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Kirishima entered the common area to a lot of yelling. He shouldn’t have been surprised since it always seemed to end up this way whenever Class 1-A played videogames against each other. Currently, Bakugou, Ashido, Kaminari, and Sero sat in front of the television as they raced against each other in Mario Kart, their four karts segmenting the screen, while Jirou, Uraraka, and Satou cheered them on, and Todoroki watched quietly from his seat on the couch. As Ashido’s Princess Peach kart hit Bakugou’s Bone Rattler with a red shell to slide into first, Bakugou let out a string of particularly creative threats.
Kirishima smirked. If he was playing, they’d all be competing for second place. Watching Bakugou trade insults as he maneuvered his kart on the screen in front of him and reclaimed first place, the smirk slowly faded. This afternoon, Kirishima had had to finish up some homework he’d gotten behind on because of his work study before he let himself hang out with his friends. It was surprising that Bakugou got here before him, since he usually waited until Kirishima dragged him out to participate in any sort of group activity. If he decided to go at all. Although lately, Kirishima noticed that Bakugou had become more tolerant of his classmates. Last week, he’d even challenged Todoroki to a fire-blasting contest, which was pretty friendly for Bakugou.
At the beginning of the year, Bakugou was so standoffish, barely getting anyone’s names right, let alone spending time with them. After USJ and the sports festival, Kirishima had made a point to hang out with Bakugou and get him to go to group outings as much as he could. But Bakugou was much more likely to consent to hanging out with Kirishima one-on-one, whether it was sparring or studying or going out to see the latest action movie. Their friendship had steadily grown from there, but it could still be a chore trying to get Bakugou to play nice with others. So, the fact that Bakugou liked to spend time with Kirishima and listened to him in his own Bakugou way meant that he had singled Kirishima out, saw him differently than he did everybody else.
Here was this boy who was the living embodiment of manly confidence and strength, blazing a path to his dream of becoming the Number One Hero but who had little time to spare for anybody—that boy chose Kirishima as his friend.
Lately, however, Bakugou seemed to be actually taking note of his fellow classmates. Tolerating Kaminari and Sero’s antics, discussing music with Jirou, sitting quietly with Tokoyami in the common room as they both scrolled through their phones. Kirishima was proud that Bakugou seemed to have finally matured enough to start reaching out to other people instead of insisting that he didn’t need anyone and that they didn’t matter. But that meant that Kirishima wasn’t exceptional anymore, just another friend Bakugou had learned to tolerate, even if he was the first.
A particularly loud shout from Bakugou had Kirishima focusing on the game again. Bakugou had won the race and was standing with his head thrown back, cackling in victory as the others groaned and booed him. Kirishima smiled at the sight. It was stupid of him to feel upset when he was happy for moments like this.
Tossing the controller down, Bakugou said, “One of you losers can win next round. I’m out.”
Ashido stuck out her tongue and Sero groaned while Kaminari tried to shock Bakugou as he headed towards Kirishima standing near the meal tables. In retaliation, Bakugou popped warning explosions in Kaminari’s direction, which Kaminari ignored as he tried to get Jirou to take over Bakugou’s abandoned controller.
Once Bakugou reached him, Kirishima smiled toothily. “So, Mr. Victor, now that you’re done kicking ass in Mario Kart, you wanna try to kick my ass sparring?” He punched Bakugou playfully in the arm.
Bakugou frowned. “Can’t. I’m meeting the damn nerd to spar in a few minutes. But you know I can kick your ass. There’s no trying about it. Next time?”
Kirishima’s smile froze on his face as his heart plummeted. It was stupid to think Bakugou had stopped playing just to come over and talk to him and even stupider to think of sparring as something special they did together. Obviously, Class 1-A sparred with each other all the time both in and out of class. It didn’t mean anything that Bakugou usually chose Kirishima to spar with in their free time, and it didn’t mean anything that he was choosing to spar with Midoriya now.
“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure. Next time.”
Bakugou grunted in reply before he headed out the door towards the gym in the distance. Kirishima made sure to keep a smile on his face until Bakugou couldn’t see him anymore. Back by the TV, Ashido cheered as she won the next race.
