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Kirishima had made up his mind. He was tired of being “friends” with Bakugou.
He was ready to confess.
It had only taken forever to work up the nerve, but he did it. He planned the entire thing out.
He just hoped that it didn’t go up in flames.
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Kirishima knocked on Bakugou’s door quietly before turning the knob and walking inside.
“Bakubro? You ready to go? Everyone is almost ready.” Bakugou grunts in response, turning to Kirishima.
“Bakubro?”
“Oh hush and finish getting ready.” Kirishima flops onto Bakugou’s bed, watching as he tries to decide what accessories to put on. He had on light blue skinny jeans paired with a dark blue long sleeve with a little All Might printed on the corner. Navy Vans with white stars adorned his feet.
“Bakugouuuu hurry up!” Kirishima whines, but he’s not actually complaining. He was enjoying looking at Bakugou decide between a studded cuff and his signature chains.
“Hey, it takes time to look this good, idiot. Some of us like to make sure our outfits are well put together.” Bakugou turns, sticking an earring with a cuff and chain attached into his ear before wrapping his chain around his neck.
“You always look good, though! C’mon, let’s go, man!” Bakugou mutters something about Kirishima needing to shut up as the redhead hops off the bed and drags Bakugou downstairs.
“Finally, the princess is ready.” Kaminari is laid on the couch, but jumps up as Bakugou launches himself at him.
“Come on guys, can you behave for one night?” Jirou rolls her eyes as the boys continue to run around the common room, Bakugou yelling about not being a fucking princess, and Kaminari laughing at him.
“Pssttt Kirishima!” Kirishima looks up to see Ashido, Sero, and Urakaka beckoning him over to them. He already knew what it was about.
“Hey guys.” Kirishima leaned on the counter, snickering as Shouji holds Bakugou back from attacking Kaminari. Iida is chastising Kaminari for antagonizing Bakugou, but Kaminari keeps making faces at Bakugou behind Iida’s back.
“Are you ready??” Ashido squeals, unable to hold in her excitement. She jumps on Kirishima, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he laughs.
“I hope so. I really want this to go well.”
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Yaoyorozu and Urakaka had started a monthly tradition of the whole class going out and doing something together. Sometimes they even met up with class 1B to do a big group activity.
Kirishima walked downstairs to Urakaka discussing that month’s outing with Ashido and Sero.
“We’re planning on doing karaoke this month. We already did the booking, and Yaoyorozu gave them the down payment to reserve a room.” Kirishima’s eyes lit up as he heard the word karaoke.
He had wanted to do something flashy to get Bakugou’s attention. He wasn’t particularly good with words, and knew if he did it in private, he’d either chicken out or get so flustered that he wouldn’t be able to get the words out properly.
This was perfect.
“What’s perfect, Kiri?” Sero leaned back to look at Kirishima, whose face flushed as he realized that he had been thinking out loud.
“Oh my god, are you going to confess?” Kirishima shushes Ashido as he turns even redder.
“Wait, to Bakugou? You’re finally going to tell him?”
“Shut up guys!” Kirishima sits on the couch next to Sero, who elbows him and grins.
“Oh my gosh, Kirishima this is so you!” Urakaka and Mina lean forward, staring intently at Kirishima.
“You have to pick a song, and memorize all the words.”
“And make sure you make eye contact.”
“Lots of eye contact.”
“Dedicate it to him.”
“That way, he can’t misunderstand.”
“Knowing Bakugou, it’ll still go over his head. You guys know he’s emotionally stunted.” Kirishima hits Sero with a pillow as he tries to duck.
“Stop being mean. He’s actually gotten a lot better than he used to be.”
“So are you really going to confess, Kirishima?” Kirishima sighs before nodding quickly.
“I’m ready.”
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Kirishima sat on a couch next to Bakugou, tapping his foot nervously as he watched the other performances. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, even Bakugou. His arm was resting on the top of the couch behind Kirishima’s head, and he was smiling, chuckling quietly as Kaminari and Sero did a duet of Never Gonna Give You Up.
Ashido, Tsuyu, and Urakaka had forced Jirou to sing first, and her rendition of You’ve Got a Friend in Me from Toy Story almost made Kirishima lose his nerve.
He knew he wasn’t the best singer, but neither was anyone else.
Iida sang the Japanese National Anthem, while everyone either booed or laughed.
Midoriya had even gotten Bakugou to sing an All Might anthem with him, much to the surprise of the rest of the class. Both of them had the song memorized, and Midoriya had a shockingly good voice. Bakugou, however, sounded like he always did: extremely feral. He almost blew everyone’s eardrums out when he screamed into the mic.
Sero and Kaminari finish their song, and Sero glances at them before grinning and speaking into the mic.
