely made their way to the ride, Todoroki caught up to Bakugou and walked beside him.
“Do you like roller coasters?” Bakugou asked Todoroki, who appeared very blasé about the whole thing.
“I don’t know,” shrugged Todoroki. “I’ve never been to this sort of place before.”
“Hah?” Bakugou shouted. “Why the fuck not?”
“I’ve never had the opportunity to do fun things like this. I was either training or in school, with no room for other activities.”
The way Todoroki spoke in such a plain way made Bakugou feel sick. Like it was normal not to experience fun as a child, when that was supposed to be the most important thing about being young and not having adult responsibilities.
“That’s fucking sad,” Bakugou said, not knowing what else to say. “We’ll make sure you have fun today. And maybe… maybe do stuff like this again.”
Todoroki looked at Bakugou with his eyebrows raised as a small smile tugged at his lips. “I’d like that. When you say again, do you mean just the two-”
“That way!” Kirishima cut Todoroki off, barging past and pointing to the separate fencing that led to the front row queue.
“We’re going that way, shitty hair. Slow down!” Bakugou elbowed the overexcited Kirishima, earning a laugh in return as he jumped ahead.