Honestly, Kirishima didn’t mind that Bakugou spent more time with the others these days—he encouraged it actually. As much as Kirishima valued their time together, he knew it was better that Bakugou had other friends as well. It was just—being friends with Bakugou, the boy who scoffed at friendship, and having his attention when he happily ignored everyone else, it made Kirishima feel special to Bakugou. And who didn’t like to feel special? But while Bakugou began spending more time with other classmates, his time with Kirishima alone was cut down. Which was fine. Because at least Kirishima still got to hang out with Bakugou, study with Bakugou, and—most importantly—spar with Bakugou. Except, apparently, not today.
~*~*~*~*~
A few days later after class, Kirishima wasn’t scheduled to go to his work study and he knew Bakugou wasn’t either, so Kirishima tried again to get Bakugou to spar with him. Once again, Bakugou had to turn him down because he already had plans to spar with Midoriya. Hours later, as Kirishima returned from his own workout lifting weights, he saw Bakugou and Midoriya in the common area. Both were scratched and bruised and exchanging friendly insults as they headed up to their rooms. Kirishima felt a little hollow, but he was glad that Bakugou and Midoriya’s rivalry had turned into a friendly one. Bakugou tolerated Midoriya much better these days.
A week after that, Bakugou had to cancel their study session last minute to go meet with Midoriya and All Might for one of their increasingly frequent get-togethers where the three of them discussed mysterious things that Bakugou refused to talk about. Kirishima didn’t know why Bakugou tried to be so secretive about it when everybody knew that All Might took a special interest in Bakugou and Midoriya as two of the most promising students in the class. Kirishima was just surprised that Todoroki hadn’t been invited to these meetings yet. But, Kirishima knew meeting with your mentors was important. After all, he never turned down an opportunity to spend extra time with Fat Gum when he could.
So, as Kirishima stood outside Bakugou’s room where he had been waiting when Bakugou’s text came in, he buried any stupid, unreasonable resentment he might feel and quickly texted back.
No problem, bro! Next time! :)
The next Sunday, Kirishima, Ashido, and Sero were waiting outside the dorms for Bakugou and Kaminari. They had gotten permission to leave campus for a few hours to go see a movie, and Kirishima had even gotten Bakugou to agree to help him pick up a new punching bag afterwards at a sports store in the same shopping mall.
“Kirishima!” Kaminari whined as he ran out of the dorm building and down the stairs to throw his arms around Kirishima’s shoulders. “You’re the Baku-wrangler. Tell him he has to go!”
Patting Kaminari’s back absently, Kirishima replied, “I’m not the Baku-wrangler.”
While it was true that Bakugou used to get along best with—or at least tolerate only—Kirishima in the past, he listened to his other classmates now, too. And he was better at controlling himself, knowing when to push things and people past their limits and when to let go. Plus, it wasn’t like Kirishima had had to convince Bakugou to go out with them this time. He wanted to go see the new Star Wars movie too and said he’d go once Kirishima mentioned to the group that they should all see it together. Getting Bakugou to swing by the sports store afterwards was just Kirishima selfishly trying to spend a little more time with Bakugou alone when he hadn’t had much of a chance to lately.
“But, he’s not going!”
“What?” Kirishima untangled Kaminari from around his neck to see his face. He looked serious.
Above the loud groans and denials of Ashido and Sero, small explosions popped.
“I thought I fucking told you to wait, Pikachu,” Bakugou growled. He stood at the top of the stairs in workout gear, clearly not ready to go to the movies. Midoriya hovered in the dorm doorway behind him.
Ashido crossed her arms and pouted. “Why aren’t you going, Bakugou? I thought we all agreed to see this movie together?”
Bakugou ignored her as he faced Kirishima. “All Might has the afternoon free last minute and wants to go over some moves with me and Deku. You okay to get the bag still?”
A hot spike of jealous flared in Kirishima’s chest. Not just at Midoriya getting to spend more time—getting to spar once again—with Bakugou at Kirishima’s expense, but also at the fact that two of the three students most ahead of the rest of the class were getting even more special training to hone their skills. Kirishima would be left in the dust in no time on both accounts. If he wasn’t already.
