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Bakugo Katsuki was a simple man but many misunderstood his intentions. He was raised on tough love and liked to treat his friends the same way. Sometimes it failed to come across that way. He grew up without the faintest idea why people would look afraid when he yelled at them. There was a disconnect that was unaccounted for, and as he walked out of U.A. for the last time with his best friend, Kirishima Eijiro, he felt a shift in the wind; change was coming.
Kirishima threw his hands in the air and enthusiastically exclaimed, “We did it!” His smile was as bright as the sun as he cheered with Kaminari Denki, Todoroki Shoto, and Midoriya Izuku. Their road to graduation from U.A. was long and winding, full of villains and uncertain circumstances. They had to fight for their lives more than once, and those situations undoubtedly helped them realize quickly how dangerous the world could really be. It taught them to rely on their teammates and those willing to help.
“Pipe down, Shitty Hair,” Bakugo scoffed, kicking a pebble. “We still have to find jobs.”
Kirishima threw his arm around Bakugo’s shoulders and pouted in his face. “Don’t be so negative, Katsuki! We’re some of the best rookies in the nation; we can find jobs in no time!” He snickered before letting go of Bakugo’s shoulders, returning to celebrate with his friends.
Bakugo huffed, looking over his group. They were the people he grew close to over the past four years, and he would never admit it out loud, but he would be lost without them. Admitting his feelings was always a tall task, even when it came to his parents or his best friends.
“Hey, Kacchan!” Midoriya piped up, reaching around Kirishima to nudge Bakugo’s arm. “Tsuyu’s hosting a graduation party at her house tonight. Are you going?” He waited for Bakugo’s response with an eager smile, no resentment or anger in his eyes towards his childhood bully.
Instead of agreeing, Bakugo just shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll actually sleep tonight, maybe jack off or something.” He looked away from them, quietly cursing at himself for not coming forth with what he really wanted to do: ask if Kirishima was going. That was a silly question, of course; Kirishima went to every party because everyone loved him. That was half the problem, though. Bakugo hated going to those house parties because he had to see Kirishima flirt with other people, feel them up, and sometimes even kiss them. It hurt him in ways he could not explain.
Kirishima piped up for him. “He’ll be there. I’ll make sure of it. By the way, how’s your mom?” he asked Midoriya.
“She’s great! She’s worried about me, like always, but…”
His voice trailed off, fading away. Bakugo was lost in thought all the way home. When he walked through the front door, he was greeted with a kind smile from his father. He nodded towards him, adding a little grunt to acknowledge he was happy to see him, too. Masaru knew how to read Bakugo’s primal responses, being his father and all.
“Katsuki!” Mitsuki yelled from the upstairs closet. She rushed out with a broom in hand, and before Bakugo could say anything, he whacked his leg with the base of the broom. “You forgot to take your teacher’s present to school to thank him for putting up with you all these years.”
Bakugo scowled at her. “Sorry, Mom. Guess I’ll take it to him when I know I’ll see him next.” He turned away from her and tried to walk away, but she pulled him towards her and hugged him. He went rigid in her arms, still not used to her hugging him. He believed she started this because she felt bad for treating him so poorly when he was young, but the damage was done. Something was broken inside of him, and he didn’t know how to fix it.
“Congratulations, sweetie,” she said into his puff of blonde hair, identical to hers. “I’m really proud of you.”
He nodded, forced a smile, and ran up to his room. He wanted to avoid her as much as possible today. His life was changing, mostly because his school life was officially over. Now that he didn’t need to attend endless trainings and take useless tests for general studies, he had no idea what he would do. Sure, he might be able to find a job quickly, but what about the loneliness? He wouldn’t be around his friends every day anymore. He wouldn’t hang out with them after class or walk home with anyone.
As he pondered the downward spiral he was certain his life would take, he received a text.
From: Shitty Hair
you coming tonight bro?
A soft smile spread across his face as he replied.
To: Shitty Hair
Obviously. Don’t pre-game too hard. I’m going to whoop your ass tonight.
From: Shitty Hair
not if I eat yours first!
Bakugo stared at his phone screen in disbelief. Did he read that right?
From: Shitty Hair
omfg I meant BEAT not eat, sorry bro
He didn’t know why, but he was a little disappointed.
To: Shitty Hair
It’s cool. See you tonight.
