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After graduation the only obvious answer is for some of them to get apartments together. Living together for 3 years meant that they all know each other’s pet peeves and bad habits, and maybe it had a little to do with not quite wanting to let go of the scraps of their childhood quite yet. Despite getting a little better at being nice, and a little better at not caring about anyone, Katsuki still wasn’t expecting anyone to want to live with him. The self-proclaimed “bakusquad” was the closest thing he had to best friends, but he knows they’d all choose to live with each other before living with him, and all 5 of them in one apartment seems like a terrible idea anyway. He pretends that this is just the logical explanation and that it doesn’t bother him. Because it doesn’t, okay? Fuck you for even thinking it does.
“Hey, look at this!” Jirou and Kaminari run into the common room where Katsuki, Kirishima, Sero, and Ashido are lazily flipping through Netflix, enjoying the wealth of free time they have during the week before graduation. Everyone looks up in expectation, just in time to see Jirou trip Kaminari out of habit before launching herself onto the couch.
“It’s an apartment complex with three 2-bedrooms right next to each other!” Jirou is swiping through her phone to show them pictures while Kaminari excitedly narrates.
“They’re brand new! Look it has a fucking dishwasher!” Kaminari is yelling, pointing at the shiny new kitchen. Bakugou can’t help but look. It’s nice but he doesn’t really need a 2-bedroom apartment anyway; plus, won’t Kaminari, Sero, and Kirishima need a 3-bedroom anyway? For a second he ponders the concept that maybe Kaminari and Kirishima will share a room, and feels his heart drop out of his stomach. Katsuki quickly brushes that feeling aside to focus on the pictures of the balcony each apartment has while Ashido is ranting about how cool the walk-in closets are.
“This looks great!” Kirishima exclaims, trying to wrap his arms around everyone at once in his excitement. “Is it guaranteed we’ll get all three next to each other?”
Kaminari and Jirou look at each other with conspiratorial smiles.
“Yup!” Jirou starts before Kaminari interrupts her, “We already called! They’re holding them for us! All we need is to sign the lease and put down a deposit!”
Katsuki didn’t think the couch could get any more excited, but it almost gets flipped as Sero and Kirishima start bouncing around excitedly, talking about buying furniture and whether or not they can paint it. The warmth of Kirishima’s hand on his back and yelling in his ear pushes him over the edge, letting off small explosions in the palms of his hands.
Katsuki prays to a God he doesn’t believe in that no one will notice, because he doesn’t want to leave where he’s comfortably squished between Kirishima and Sero, letting his friends’ happiness wash over him, but he’d also die before explaining to everyone that it hurts that he’s not included. That’s none of their business anyway, no matter what Ashido keeps preaching about them all being best friends forever. The God he doesn’t believe in clearly believes in him, and believes in hating him, because Kirishima gives him a look before opening his mouth. Katsuki blasts a small hole in the couch cushion. Fuck.
“Do you not like this place, dude?” Kirishima asks, concerned etched on his face. “We can keep looking,” once Kirishima opened his mouth everyone quieted, and is staring at Katsuki with expectant eyes. Fuck this, Katsuki thinks, before searching around the room for a place to look that isn’t at any of them before settling on glaring at the ceiling.
“Is it the balcony?” Ashido asks, a thoughtful frown on her face. Katsuki grunts noncommittally, afraid of what he’ll admit if he opens his mouth. Fuck these feelings.
“We can keep looking if you want! There’s plenty more!” Kaminari is smiling, undeterred as he tries to grab Jirou’s phone out of her hand to open a different app.
“Don’t fucking do that,” Katsuki finally spits out, still staring at the ceiling. “It doesn’t fucking matter anyway.” This is fine. Neutral. It doesn’t matter that he’s gotten better at talking about his feelings these past 3 years, but he still doesn’t have to fucking like it. The common room is silent, everyone looking at him like that’s not a real statement. It totally is. He doesn’t owe them any fucking explanation. But then he sees Kirishima out of the corner of his eye looking at him with an unreadable expression. Okay. Maybe he owes them a little bit of an explanation.