Taking a steadying breath, Kirishima shoved down the irrational jealousy. It would do him no good, and he didn’t want to grow resentful of his friends.
Pasting on a smile, Kirishima said, “Don’t worry about it. Hero training comes first. I can get Sero to help me with the punching bag.”
“Hey! I never agreed to that.” Sero laughed good-naturedly.
Bakugou frowned and opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, but Kirishima quickly turned around. “We need to get going if we want to make the movie on time.” He lifted his hand in a halfhearted goodbye before he started down the path.
“Kirishima, wait up! Bye, Bakugou. We’ll discuss this later,” Ashido said.
She ran to catch up with Kirishima, and he heard Kaminari and Sero say their goodbyes as well before they fell into step beside them.
“Can you believe Blasty bailed on us?” Ashido asked.
Kaminari shook his head. “What is this world coming to when we can’t rely on the bro code? Everybody knows you don’t bail on friends to hang out with other friends. Right, Kirishima?”
“Don’t be so hard on him,” Kirishima said, watching a few clouds move slowly across the deep blue of the sky so that he didn’t have to look any of his friends in the eye. “He’s working with a teacher and training, not fooling around.”
“It’s okay to be upset, you know,” Ashido said, grabbing Kirishima’s hand and swinging their joined arms between them. “We’re all disappointed he’s not coming today when we’ve been looking forward to hanging out.”
Kirishima nodded but still didn’t meet her gaze.
On Kirishima’s other side, Sero nudged Kirishima’s arm. “Don’t worry about the punching bag. I was just giving you a hard time, man. Obviously, I’ll help you get it.”
“Thanks, dude.” Kirishima smiled at him, but his heart wasn’t really in it. Instead, it was behind him, on the steps back with Bakugou.
~*~*~*~*~
After that, Kirishima stopped reaching out. He didn’t avoid Bakugou, but it hurt to be repeatedly rejected, to be reminded that he really wasn’t any more special than just a friend Bakugou occasionally liked to pass the time with. It was just easier for them both if Kirishima left it up to Bakugou to let him know when he wanted to hang out.
Over the next couple weeks, they only got together for a few study sessions that Bakugou insisted Kirishima needed and hung out in the common area if they happened to be there at the same time, usually with other members of Class 1-A. Kirishima missed getting to spend more time with Bakugou by himself and especially missed their sparring matches but figured Bakugou would grab him for a session when he wanted to. In the meantime, Kirishima got Kaminari and Satou to spar with him, although they weren’t up to going as often as Kirishima had gotten used to with Bakugou. Despite feeling like something was missing, Kirishima was determined to appreciate what he had.
On Friday after class, Kirishima packed up his books and thought about asking some people if they were up to a movie marathon in the common room that evening. Almost everybody had the day off from work study and at the very least, he knew Ashido, Kaminari, and Sero would be up for it. Glancing at Bakugou, who was growling at Midoriya as he shoved his things in his bag, Kirishima figured he would be out. Probably sparring with Midoriya again.
Swinging his bag over his shoulder, Kirishima started to make his way out of the classroom. A hand grabbed his arm and spun him around.
Bakugou scowled at him, hand still on his arm. It was warm even through the layers of his uniform.
“Bakugou?”
Bakugou scowled even harder. “Let’s spar, Shitty Hair.”
“Sure, dude!” Kirishima beamed. It felt like he had been waiting to hear those words for forever. He couldn’t wait to go up against the challenge that was Bakugou Katsuki. Kaminari and Satou were great, but nobody got his blood pumping like Bakugou.
Bakugou’s eyes scanned his face, lingering on his smile before he dropped his arm and turned away. “Meet me in the gym in twenty. If you’re late, you die.” He walked out the door.
Kirishima turned to look at Midoriya who gave him a shrug and smiled tentatively. He smiled back before racing out the door to go get ready. He had a match to win.