Bakugo tossed his phone onto the bed. He mumbled to himself, “What am I going to do?” As he allowed himself to spiral further, he ended up falling asleep.
He woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing on the floor. He grumbled, rubbed his eyes to see better, and reached down to answer it. He didn’t look at the name before he answered it. “Hello?”
“Hey, Katsuki!” It was Kirishima.
“What’s up?”
“I’m here to pick you up. Come outside; it’s time to party!” His obvious excitement was seeping through the phone, and it only annoyed Bakugo a little bit.
“Okay, okay. Give me five minutes.” He stood up, heading towards his closet for a change in clothes.
Kirishima huffed. “We’re already thirty minutes late. I’m leaving in three!”
Bakugo chuckled. “See you in two.”
Kirishima and Bakugo rolled up to the party with the music pumping in Kirishima’s car, loud and full of bass. A few people waved and cheered for their arrival, like Kaminari and Mina, who were already clearly drunk. Asui came outside to greet them. “Hey guys!”
“Tsu,” Bakugo said, closing the car door behind him. He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking up at the house. It was quaint with a slanted roof, large glass windows, hanging lights from the underbelly of the upstairs balcony to illuminate the front door, and it was filled with recent U.A. graduates. “This is… impressive.”
Asui smiled at him. “Thank you, Bakugo. The others are playing a game inside. Follow me.” The two boys trailed behind her, witnessing people doing body shots, basically undressing each other in the front lawn, and mixing drinks with God knows what. Once they reached the interior, the whole place came together for Bakugo. The ceiling was a lot higher than it looked from the outside, and it was painted an eggshell white with a chandelier hanging from the middle. The large windows of the front were reflected on the back end of the house to reveal a flower and fruit garden in the back. The furniture was gray: a long, L-shaped couch faced the 60-inch television hanging on the wall; a singular love seat swung in the corner with two people from Class B cuddling in it; and the chairs around the dining table were odd in the sense they had no backs but were tall enough to where even Kirishima’s legs would dangle from them.
As for the upstairs area of the house, Bakugo noticed the stairs hugged the wall to keep the downstairs area as open as possible. There was a railing on them to keep people from falling off since they extended upwards a decent amount. There were pictures on the wall of Asui and her family, who clearly had the same frog-like traits as her. Once they reached the top of the stairs, there was a long hallway with multiple doors. Bakugo assumed they were mostly bedrooms and possible a bathroom or two, but he was unsure where the balcony connected to. Asui opened the third door on the left to reveal their usual group of friends playing beer pong, and just as they entered the room, Midoriya missed a shot and slumped his shoulders. He shook his whole body to get rid of any nerves and fisted the cup before chugging the entire cup in a few seconds time.
Kirishima rushed ahead to join in the fun while Bakugo decided to sit in a green chair behind him. As Kirishima and the group played beer pong, Bakugo found himself staring at Kirishima. He admired his build; especially how tall he’d gotten over the course of their time at U.A. He used to be shorter than Bakugo, but now he stood a good six inches above him. There was something about a tall man that drew Bakugo in. His face went red when he noticed Midoriya staring at him. He looked away quickly to avoid getting caught.
“Why don’t you join us?”
Bakugo looked for whoever asked but nearly jumped out of his skin when he came face-t0-face with Kirishima less than two inches away from him. His breath had a hefty odor of beer. His eyes were slightly blood shot and he was smiling like a big goof.
“I-I don’t know, Ei,” he mumbled, looking away again, this time to keep Kirishima from seeing him blush.
“That’s no fun! Come on, it’ll be a great time.” Kirishima grabbed Bakugo by the hand and pulled him up. He would have had a tighter grip if Bakugo didn’t willingly go with him. Fortunately, it didn’t take much to bring along his best friend.
Bakugo stood alongside Kirishima and Uraraka as Midoriya took another chance on a ping-pong ball. This time, he made it in (which came as a complete surprise to everyone, since he was completely wasted). Uraraka mumbled something about the game being rigged, but she still threw back the cup of beer. The crowd around them cheered, and it came around to Bakugo’s turn.
He stood in front of the three cups left on his team’s side of the table and stared down at the single one on the opposing team’s side. He was sober still, not having taken a single drink of alcohol since they arrived, so he felt confident in landing his shot. Suddenly, he felt someone put their hands on his hips, and hot breath brushed against his left ear.
