Chapter Text
As far as Eijirou knows, he was the first to really be…"accepted", they call it.
Those moments where you know Bakugou sees you as a friend now. The moment where he shows just that little extra bit of intimacy or kindness to seal the deal.
They all shared theirs, happily trading all of their stories and reminding themselves that no matter how angry he could seem, he cared about the class. He just had some problems about showing it, sometimes.
Eijirou's was a little towards the end of first year.
Bakugou never liked a whole lot of physical contact. Or almost...any, really. He'd flinch back at a simple tap, at times, and get anywhere near his hands and there'd already be a blast flying your way.
The whole Bakusquad knew, but a lot of times, they forgot. They were all very touchy people, and Bakugou was the only person who wasn't.
Even Eijirou himself instinctively threw an arm around Bakugou's shoulders every now and then, flinching away and apologizing at Bakugou's own flinch and his usual growl.
And the drawn up shoulders, and the hunched in figure, and the hands that usually stayed at his sides but, sometimes, if he was tired, they'd end up clasped together at his chest.
No matter how much Bakugou tried to deny it, that was panic, loud and clear. Just as loud as his explosions on an especially hot day.
He-they, always regretted forgetting.
And if the others didn't, then, well. They don't deserve to hang around him anymore in the first place.
But eventually, one day, he forgot again. He threw a careless arm around Bakugou's shoulders on their way back to the dorms. He almost instinctively flinched away when he noticed.
Until he noticed Bakugou was settling in to the contact.
He just kept arguing with Kaminari that ketchup could, hypothetically, be a smoothie, but it'd be a crime to call it that.
He wasn't all for it. It was clear. His shoulders were still tense and his scowl drew down a little more, but he stood his ground.
Eijirou gripped on a little tighter, and Bakugou leaned back into it, just a bit. Enough to reassure him there wasn't any fear clouding those crimson eyes.
(He double checked. Yeah. They're fine.)
Whether Eijirou realized it or not, this was the first step on a little...journey with his own little moment at the end of the road.
Eventually, Bakugou got entirely comfortable with the over-the-shoulder thing. He never quite leaned into it, and sometimes, he'd tense up for a moment before relaxing. Some days, he'd flinch away like he used to.
Eijirou just drew away on those days and ticked a mental box in his brain that said 'worry about Bakugou today'.
Other than those special cases, though, he seemed to be pretty comfortable with it.
One day, after a particularly exhilarating training session, he picked up Bakugou and hugged him full on (God he's so sorry for that) with an iron grip, entirely on instinct.
But surprising...both of them, it seemed, from the weird noise Bakugou let out over his shoulder, he just tensed for a moment in surprise before melting into it a bit.
He didn't hug back, but he didn't flinch either. He just sighed and said, "Shitty Hair, let me the fuck go will ya? We've still got another 20 minutes left here, dumbass."
He blinked a moment, still a bit spaced out, before he pulled back, apologizing sheepishly.
Bakugou just sighed and told him to get back into stance.
Eijirou obeyed, and they started training again relatively swiftly.
After that, he never tried a full-on hug again for...a while. God, he didn't have the guts to, he really didn't want to scare Bakugou with something like that.
Because it would scare him, clamped in someone's arms and forced against their body. He could barely handle physical contact as is-for whatever reason, one that he'd been working to amend no matter what it was-but the added part of being restrained?
God, he's so sorry he did that to him in the first place, melting into it or not.
So, for the most part, he kept it simple with little side hugs, or really, really quick hugs which barely had any restricting arm inclusion.
But even as much as Eijirou initiated contact, Bakugou didn't even dare beyond taps and knocks against the head, shit like that, to get his attention.
Eijirou really didn't mind. He understood that it might take some adjustment. He understood if Bakugou never initiated any contact, ever, even! He'd be fine with that! He was perfectly content with how Bakugou was accepting affection now-a lot better than he did before.
(He's still a little sad he had to make him panic so many times to bust through his shell, but at least it was worth it in the end.)