“Next up, Kiri has a very special song. Come on, man.” The whole class turns to Kirishima shaking his head and turning red.
“Hey, I got up there, nerd. You have to too.” Bakugou pushed Kirishima off the couch, the rest of the class beginning to cheer him on.
“Let’s go, Kiri!”
“You got this!”
“Kir!”
“I!”
“Shi!”
“Ma!”
“Come on, Red Riot! Get on the scene!”
“Fine, fine, jeez! I’m going!” Kirishima walks on stage accompanied by whoops and cheers. He goes over to the machine, scrolling until he finds the song he had decided on. It had taken him a while to pick a song, but one day he was watching Tik Toks and saw someone asking someone else out using the audio, and he knew.
He grabbed the mic, shaking as the song queued up.
“Uh, Bakugou?” The blonde looks up from his phone at Kirishima’s voice.
“Yeah, Kir?”
“This song is for you, bro.” A few confused faces appear in the crowd, namely Bakugou’s, but it was too late for questions. The song had already started.
“Your boy boy b-b-boy b-b-boyfriend your boy boy b-b-boy b-b-boy-”
Kirishima was a Big Time Rush stan, understandably. He hadn’t really talked about it until Aoyama caught him watching the episodes on his phone in between classes. It turned out that they had something in common, and they binged all the episodes together.
So picking Boyfriend was natural to Kirishima. Since he already knew all the words, it helped calm his nerves. He picked the version with Snoop Dogg, because he loved rapping along with it.
The longer the song went on, the more Kirishima came out of his shell, dancing around stage and making an absurd amount of eye contact with Bakugou. The confusion from the class faded quickly and was replaced by amusement and support.
As the second Snoop Dogg verse came on, Kirishima walked off stage, standing in front of Bakugou and rapping to him directly. Bakugou’s expression was unreadable as he sat watching Kirishima serenade him. Kirishima was so into the song that he barely registered what was going on around him. All he knew was that he loved Big Time Rush, and he wanted to be with Bakugou.
Kirishima got on his knees as the last verse hit, singing it with everything in his heart. He hoped that Bakugou could tell that he was being sincere.
The song fades out, and Kirishima is met with applause. He stands, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly before looking at Bakugou and bringing the mic to his mouth.
“So, Bakugou, what do you say?”
“What do I say to what?” Kirishima can see that Bakugou is genuinely confused, and not just teasing him.
For some reason, that hurt more.
“Are you a fucking idiot, Bakugou? He’s asking you out!” Hagakare’s yell reverberated around the room as shock displayed itself on Bakugou’s face.
“Wait, what?”
“Were you even listening to the song, dude?” Kaminari’s yell falls on deaf ears as Bakugou makes eye contact with Kirishima.
“You like me, Shitty Hair?” The question caused the class to let out a collective groan.
“Leave it to Bakugou to be THAT fucking oblivious.”
“Shut the hell up, Icy Hot! I KNOW your ass isn’t talking!”
“And you, Shitty Hair, Come with me. Now.” Bakugou grabs his arm and drags him out of the karaoke room. Kirishima barely has time to hand off the mic to Ojiro before he’s being pulled down a hallway and into a smaller, vacant karaoke room.
“Sit.” Bakugou puts his hands on Kirishima’s shoulders, pushing the redhead into a couch as he takes a seat across from him.
“I don’t think we’re supposed to be in here, bro.”
“Shut the fuck up about that. I don’t care. You fucking LIKE me? Like seriously like me?”
“Bakugou are you blind? Like honestly?”
“What are you talking about?” Kirishima puts his head in his hands, chuckling softly before looking back up at Bakugou. He could feel his eyes watering, but he honestly didn’t care.
“I should’ve known this was going to go poorly. I shouldn’t have even said anything.”
“Kir, I’m serious. I had no idea.”
“Why the HELL do you think I hang out with you all the time, Katsuki??”
“I...thought you were just friendly. I don’t know. This is all new for me.” Bakugou’s brashness is gone, and Kirishima looks at him and actually sees him.
He sees the scared boy that Bakugou hides behind the mean exterior. The boy that had followers, but no real friends. The boy who spent more time alone with his own thoughts than he had with other people.
“I never thought about that. I mean, at first I was just being friendly. I really admired you, but you seemed so alone. I wanted you to feel welcomed in the class, just like everyone else.”
“But the more we spent time together, Kat, the more I wanted to be with you. Like, as more than a friend. Like, you’re so kind, even if you act mean, and you’re super smart and you dress well and you’re so determined and you’re like, the definition of a man, man!” Kirishima throws his hands up as Bakugou groans.
“Why didn’t you fucking tell me earlier, idiot?”