“I just haven’t found my apartment yet and it’s fucking stressful as fuck,” he grumbles, settling on a half-truth, a fact that they can’t argue with.
“Well yeah, that’s why we put Jirou and Kaminari in charge of this months ago, bro!” Sero laughs, unaware of Katsuki’s feelings. A small explosion goes off, another hole in the couch. Whatever. Fuck you, Aizawa. Fuck you UA. When you think about it, it was all the school’s fault he was in this position anyway. Kirishima is still looking at him with that same expression.
“Wait,” Kirishima interjects, and Bakugou hates what that face means. It means he’s about to get exposed because the one person here who can not only fucking read him like a book also has a complex where he tries to understand that book as well.
“Do you think that you’re not moving with us?” now everyone is staring at him even harder, while he stares at the ceiling even harder. Maybe he’ll discover a new virtue of his quirk where he can use it with his eyes, and he can set the ceiling on fire and end his suffering once and for all. Distantly he recognizes that a different version of himself would have stormed off before this conversation even started and knows that Kirishima would be proud that he hasn’t.
Kirishima keeps talking, undeterred by the storm brewing on Katsuki’s face. “Because you are, Dude!” Kirishima shakes Bakugou a little when he doesn’t say anything. “We’re the bakusquad! The bakusquad can’t graduate and not live together!”
Everyone is looking at each other with slightly puzzled looks on their faces, and Katsuki is about to snap about not needing their pity before what Kirishima is saying sinks in. He’s not stupid, obviously. And he doesn’t like to pretend that he is, so he doesn’t need clarification on what Kirishima is saying. He ignores the way this realization makes his stomach feel. Friends, he decides, was a huge mistake.
“I-“ Katsuki starts before he’s cut off by Ashido as she realizes what’s happening.
“Oh my god! Bakugou!” She’s yelling as she gets closer to him, but not close enough to touch. Even after 3 years, the only person who can do that is Kirishima.
“You really thought we would move out without you?!” the pity in her voice is clear as day and what a fucking stupid thing to be pitied for.
Katsuki shoves himself off the couch, feeling his hands spark.
“Fuck you.”
He hears them calling his name as he walks away but ignores it. Whatever. Now he fucked up living with them; ignores that too. He thinks about the way this makes him feel and ignores that too. Maybe he’ll find that half and half bastard and convince him to spar even though there’s no good reason for them to be training anymore.
Bakugou stares up at his ceiling, absent mindedly clenching his fists. The spar with half and half did him good, for a few hours at least he stopped thinking about the pitying looks everyone gave him as they realized that he thought he wasn’t living with them. He doesn’t need fucking pity friendship or pity roommates. Fuck them. He can just live on his own.
A knock on his door startles him out of his thoughts, causing him to instinctually clench his fists and let off a small explosion. Maybe if he ignores it it’ll go away even though he knows who it is, and he knows they won’t go away and he knows that this is fucking pointless. He counts to five.
He knows it’s pointless because he knows what comes next, and sure enough, Kirishima is opening his door without him getting up. He really needs to start locking it even though Kirishima is still the only one who’ll do that. He counts to five again.
“What do you want, shitty hair?” Katsuki yells, wondering if he can recapture some of that fear back from their first year and maybe get some of his fucking dignity back while he’s at it.
“Don’t act stupid,” Kirishima laughs, walking over to sit on Bakugou’s desk.
“Get off my fucking desk, I’ll fucking murder you.”
All he does is laugh again. Fucking Kirishima.
“I know that you know that you’re being stupid now, and you were being stupid before, and you think that we’re doing this out of pity for you but you also know that we aren’t you’re just being stubborn.”
Katsuki thinks that Kirishima’s balls have gotten a little too big since he realized that for some reason, he’s impervious to Bakugou’s true anger, because obviously now he thinks he can just say stupid fucking shit like that. Katsuki aims a blast in his direction, but Kirishima is hardened before Bakugou even finished exploding.
“Nice try, dude,” Kirishima makes himself more comfortable on Bakugou’s desk, knocking some stuff on the ground.