But in the end, Eijirou didn't have to wait it out.
They were in Bakugou's room, studying, like they always were. They were both tired as all hell due to the eventful day they'd had, Bakugou even more so, most likely. And not only because it was close to the time he went to sleep.
In the morning, they had had some strange assembly event where they had to group up outside, on a small patch of grass. Of course, this meant it was entirely packed-too-close contact with far too many people-and it was also fucking with Bakugou's schedule. Not to mention the training Aizawa had put them through; not his worst, but they'd had better days.
Eijirou stretched, turning to Bakugou and only confirming his suspicions when he saw the boy just blinking down blearily at his worksheet, clearly fighting to stay awake. Eijirou chuckled. It was rare to see Bakugou like this, but he always got a lot more mild when he did. He was a lot easier to deal with.
Eijirou slid his textbook out of his lap, slipping the paper into the first page, laughing softly at Bakugou's sound of confused irritation.
He waved a hand in front of Bakugou's face and his eyes became a little clearer. He looked up at him a little innocently, almost like he wasn't quite sure what was going on. Eijirou smiled a little softly. "Bakubro, dude, you're fallin' asleep on me! Can't have your homework squished, right?"
Bakugou blinked again before nodding. "Yeah, guess not," he muttered. It was almost inaudible, but the room was quiet enough that Eijirou could hear it. He turned, properly slotting himself against Bakugou's side, their arms touching. Bakugou didn't jump at all at the contact, even though he was tired, and tired Bakugou tended to be more jumpy. No.
He just sighed and cuddled into his side, plopping his head on his shoulder and grabbing his waist.
His eyes widened as something clicked in his brain. Something knew what he was saying; knew he was telling him, 'I feel safe here. Stay.', in his own weird Bakugou way.
Because he wouldn't do that unless he did feel safe. Because usually when he's tired he's more on-edge, more on the defensive.
But not here. Not here.
He gently tried prying the other off; it proved fruitless, with Bakugou only whining meekly and burrowing his face deeper in Eijirou's collar bone.
Eijirou let out a soft laugh. He didn't want him off anyways; starfish Bakugou was a treat all on its own.
So he just turned off both their phones-Bakugou would kill him if it was dead tomorrow, and it was part of his routine, anyways-and laid down, pulling Bakugou with him.
Bakugou just burrowed into his neck and fell asleep. It really didn't take long, probably due to just how exhausted he was.
Eijirou took a moment to take it in. Bakugou's whole bed smelt like caramel, and it was kinda weird but also really nice.
He slumped into the warm body curled into him, slowly letting himself drift off to sleep.
He's really, really glad Bakugou can trust him with moments like this.
For a little bit, he thought Bakugou may have forgot; it was late, and he was extremely tired.
He quickly learned he hadn't when Bakugou carelessly grabbed his wrist the next day. When he walked closer to him than usual. When he walked with a little more weight in his step, like he was telling the world he conquered something.
He did, and Eijirou couldn't be more proud.
From then on, most times, physical affection was mostly a breeze. There were some rough spots, here and there, some things he had to get Bakugou used to-like long hugs and the way he elbowed people gently to basically gesture towards them (Bakugou didn't like how damn pointy his elbows were, according to him, which was valid)-but for the most part, things became a lot easier.
Sometimes, Bakugou would even melt a little into the touch. Lean back on Eijirou's arm a little, lean a little further into hugs than usual, sidle a little closer than he usually did, like he was seeking warmth.
Eijirou didn't like to make assumptions, but if he did? He'd say he was touch starved.
And by God was Eijirou going to do everything in his power to change that.
He didn't know why Bakugou avoided touch in the first place, either. Didn't know why he used to tense up or flinch at a single tap.
But he didn't need the whole story to help. He was able to help just knowing the surface details, and that was enough for him.
Enough for him that Bakugou never flinched away anymore.
Enough for him that Bakugou had a little less weight to his step these days, a little less darkness to his face.
Enough for him that he was there. Enough.