“Are you joking? I was nervous as heck, man! Plus I’m like terrible with words, so I didn’t want to do the whole private confession thing. That’s why I picked tonight at karaoke! Although, we somehow ended up doing a private one anyway…”
“Nervous for fucking what?” Bakugou’s question made Kirishima pause.
“Why wouldn't I be nervous, Kat? I mean, I like you so much. And I don’t want to ruin our friendship, and I mean confessing in itself is so nerve wracking, like-”
“Because if you had asked earlier, I could have said yes earlier.” Kirishima didn’t hear Bakugou at first, because he was so stuck in his own head.
“This whole process has been so terrifying, even though I love Big Time Rush, so that part was fun, but I mean I haven’t even gotten an answer yet-”
“I just said yes, Ei.”
“Wait, seriously?” Kirishima can’t help the tears escaping from his eyes as a grin plasters itself upon his face.
“Why are you crying, nerd? I said yes.”
“Because I was scared! When I realized that you didn’t get it, I had basically given up on you saying yes.” Bakugou gets up, seating himself opposite of Kirishima on the couch. He wipes Kirishima’s cheeks with his thumbs, brushing the sides of his eyes softly.
“Kir, the only reason that I didn’t ask you myself was because I honestly thought that you were being friendly. If I had known that you liked me, I would have asked you out in a heartbeat.”
“Seriously, Kat?”
“Unfortunately. I like you, idiot. Like a lot. More than I should.” Bakugou grunts as Kirishima jumps on him, giggling.
“So we’re boyfriends now?”
“Yes, Ei.” Kirishima buries his face into Bakugou’s shoulder, unable to stop laughing. Bakugou exhales, catching Kirishima’s giggle fit. They press their foreheads together, giddiness filling the room.
“You’re my boyfriend, Katsuki.”
“Don’t you ever fucking forget it, Eijiro.”
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When they walk back into their class’s karaoke room, the class falls silent. Kirishima holds up their hands, fingers tangled together, and everyone cheers. Ashido, Urakaka, and Sero high five, and Satou shouts his encouragement from on stage.
The couple sit down back on the place on the couch, Bakugou’s face heating up at all the attention. But when Kirishima lays his head on his shoulder, smiling widely up at Bakugou, he can’t help but calm down a little. This was what he had wanted for so long, Kirishima had no idea.
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“Kir. Come in here for a sec.” Bakugou opens his door, and Kirishima goes in and sits on the floor.
“What’s up, bro?”
“I- Fuck.” Bakugou mutters quietly, pacing around the room until Kirishima grabs on his leg and pulls him into his lap. He snuggles up to the blonde, snaking his arms over Bakugou’s shoulders and interlocking his fingers in front of his chest.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“You’re panicking, Kat. Just spit it out. You sound like Midoriya.”
“Don’t EVER compare me to that dumbass again. That is so insulting.” Bakugou leans back onto Kirishima, who in turn leans back onto the edge of the bed. Bakugou’s head falls back to rest on Kirishima’s shoulder, allowing him to stare up at the redhead.
“You’re so fucking pretty, Kir.” The compliment came unexpected to Kirishima, who started to flush.
“That’s what you called me in here for?”
“You know it’s not, Ei. Just, give me a sec.” Bakugou whispered in a breathless, rushed sort of way that had Kirishima turning his head to look at him.
“Are you...nervous, Kat?”
“Shut the hell up. I don’t want to mess up.”
“You won’t. Just say it.”
“I-I didn’t really get to say everything I wanted to when we were at the karaoke place. And I know it’s late but if I don’t say it now, I never will.
“It’s okay.” Bakugou takes a deep breath before continuing.
“I really like you, Ei. Like, at first I didn’t really get it. Because I wanted to spend more and more time with you. And so I thought that this was what friendship ACTUALLY felt like. But then every time I saw you, I felt weird. And I had honestly convinced myself that I was sick.” Kirishima laughs, and Bakugou nudges him gently before continuing.
“But then one day we were sitting at lunch and fucking Tape Dispenser said something to make you laugh, and I looked at you, and I just knew. You looked so happy, and I realized that I wanted to keep you that happy forever. You’re like...like the fucking sun or something. You’re so bright and warm and happy and perfect and I’m so fucking glad that you like me back. I thought I was going to have to take this to my grave.” Kirishima giggles before kissing Bakugou on the cheek.
“You really wouldn’t have said anything?”
“I was scared, Ei. I couldn’t risk losing you. Even if it meant I had to sit and watch you for the rest of my life. I would rather be stuck being friends with you and never tell you how I feel than tell you and having you leave me.”
“Kat, you were that scared?” Kirishima pushes Bakugou’s head over so they can lock eyes.
“Yeah. I guess. This shit is all new to me. I- I don’t want to be alone again.”
“Don’t worry, Kat. I won’t leave you alone again.”
“Ever.”