Kirishima always knows not to go too deep though, and acts like he doesn’t understand or care about the motivations behind what Katsuki’s feeling. Instead he cuts right to the heart of the matter, and Katsuki can’t figure out if he’s mad because he knows he’s being handled or glad that Kirishima knows not to push it.
“The plan is Jirou and Ashido, Sero and Kaminari, and me and you, dude! We all get apartments near each other so the Bakusquad remains united as shit, but we don’t all fucking murder each other immediately.” Katsuki thinks distantly that this must have been a Kirishima decision because that smile on his face is too self-satisfied to mean anything else. Katsuki wonders if it’s a mistake anyway. Can he really live with Kirishima? A traitorous part of him is excited at that prospect. Fuck having friends.
“Unless you really don’t want to do that,” Kirishima talks over the silence that Bakugou had forced into the room.
“I guess we just kind of forced that idea onto you, but we all kind of assumed you knew and then didn’t disagree so it was okay,” Kirishima rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, no longer looking at Katsuki. Fuck. He hated when Kirishima got this way, all doubtful and shit.
“Stop looking like that, shit for brains,” Katsuki glares, “yeah, I’ll fucking do it. I don’t have any other fucking options anyway.”
Kirishima’s smile lit up the room. Katsuki rolled over and pretended like he didn’t see it.
“Shots!” Ashido is screaming across the bar, 4 empty shot glasses already sitting in front of her, sparkling in the light of the club. Katsuki regrets everything that led him to this moment, including coming to UA, talking to any single person, making “friends”, moving in with said “friends” and now being dragged out to a disgusting club with these supposed stupid fucking “friends”.
Katsuki takes the shot anyway. He takes the shot because he can see the dance floor perfectly. He takes the shot because Kirishima is on the dance floor. He takes the shot because Kirishima is on the dance floor with a tall guy with dark skin and dark hair. He takes the shot because Kirishima is touching the guy on the dance floor with dark skin and dark hair and he’s letting that random guy touch him and Katsuki feels sick to his stomach.
Katsuki knows that Kirishima is gay. Everybody knows. Kirishima couldn’t keep a secret for a goddamn second so as soon as they all got to know each other he came out.
“What’s more manly than loving another man, right dude?” His easy smile told Katsuki that he wasn’t afraid for a second that anyone would reject or bully him, or even if they did, he would be able to take it. Kirishima was just strong that way. Plus, everyone else knew that Kirishima was under Bakugou’s protection. One thing out of line and they would’ve gotten an explosion so far down their throat they’d need new insoles.
Katsuki always thought that not being a goddamn homophobe was like, the base level of human decency, but apparently, he found a new way to disappoint himself because he was looking at Kirishima and this guy and feeling a way that was decidedly not tolerant.
He downs another shot when Ashido hands it to him, just as he sees Kirishima pull the guy down for a kiss. Fuck this place he thinks, as he knocks over his chair in his hurry to leave. Katsuki is so busy hating himself that he doesn’t notice Kirishima staring after him, calling his name.
Part of living with a roommate is putting up with stuff they do. Even if that stuff they do is bring home strangers every weekend. Katsuki made the mistake of trying to vent to Ashido about it once but got a lecture about uplifting each other so he decided to never do that again and went to the gym instead.
Of course, Kirishima can bring home whoever he wants. Katsuki isn’t that much of an asshole. This is his problem and his problem alone and that problem was that Katsuki is apparently a fucking homophobe. He never thought he was but when he feels physically sick every time Kirishima brings a new stranger home, always giving him notice and making sure it’s okay, never the same guy twice, there’s only one logical conclusion he can come to.
So that’s how he started scheduling Friday and Saturday night patrols. If he’s not there to see it, it doesn’t matter what’s happening. It doesn’t stop him from feeling any less pissed off when he sees Kirishima with a hickey on Sunday morning, but at least it stops him from potentially running into a random guy on his way to the bathroom at 2 am.
He knows that this is the cowardly thing to do, just run away and avoid his problems. Kirishima would definitely call it very unmanly, but Katsuki avoids thinking about what Kirishima would do if he knew so he doesn’t spiral completely.