“You got this,” Kirishima whispered, staring intently at Bakugo’s hand, which began to tremble a little bit. Only him and Kirishima could tell with how close they were to each other.
Bakugo gulped and with an exasperated sigh, turned his head slightly to the right to grumble, “Move back, Shitty Hair. You’re ruining my focus.”
Kirishima let go of Bakugo’s hips, hands raised slightly in defense. “My bad, bro.”
Now that he was free of Kirishima’s grip, Bakugo took his shot, landing it perfectly in the cup. The opposing side of the table, with Midoriya, Sero, and Mina, erupted in defeated cries, deciding to split the last cup of beer between each other. As they drunkenly blamed each other for losing, Kirishima placed a hand in the middle of Bakugo’s back.
“Nice going, Katsuki! You’re great at that.” He hiccupped, giggling afterwards.
Bakugo looked up at Kirishima, letting all false hostility fall from his face. He wanted to speak with him alone, but there were too many people in the house. Instead, he motioned for Kirishima to follow him.
“Come on. We’ll go find some shots so I can get as wasted as you are.”
Kirishima pumped his hands in the air, leaving the spot of Bakugo’s mid-back just a little colder than before. “Let’s do this!”
The two of them walked down the hall and checked what and who was in the other rooms. In one, there was a dance party with strobe lights and everything. Jirou was in charge of the music, so of course there would be a lot of people in there to enjoy what she put out. In another room, Asui was sitting on someone’s lap, but he wasn’t anyone the two boys knew. They shrugged and walked further down the hall, passing by Todoroki. Bakugo high-fived him as he watched Midoriya appear from one of the rooms to drag Todoroki inside by the hem of his shirt. He chuckled, knowing exactly what they were up to. Suddenly, he remembered the balcony and pulled Kirishima by the forearm to search for it.
At the end of the hall, they found a door to the bathroom, which was occupied by someone whom they walked in on.
“Lock the door next time, stupid Monoma!” yelled Bakugo, slamming the door shut behind him. Kirishima laughed before spotting the sliding glass door to the balcony. Out there was Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, and Iida. Kirishima opened the door and went outside first, and Bakugo followed behind.
“You made it!” said Yaoyorozu, scooting over to make a spot for one of them. Kirishima took the spot, while Bakugo sat across from them in a single seat. There were a few bottles of liquor and four shot glasses on the table; next to them was a couple of joints, used about halfway. One was between Iida’s index and middle fingers.
“We’ve been here for thirty minutes, but Eijiro needed to get tipsy first,” Bakugo chuckled, grabbing a joint. He lit it with a spark from his finger.
“Is that so?” Yaoyorozu inquired. “Well, we were just about to leave for a rave in the city. You guys want to join?” She raised her perfectly plucked eyebrows inquisitively.
Kirishima looked at Bakugo before answering. “I think we’ll hang out here until it’s over. Besides, I really shouldn’t be driving right now.” He reached out to grab the joint that Bakugo offered. He inhaled deeply, held it in, and blew the smoke out slowly, coughing a little at the end.
“Suit yourselves,” said Tokoyami. “If you need a ride home, give me a call and I’ll come pick you both up.”
With that, the three of them stood up and waved good-bye. Kirishima passed the joint back to Bakugo, leaning back on the patio couch. “Beautiful night.”
“Yeah…”
Both of them shifted awkwardly in their seats. It wasn’t usually like this, but the circumstances were different.
“Why’d you touch me like that earlier?” Bakugo asked suddenly.
Kirishima looked at him in a dizzy haze. “What do you mean?”
“When… When you grabbed my hips at the beer pong table, dummy.” His cheeks flushed red, and he looked down at his hands. He wanted to avoid the topic, but now that they were graduated and had to move on with their lives, he wanted to know where they were going in their friendship.
Kirishima blushed as well. “O-oh, um…” He reached up and rubbed his neck, feeling a little more sober. “I don’t know, bro. I guess I let the drinks get to me.”
Bakugo’s shoulders slumped at the thought it was just a drunken action. “Makes sense.” To avoid confronting his feelings, he grabbed two of the shot glasses and poured whiskey from one of the bottles in them. He handed one to Kirishima. “To us.”
They held their glasses up and clinked them, then downed the shots. They repeated the process a couple of times before Bakugo felt a strong buzz. By then, another half hour passed, and the house was beginning to empty. He pulled out his phone, but his parents were probably asleep by now. “Shit,” he mumbled, standing up. Unfortunately, he was more drunk than he thought and stumbled forward, almost landing on the wooden floorboards. Kirishima caught him in the nick of time.