Thirty minutes later, Kirishima and Bakugou were in the gym and finished warming up. They had stretched in silence. Bakugou seemingly lost in thought while Kirishima didn’t want to break the quiet peace they had with stupid chatter that Bakugou probably couldn’t care less about.
Walking to the middle of the gym, they faced each other in the sparring ring.
“Quirks or no quirks?” Kirishima asked at he shifted side to side in anticipation.
Bakugou clenched and unclenched his hands. “No quirks. I’ve been slacking off on the basic hand-to-hand too much recently.”
Jealousy spiked in Kirishima’s chest. He quickly suppressed it. It didn’t matter that Midoriya had gotten Bakugou to go full out with him. Kirishima had spent his sparring sessions with Kaminari and Satou battling quirks, so this would be good for him, too. Heroes had to train in all sorts of ways since their overall combat skills suffered if they only focused on fighting with their quirks.
Kirishima slammed his unhardened fists together with a nod. “Let’s do this.”
Bakugou smirked, and then they were off. At first, they traded hits a little slower than usual, feeling each other out and relearning each other’s moves; but, they found their rhythm again quickly and soon sped up the pace and power. Each hit given and each block returned was like a dance where they knew their partner’s body almost as well as their own. Kirishima’s heart throbbed in his chest. Nothing beat sparring with Bakugou.
Bakugou dodged one of Kirishima’s punches, then stepped out of range. His face was flushed a pretty pink color even as sweat turned the roots of his hair a darker blond.
“Why are you smiling so damn much?”
“Huh?” Kirishima dropped his hands a little in surprise, but Bakugou didn’t take the opportunity to attack like he normally would. Kirishima rubbed his cheek against his shoulder, somewhat embarrassed that he could stop smiling a bit even now. “I didn’t notice.”
Lunging forward, Bakugou swiped at Kirishima’s feet, but he leapt out of the way.
“But why are you smiling?”
Not wanting to tell Bakugou that sparring with him, having his undivided attention, made him happier than the time he got the last Crimson Riot limited edition Classic Heroes figurine, Kirishima rushed in with another punch that Bakugou blocked. They exchanged blows like that for a few more minutes before Bakugou danced out of range once more.
“So, you’re not mad anymore?”
Kirishima scrunched up his face in confusion. “Mad?”
Bakugou looked away as he rolled his neck and shook out his arms. “Yeah. You weren’t around as much.”
“Oh.” Kirishima gave a nervous laugh. Of course Bakugou would notice. He was observant and smart like that. “No. You, uh, just seemed super busy with Midoriya and stuff, so I thought it’d be better if you let me know when you wanted to hang out.”
Bakugou’s gaze snapped to his and his eyes narrowed. “You know it’s not like that with shitty Deku. If something was bothering you, you should’ve said so.”
Kirishima was a little lost. “Like what with Midoriya? Being sparring buddies?”
His face going red, Bakugou charged forward and aimed a kick at Kirishima’s head. Kirishima blocked the kick and grabbed Bakugou’s leg before he could pull it back. Ducking his shoulder beneath Bakugou’s outstretch leg, he rushed forward, tackling Bakugou to the ground and landing on top of him. Using his body, Kirishima caged Bakugou in so that it would be harder for him to throw Kirishima off. Position secure for now, he took note of his condition, feeling a trickle of sweat roll down the side of his face as his heart pounded away in his chest. He was sure that some of his hair spikes were drooping by now.
Staring up at Kirishima with eyes like fire, Bakugou asked, “So, you really weren’t mad?”
Kirishima wanted to avoid answering again, but that wouldn’t be manly of him. He need to be honest about his feelings.
“I wasn’t mad. But, I guess I was a little hurt.” Kirishima did break eye contact then, feeling too exposed—raw—like when his hardened skin started falling from him in pieces after one-too-many hits from a more powerful opponent.
Bakugou tensed beneath him. “Why?”
“I— I just— I missed hanging out with you, dude. Doing things together, like I was someone you actually liked spending time with. And maybe I was a little jealous of Midoriya.” Kirishima barely choked that last part out. He hated admitting that he felt such a nasty emotion. And about one of his other friends, too!