Finally, after weeks of avoiding their apartment and stretching his already limited amount of patience and ability to hide his feelings, Katsuki turns to the only thing that can help him in this trying time: the internet. He can’t be the first person who realized they were a homophobe and wanted to change it, right?
“Stop homophobia” just leads to a bunch of stuff about how to end it like…as a society. Fuck no, he’s already a hero he can’t fight villains and societal problems all at once. Just googling “homophobia” brings him to a Wikipedia article and a dictionary.com article, neither of which are helpful since he knows what homophobia fucking means, you piece of shit websites.
It’s not until he searches “how to stop being homophobic to my roommate” does he at least start getting something relevant. A lot of people are talking about how they were homophobic until they met their friend, but Bakugou thinks that’s kind of the chicken before the egg type thing for him. He was fine! He was great, tolerant, a goddamn fucking ally before Kirishima decided to start…being gay all over their apartment. Most of the articles suggest exposing yourself to it, forcing yourself to be nice, and being aware when you’re thinking homophobic thoughts, so you can correct yourself.
That kind of sounds like training, Katsuki thinks to himself. If he can do anything it’s train, and there’s nothing he’s failed at yet, so he’ll be fucking damned if he lets himself be defeated by whatever the fuck this is. He’s Bakugou fucking Katsuki and he’s no goddamn homophobe.
So as part of his exposure therapy, Katsuki changes his patrol shifts and starts being home again on Friday and Saturday nights. It’s fine the first week, Kirishima doesn’t even go out.
“You haven’t been around dude,” Kirishima pulls Katsuki in to a friendly headlock, dancing away when the blonde takes a swing at him.
“We can have a bro night! I missed you!” Katsuki is relieved because he kind of missed getting to see Kirishima too. The whole night he doesn’t feel that twist in his stomach once, not even when Kirishima falls asleep on him during the movie. They do it again Saturday night, and Bakugou thinks maybe he was worrying for nothing.
Instead, the universe decides to hate Katsuki, and Kirishima goes out next weekend and Katsuki spends the whole night pacing around their apartment; cleaning, dirtying, turning the tv on, turning the tv off, until Kirishima stumbles in at 3 am.
“Bakuuuuuuu” Kirishima slurs as Kaminari shoves him into Katsuki before heading down the hallway. Kirishima is a clingy drunk, and clings onto Katsuki as he’s dragged into their apartment.
Katsuki can smell alcohol and sweat on Kirishima, and a hint of cologne that isn’t his that turns his stomach. It doesn’t mean anything, it could be Kaminari’s, or a stranger’s, or fucking nothing. Stop thinking about it. Katsuki’s mouth ignores his brain’s warning though, and what comes out instead of a normal joke is; “What? Decided not to bring home a random guy tonight?”
The words spill out before Katsuki can stop them and since when did he become so bad at controlling his words? Kirishima blinks, again with that face Katsuki never knows what to do with, before putting his head down and mumbling into Katsuki’s shoulder.
“I can’t hear you under all that shitty hair,” Katsuki bites out, trying to ignore the feeling stirring in his gut; a slowly spiraling into a level of self-hatred that he hadn’t felt since All Might’s retirement.
“There’s no one as pretty as you,” Kirishima sighs into Katsuki’s shoulder, loud enough for him to hear. Katsuki can feel his face go through a variety of expressions and emotions, before settling on neutral anger, but Kirishima isn’t even looking at him anymore, instead staring resolutely at his shoulder.
When it’s clear Kirishima isn’t going to say anything else, Katsuki grits his teeth, “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” He asks, getting angrier by the second. Is Kirishima fucking with him? What the fuck is his fucking game? Katsuki? Pretty? He never thought Kirishima would be the kind of person to make fun of him that way, but it’s a brave new world out here when booze and one-night stands are involved.
For once Kirishima doesn’t have a half smile on his face, and suddenly all drunkenness was erased, replaced with a deadly seriousness.
“I said,” Kirishima began, looking like he was using his quirk to harden his eyes and expression, if not the rest of his body, “No one was as pretty as you are. They never are.”