“Slow down,” he slurred, pulling Bakugo up to sit next to him. He wrapped his arm around Bakugo’s waist, their hips flush together. “You can’t expect to get up that quickly and be stable.” He chuckled lightly.
Bakugo grunted in response and let his eyes close while his head ended up on Kirishima’s shoulder. “What are we going to do?” he whispered.
Kirishima looked at him, his nose almost in Bakugo’s hair. “I told you we were going to get jobs, didn’t I?”
“No, I mean… Are we going to stay friends even though we’re out of school? We’ll probably end up at different hero agencies, with different assignments, in different prefectures. We’ll never see each other again.” The amount of talking he was doing surprised even himself. He brushed it off as drunk ramblings, as did Kirishima. Neither of them wanted to admit what it really was.
“Of course, we’ll stay friends,” Kirishima breathed, his eyes beginning to fall shut. Both of them were exhausted after a long day. They absolutely planned on partying hard but plans never work the way they were intended. Before they knew it, they were both asleep on the patio couch, Bakugo on top of Kirishima as they slept through the night on the balcony of Asui’s house.
The warm morning sun illuminated the dew-covered grass, pink petals falling from trees alongside the road, and the occasional car driving by with a person inside trying to get to work on time. Bakugo was the first to wake up. The left side of his face was pressed into the middle of Kirishima’s chest, which was rising and falling steadily with his breathing. He almost moved, but something clicked inside of him.
He didn’t want to. This was the most peaceful he’d felt for months. Something told him this was where he wanted to be, and not just for that moment. For a lifetime. He wanted to be with Kirishima.
Before he knew it, he was crying. It was unusual for him to cry, especially since he always acted so strong. The only person outside of his parents to see him shed tears was Midoriya during their fights and arguments because of jealousy of Midoriya’s growing powers. Nonetheless, he let his tears soak into Kirishima’s shirt as he tried to stop his shaking, silent sobs.
Without fail, Kirishima stirred awake. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, his vision too blurry to tell who was on top of him. Then he remembered and smiled. “Good morning, Katsu—”
There were tears on Bakugo’s face. He was crying, and Kirishima didn’t understand why. “Hey, hey,” he cooed, sitting up and forcing a startled Bakugo to move with him. “What’s wrong, Katsuki?”
Bakugo cleared his throat and wiped his tears away. “Nothing you need to worry about, Shitty Hair.” He internally cursed himself. Why must he always repress his feelings from those worried about him?
The red head wouldn’t have it. “Don’t lie to me, dude. Something’s wrong, and as your best friend, I have a right to know. Now tell me, or I’ll tell Izuku you need your ass beat,” he chuckled, nudging Bakugo’s arm with his shoulder. He wanted to continue teasing him until he got an answer, but something on his face told him not to. “For real, bro. I want to be here for you. Just tell me… please?”
Bakugo sighed deeply. He wanted to keep his feelings to himself to avoid losing the only real friend he ever had. He just knew if he told Kirishima how he felt, he would avoid him for the rest of his days. “It doesn’t concern you; now leave me alone!” He began to stand up, but Kirishima grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to sit back down on the patio couch. He stood in front of him, holding him down.
“I’m trying to help!” he pleaded. “You’re my best friend. I hate to see you sad. I know you don’t like to talk about how you feel, but what else am I here for if I can’t help you in your times of need?”
Bakugo grit his teeth. “Let me go,” he growled, his eyes welling up again. “You wouldn’t understand anyway.”
“I won’t have the chance to if you don’t tell me.”
The two stared at each other for what seemed like a lifetime before Kirishima let go of Bakugo’s shoulders and stood up straight. Bakugo rolled his shoulders to get the lasting pressure of Kirishima’s grip off of him. He stood, turning his back to his friend.
“Do you really want to know?” he muttered, crossing his arms.
“Absolutely.”
He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, shakily. “I care about you… a lot…”
Kirishima cocked his head. “I care about you, too, Katsuki. Is that it? I knew that already, idiot.” He began to laugh until Bakugo turned around and threw a fist at his arm.