When Kirishima dared to look Bakugou in the face again, he was scowling. Kirishima just hoped Bakugou wasn’t so mad that he wouldn’t want to hang out with him anymore.
“I can’t believe— Stupid fucking— The damn nerd!”
Bakugou bucked beneath him, and Kirishima finally realized how he was basically just lying on top of him. Face warm, Kirishima sat back on Bakugou’s lap, although that wasn’t much better. But before he could scrabble off him, Bakugou sat up and grabbed a fistful of Kirishima’s shirt, yanking him closer. Bakugou’s face was so close that he could see his individual eyelashes. Kirishima’s cheeks were on fire.
“Listen here, Shitty Hair,” Bakugou growled. “There’s nothing going on between me and that damn nerd. For fuck’s sake! I can’t believe you think I like Deku. That’s fucking disgusting.”
“Like Midoriya?” Kirishima felt confused about what Bakugou meant exactly. “I mean, I guess I started thinking that you liked to spar with him more because you kept meeting up with him instead of me.”
“Sparring?! This is all about fucking sparring?!”
Little pops sounded. Kirishima couldn’t tell if it was Bakugou’s hands going off or Bakugou’s jaw straining from how hard he was clenching his teeth. Rubbing the back of his neck and laughing nervously, Kirishima felt more confused than ever.
“Uh, yeah. Sorta? About getting to spend time with you overall, I guess. What did you think it was about?”
“I don’t know! You seemed different than normal, and I thought maybe you were mad at me for some dumb reason. Then, you brought up fucking Deku, like you thought I wanted to date him or some shit. Which is stupid because I like you!”
Kirishima reacted without thinking. He punched Bakugou in the chest. Bakugou’s grip on Kirishima’s shirt loosened, and Kirishima jumped up out of reach.
Standing over Bakugou, Kirishima gaped down at him. “What?”
Still sprawled on the gym floor, Bakugou looked up with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide, more vulnerable than Kirishima had ever seen him. Finally, Bakugou’s words sank in. It seemed impossible that Bakugou liked him. And it was a shock to hear the words so suddenly when he thought Bakugou barely thought of them as friends. Never mind liking him. And then Kirishima went and punched him! His crush! Why was he like this?
Flustered, Kirishima started waving his hands rapidly in front of his face. “Dude! I— I’m so sorry! A— Actually, I, um, I li—”
Bakugou cut Kirishima off as he surged to his feet and shouted, “Shut up, dumbass!”
Breathing heavily through gritted teeth, Bakugou squared off against Kirishima. He really needed to diffuse the situation before Bakugou got even more of a wrong idea.
“Bakugou, please, it’s okay. I—”
“I said SHUT UP!”
There was a deafening boom, then Bakugou was in Kirishima’s space. Reflexively, Kirishima crossed his arms in front of his face, and he felt explosions land on his hardened skin. He sailed across the room, back hitting the wall behind him, leaving a crater. With no time to think, he jumped out of the way as Bakugou let off another explosion, making the crater in the wall even bigger. Oops.
Bakugou came after Kirishima open palmed, unrelenting, explosions glancing off his hardened skin. Kirishima was forced to retreat and give up ground at every turn. He didn’t want to fight back and make the misunderstanding worse. But since Bakugou refused to let up after every dodge and block, enough was enough. Finding himself once again in the middle of the sparring ring, Kirishima stood his ground. He went Unbreakable.
Coming at him palms raised, Bakugou slammed explosions into Kirishima’s chest, blowing his shirt to bits. Unmoved, Kirishima grabbed Bakugou’s hands with his own, hardened palms smothering the explosions, which felt like tickles against his tough skin.
“Fight back, damn it! Aren’t you all about being a man? Reject me like one!” Bakugou screamed.
This wasn’t working. Swallowing hard but ultimately trusting Bakugou, Kirishima let go of Bakugou’s hands, then dropped his hardening. He stood before Bakugou soft and vulnerable, reflecting what the other must be feeling.