Katsuki takes in Kirishima’s expression and the downturn corner of his mouth. Nothing on his face says this is a joke but Katsuki can’t fathom why else he would be doing this. He’s been quiet for too long when Kirishima’s mouth twists into a sad smile. Before Katsuki can do anything to stop him, he’s on his way to his bedroom, patting Katsuki on his shoulder as he goes.
Katsuki doesn’t sleep that night.
Katsuki avoids Kirishima all day, running errands and just generally not being in their apartment. But not seeing him doesn’t mean he doesn’t think about him, turning those words over in his mind all day. The way Kirishima said it, like it was fact. That’s what messed him up. That and the way it made him feel.
It was nothing like the way he’d been feeling before. And if he was a homophobe wouldn’t he be feeling that way? There’s nothing more fucking gay than being called pretty by your gay friend, other than doing stuff like kissing your gay friend. Bakugou very carefully doesn’t think about kissing Kirishima. Where’d that stupid ass thought come from anyway?
Katsuki finally returns home at 10 o’clock. If he’s lucky Kirishima would be out, and Katsuki can get into his room unscathed and continue beating himself up from the comfort of his own bed. Instead, every bad thing he’d ever said to fucking Deku had come back to haunt him all at once and he opened their apartment door to Kirishima and some random guy making out on their couch. Their shared couch. That they sat and watched TV on. That they ate dinner sitting on. That Kirishima fell asleep on Katsuki’s shoulder on.
Katsuki exploded a lamp.
“What the fuck was that?” the ugly ass guy jumped up from where he had been half on top of Kirishima, looking around frantically for the source of the explosion. Kirishima was slower to get up, probably knowing exactly who and what caused their living room lamp to become a pile of smoking ash. Bakugou held his breath, maybe if he held it long enough he’d pass out and this would all be a dream.
It’s one thing for him to have all these fucking feelings or whatever the fuck they were, it’s even one thing for him to avoid their apartment and Kirishima, it’s a whole other thing to actively scare the shit out of an innocent civilian. He can practically hear Kirishima’s words in his head, what an unmanly thing to do, bro. Instead of saying that though, Kirishima takes a page out of the Katsuki handbook and starts throwing around unnecessary swears.
“What the fuck do you think you’re fucking doing?” Kirishima asks, face completely blank and voice at a normal level. To anyone else that would be a good sign, but Katsuki knows that Kirishima taking time to very clearly not look like he’s feeling anything means that he’s actually feeling a lot of things, and this time it’s definitely anger.
Katsuki fumes, contemplating exploding their door, so he can have somewhere to go but he knows that’ll just piss off everyone else on the floor and create a bigger mess to clean up than he has now.
“I’m just not trying to see you do that,” Katsuki pauses, gesturing between Kirishima and the random guy, who looks one second away from pissing himself. “Gay shit or whatever on our fucking couch”. Kirishima’s calm façade breaks, and Katsuki remember exactly why Kirishima is one of the best heroes of their generation just in time to be concerned for his bodily safety.
Kirishima turns to face his guest, “I’m so sorry about this,” he says, voice uncharacteristically soft. Kirishima starts bundling the guy towards the door who’s looking frantically between them, more terrified than uncomfortable – for now.
“Just text me tomorrow!” Kirishima tries to smile reassuringly but it doesn’t do much to hide the anger in his eyes. Katsuki wonders if it’s too late to blast his way out a window? Or maybe this plane of existence?
“You never gave me your number,” the guy manages to mutter out before Kirishima closes the door on him, pretending not to hear. Katsuki gives himself a second to brace himself before he sees Kirishima turn on him, anger fully on display.
“Listen, dude,” Kirishima is advancing towards Bakugou, who has slowly backed up into the center of their living room. The “dude” doesn’t sound as friendly as it normally does, almost like Kirishima is being sarcastic. Sarcasm doesn’t suit him and Katsuki regrets giving him a reason to use it.