“Not like that!” he yelled, letting the tears stream down his face. “Once we find agencies and work every day, we’ll have no time together, and I’ll be lost on my own. My dad’s too scared to stand up to my mom, and every time I do, she responds with aggression. I’m tired of being strong all the time. I want to be with someone that takes away my fears and loves me and treats like I’m a fucking piece of art!” His sobs were being choked out in waves as his body trembled with his overwhelming apprehension.
Kirishima still didn’t quite get it. “If you need help, I can set you up with someone. I know a lot of people—"
“I’m scared of losing you, dipshit!” Bakugo yelled.
Kirishima’s eyes widened. It hit him. Bakugo was talking about him. He wanted to be together, not just with any random person. Slowly, he reached cautious hands towards his best friend. “Katsuki, I’ll always be there. W-We’re friends, dude.” He tried to put his hand on Bakugo’s shoulder, but it was swatted away.
“No.” It was short and to the point. Bakugo looked into Kirishima’s ruby eyes, his own welling up with hot tears. “I’m scared of losing you because I love you, and I want… I want to be with you.” His voice trailed off at the end as he lowered his head, his shoulders slumping in defeat. It was his dirty little secret, being in love with his best friend. To him, it was pathetic; who lets themselves feel something so wonderful when they know it’ll end in heartbreak? Nonetheless, if Bakugo did not tell Kirishima in that moment, it would eat him alive in the end.
The red head let his hands fall back to his side. Even though Bakugo had the strength to admit how he felt, Kirishima didn’t know how to vocalize it himself. “I get it now,” he rasped, clearing his throat. “I-I’m feeling a lot of things, but-but they’re not… bad.” He put his right hand on his hip as his left rubbed the back of his neck. “How do you want to approach this?”
Bakugo sniffled lightly. “I’d rather you not tell anyone that I cried like a bitch.” He laughed softly, causing Kirishima to smile. “Also, um, would you want to take me out some time?”
Kirishima perked up. It wasn’t what he was expecting, but it certainly made him happy. “S-sure, we can get dinner and watch a movie together.” He took a short step toward Bakugo, reaching out to grab his hand. He pursed his lips, pulling his friend’s hand up to kiss it. Bakugo gasped quietly, his jaw tensing at the sudden romantic gesture. “I’m really glad you told me, Katsuki. I always want to be someone you trust, either as a friend or a lover.”
He looked up to meet eyes with Bakugo, but he was still looking away and down, too embarrassed to match the eyeline. Kirishima stepped even closer, reaching up to grab Bakugo’s jaw lightly in his large hand, easily making him look him in the eyes. “I probably won’t always say the right things, and I know nothing about relationships, but—”
Bakugo scoffed. “You’re always making out with people at these parties; how do you not know about relationships?”
Kirishima shrugged. “It’s just for fun. No real feelings are ever involved.”
“W-wait, so, you’ve never, like… been with anyone?”
Kirishima shook his head, and Bakugo lit up like a tree on Christmas.
“… Me neither…”
They both chuckled, leaning into one another. They stayed there for a minute, breathing in each other’s scents, enjoying the peaceful moment while they could.
Bakugo pulled away first, once again clearing his throat. “So, Shitty Hair, what do we do now?”
“We could get in my car and head home. I’m sure our parents are worried we didn’t make it home last night.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. For your parents anyway.” He turned around to look for his phone. Kirishima watched him, his chest swelling with happiness. He tried to resist it, but he figured letting his instincts take over just this once wouldn’t hurt.
He reached out and pulled Bakugo in close, they’re faces inches. The blonde stared up at Kirishima, breathing heavily. “W-what are you doing, Ei?”
Kirishima gripped his chin in between his thumb and index finger, realizing why he instinctively put his hands on Bakugo’s hips the previous night. “I’ve wanted to do this for a while. Why wait any longer?
He smirked as he bent his head kissed Bakugo deeply. He wrapped his arms around Bakugo’s waist, their bodies so close together there was no space left between them.
Bakugo was reluctant at first because of the surprise, and he wasn’t processing the way he wanted to react. In the end, he decided he wanted to work through his confusing feelings and be together with the man that made his racing thoughts calm. He placed his hands on Kirishima’s face, slowly tracing them down and around his neck. As the kiss heated up, he finished by wrapping his arms completely around his neck, ensuring he wouldn’t be able to back out after initiating the beginning of their future together. Just like the rising sun, it was the dawn of a new day for Kirishima and Bakugo.