Sneering, Bakugou rushed forward. Kirishima just held his arms out wide. Bakugou tackled Kirishima to the ground, landing heavily on top of him. For a minute, they stayed like that, mirroring their positions from earlier, as they panted, their heavy breathing the only sound in the now-quiet gym.
Bakugou moved first, bracing his arms on either side of Kirishima’s head. Looking up, Kirishima noticed Bakugou had his eyes screwed shut and his mouth turned down in a grimace.
“Bakugou?”
He started to move like he was going to get up. Afraid Kirishima would lose his chance to explain, he wrapped his arms and legs around Bakugou’s back like Amajiki-senpai’s octopus fingers, not about to let go.
“What the hell?” Bakugou opened his eyes to glare at Kirishima. They looked a little glassy. “Let me go, moron.”
“No. Not until you let me finish what I was trying to say.”
“Then spit it out so I can go shower off.”
Kirishima closed his eyes and touched his forehead to Bakugou’s. He was surprised but glad that Bakugou didn’t pull away. “I like you too, Blasty.”
When he didn’t get a response, Kirishima pulled back slightly and opened his eyes. Bakugou’s mouth had dropped open, and he seemed at a loss for words. Although he was still taking the confession better than Kirishima had. Then, Bakugou grinned savagely, like he’d just won against Todoroki fair-and-square at the sports festival.
“Of course you do. Who wouldn’t? I’m the best!” Bakugou laughed maniacally.
Kirishima unwound one of his arms from their octopus hold to cover Bakugou’s face with his hand and pushed it away. “Dude, you’re so embarrassing.” Bakugou licked his hand, and Kirishima pulled it away. “Childish, too.” But he couldn’t help smiling up at Bakugou until his cheeks hurt.
Bakugou gently knocked their foreheads together. “I’m glad you’re smiling for real. Now and when we were sparring.”
“Huh?”
“You were upset before. And your smiles were fake as fuck.”
Letting his legs and back relax down onto the floor and looping his arms more comfortably around Bakugou’s neck, Kirishima gave Bakugou a softer smile. “It’s fine. I’m happy now that we’ve talked it out like men.”
Bakugou rolled his eyes before giving Kirishima a serious look. “Don’t just brush it aside. I’ll be better about not assuming shit like you’ll always be there and that I can just fuck off and do whatever.”
Happiness rose up in Kirishima like steam off a premium cut of seared steak. He didn’t think Bakugou could be this emotionally mature yet, but Kirishima apparently mattered enough to Bakugou that he was willing to make an effort.
“And I’ll do the manly thing and talk to you when something is bothering me instead of trying to hide it.”
“Okay, okay. Enough of this chitchatting shit.” Bakugou tugged on one of Kirishima’s drooping spikes. “Ready to spar again?”
Kirishima pursed his lips like he was thinking real hard. “Hmm. I don’t know. I think you owe me.”
“Owe you what?” Bakugou scrunched up his face adorably in confusion.
“A kiss!”
Bakugou reared back slightly, unable to go any farther because of Kirishima’s arms still around his neck. “Are you kidding me?!” His cheeks were a lovely shade of red.
Kirishima almost couldn’t believe how bold he was acting after being so unsure of where he stood with Bakugou, but they were still friends, after all. And what bro didn’t get a kick out of riling his best bro up? Especially about his love life?
“I’m serious! Since were dating now and all.”
“Who the fuck said we were dating?” Even the tips of Bakugou’s ears were red now.
“Oh?” Kirishima said airily, enjoying teasing Bakugou. “Are we just friends with benefits? Where’s my benefit then?”
“Fucking hell! Shuddup.”
“I guess I could always go get a benefit from someone else. Since you don’t want to and we’re not even dating.”
“Fat fucking chance! We’re dating, so you can’t get benefits from anybody else!” The red was even spreading down Bakugou’s neck now.
Kirishima smirked, making sure to flash his sharp teeth. “If you say so.”
“I do!”
And with that, Bakugou ducked down to place a kiss on Kirishima’s lips. It was a little awkward, Bakugou catching some of Kirishima’s teeth because he was still smiling, but as Kirishima softened his lips and kissed back, it felt perfect. He felt special.