“I was fine with you avoiding me, I was fine with you not coming out with us, I was fine with you being a fucking weirdo around the guys I bring home. But what I’m not fucking fine with is you being an asshole about the so called” Kirishima puts his hands up in air quotes as he gets closer to Bakugou, the blonde’s movements stopped by their coffee table, “fucking gay shit” that I do in the peace of my own home. You were supposed to be out, it’s not my fault you decided to stop being an asshole on a Saturday night for once.” Kirishima stops for a breath, and it’s like all of his anger deflates.
He’s still standing really, really close. Katsuki’s eyes are on Kirishima’s face and the anger that was just there has passed, leaving a hollow sadness that hurts Katsuki down to his core. This is the shit he was trying to avoid! His stupid feelings and his apparently inherently terrible personality that makes it impossible to keep a friend. Good round team, he thinks, we made it 4 years, but I guess that was enough of that for now.
Kirishima runs a hand through his hair, but other than that doesn’t move, doesn’t even seem to notice how close he and Katsuki had gotten during his rant. Bakugou looks back up at Kirishima’s face and is struck not for the first time how beautiful Kirishima is. He’s different now than when they started school, obviously, more grown into his features and his large pointy smile. It’s no wonder he has a different guy available every night. He’s perfect.
Katsuki’s lost in thought, taking in all of Kirishima’s face before settling on his lips, wondering what it was about them that brought all these guys to their knees. And that’s when the urge to kiss his best friend overwhelms him. Oh, Katsuki thinks. Oh.
Kirishima is still looking everywhere but at him, obviously trying to get his thoughts in order.
“Is this about last night?” Kirishima pauses, “About me calling you pretty?”
He moves around Bakugou to sit on their couch, very careful to not so much as brush arms despite their close proximity.
“Because I’m sorry about that, dude. I just-“ Kirishima cuts himself off, seemingly without an explanation for his behavior.
But Katsuki knows. Katsuki knows a lot of things right now. And maybe they’re things that he’s always known and maybe they’re things that he’s been ignoring but he knows them now. And he knows why Kirishima hadn’t done anything; hadn’t said anything before now. Say what you want about Bakugou but he’s not stupid, not even close, and especially not when it comes to his best friend. So once he knows, he knows. In a way, he’s relieved. At least he’s not a fucking homophobe like he thought, that’s gotta count for something, right?
Kirishima hasn’t started talking again yet, looking at Katsuki like he’s waiting for Katsuki to say something and Katsuki realizes he hasn’t, instead has just stood there with clenched fists, probably making weird faces while Kirishima goes through the stages of grief right in front of him. He’s a fucking moron. They’re both fucking morons. Taking action has always been Katsuki’s shelter when he’s lost in a swirl of emotion, so he does the first thing that comes into his mind.
Kirishima’s lips are soft on his like he knew they would be. For someone who’s quirk is hardening, everything about Kirishima is soft. So soft. It takes a second before Kirishima to get on board, but he was always better at figuring out Katsuki’s intentions than anyone else. Now that Kirishima is kissing Katsuki back, the blonde finally understands those other guys. Yes, this is worth travelling across the city with a stranger for. Hell, Katsuki would travel around the planet for it.
Kirishima raises his hand to Katsuki’s face and the rough calluses make Katsuki gasp. Kirishima takes this opportunity to deepen the kiss, leaning in closer and licking Bakugou’s bottom lip. This was Katsuki’s idea, but he had no idea it would make him feel so untethered, so far away from the person Katsuki thought he was, and so much closer to the person that Kirishima thought he could be. Katsuki’s hands are gripping onto the back of Kirishima’s shirt so tightly he thinks he can feel it ripping, and it’s all he can do to not set off explosions against it too.
Kirishima is leaning forward, pushing Katsuki back on the couch, and Katsuki lets him. He goes easily, reclining so Kirishima can settle between his legs, kissing like there’s no rush and there never will be, like this is the easiest thing in the world. Katsuki hasn’t done this much, but he’s a fast study, and he knows that what he wants is for Kirishima to use those teeth that he’s avoided thinking about too hard for too long. The best way to teach is to lead by example, right?
He sinks his own teeth into Kirishima’s lower lip, just hard enough to let Kirishima know exactly what he’s going for. The redhead audibly gasps, picking his head up as he lets out a whine. Not exactly what Bakugou has in mind but he takes advantage of the moment, kissing down Kirishima’s neck to his shoulder, biting at the junction where they meet. But then, just as fast as it started Kirishima is leaning away, pushing himself all the way to the other end of the couch. Away from Katsuki.
“I-“ Kirishima looks wrecked, hair stuck in some sort of half up half down mess, face flushed and lips swollen. Katsuki wants to kiss him again. “What-“ Kirishima touches his lips, a little bit reverently, a little bit scared. He seems to be having trouble processing exactly what’s happening right now. Katsuki’s heart stutters for a second, wondering if maybe this was all wrong. He knew that he was right about his own feelings, but maybe he was wrong about Kirishima’s. Maybe it was his damn ego getting away again, even thinking that Kirishima would be into someone like him. But then he catches the redhead’s eye and sees the flush there, the awe, and knows that that’s not the face of someone who’s unhappy about what just happened.
Kirishima seems to shake himself out of it, a look of steadfast determination on his face. On the battlefield Katsuki loved that expression, knew it meant certain victory for their team. But here, in the quiet of their living room, his heart dropped. He knew exactly what that expression meant, and it meant he would have to talk about his goddamn feelings and admit the entire embarrassing story. Aloud. To Kirishima.
“What was this all about, Bakugou?” Kirshima’s eyes are serious, not leaving Katsuki’s face even when Katsuki glances down at his hands. “Katsuki,” Kirishima says again, and Katuski’s heart skips a beat.
“I just want to know what’s going on.”
“I just”, Katsuki grumbles out, knowing that even if this was necessary or whatever, that it was gonna fucking blow. “I just realized something.” Kirishima’s face is open, patiently waiting for Katsuki to continue. He was too good at getting stuff out of Katsuki by now for this to go any other way. “I was avoiding you because of all the” Katsuki waves his hand in the direction of Kirishima’s room, “stuff.”
Kirishima looks between Katsuki and his room but doesn’t say anything.
“I thought I was being a fucking homophobe about it,” At this Kirishima’s expression finally changing, his eyebrows shoot up to his shitty hairline, and he opens his mouth to start to say something.
Bakugou cuts him off, “I know, I know. I just felt angry and upset every time you brought someone home and couldn’t think of any other reason.” Kirishima’s face morphs again, this time into a small smile. As always, ten steps ahead of understanding Katsuki and his feelings when it took Katsuki 3 months just to get there.
“I take it you thought of another reason though,” Kirishima laughs lowly, and it makes heat curl in Bakugou’s stomach. He wants to kiss him again. But Katsuki’s gravitas from earlier is gone and he doesn’t know what to do with that feeling, so he clenches his fists and scowls.
“I thought it would be easier,” Kirishima admits, voice small. Katsuki hates the way he sounds; embarrassed and ashamed. Self-deprecation isn’t a good look on him. “I’ve felt this way about you for a while. I thought it would just go away. That I could make it go away,” Kirishima lifts his eyes to Katsuki at that, and Katsuki wonders how long they could’ve been doing this. How long he made Kirishima afraid to even try anything. “As usual, you fixed the problem for both of us though I guess.” And the smile that threatens to split Kirishima’s face is blinding.
“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” Katsuki grumbles, even as Kirishima is moving towards him, still smiling, undeterred by Bakugou’s harsh words. “So, this” he gestures between them, but instead of taking his hand away, he puts it on Bakugou’s chest, “This is a thing now?”
Katsuki lets himself smile as Kirishima gets closer, their lips just barely touching.
“Yeah, shitty hair, it’s a thing now.”
Tomorrow morning, Kaminari is going to burst into their apartment to see them curled up on the couch and scream loud enough to get everyone running. Sero will run in, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth, and see Katsuki blast Kaminari into the hallway. Ashido and Jirou get there just in time to see Kaminari explain the sight to Sero, and as his friends congratulate them Katsuki lets himself smile.
This warm feeling in his chest, matching the warm feeling where his hand is nestled in Kirishima’s is, is something he could get used to. Fucking friends, man.