Archive of Our Own ^beta

Bakugo’s curtains were already drawn when you slipped into his dorm after curfew.

Darting into the room before you could be spotted, you immediately slid it shut with a hesitant click. The tension melted from your shoulders as if someone had flicked a switch. Raking a hand through damp hair, you slowly turned to the rest of the room.

Soft moonbeams filtering in through the grey blinds, giving off just enough light to see the silhouette of the bed in the gloom. It was almost midnight, and the rest of the building was silent. Really you should’ve been asleep by now, what with there being class the next day, but you knew that wasn’t going to happen unless you came here.

Carefully, you padded over to the sleeping lump hidden under grenade patterned covers. Compared to Kiri’s room, there wasn’t anything scattered across the floor to trip on, but you’d learnt not to rely on Bakugo’s cleaning addiction. More than once you’d stubbed your toe on a discarded textbook or forgotten dumbbell. And more than once you woke said blonde up with your colourful cursing and frantic hopping, clutching a reddening foot in both hands.

Grinning to yourself at the memory, you paused just short of the bed. Squinting against the darkness, you managed to roughly make out the two figures curled up nearest the wall with just enough space left over for you to slide under the covers too. The bed creaked as you shifted your weight onto the mattress. Against the wall, Bakugo stirred, you paused. The blonde turned over so he was facing Kiri and tucked himself under the redhead’s chin, to which Kiri replied by unconsciously tightening his grip around the blonde’s waist. If you hadn’t already seen the interaction a hundred times before, you were positive you would have melted at the sight of such cuteness!

Biting back a smile, you gently pulled back the comforter and settled down on the edge of the bed. You tucked your legs up behind Kiri’s, one arm sliding under the junction of his neck to cradle the back of Bakugo’s head, while the other rested next to Kiri’s hand on Bakugo’s waist. The position was intimate, close in a way you couldn’t be during the day, where they were the couple and you were just another friend.

But here, you could have this. You could hold your sleeping boyfriends close until the sunlight crept across the floorboards and you had to return back to your own bed before anyone else woke up. But for now, you could enjoy this.

Letting out a content sigh, you let your eyelids drift closed and the tension leave your muscles, efficiently melting even more into Kiri’s back. Inhaling deeply, you pressed your nose to the redhead’s scalp, the pleasantly soft strands tickling your neck while the smell of Bakugo’s strawberry shampoo wafted up your nose.

This was nice.

Running your fingers through Bakugo’s soft locks, you could almost hear the purr coming out of him as he sleepily pushed back against your hand. You allowed yourself a few precious seconds of intimate touching before stilling your hand, knowing he’d bite your head off tomorrow if you woke him up at this hour. Offering yourself a private smile at the thought, you slightly squeezed the back of Kiri’s hand before going still.

It felt wrong to give one of them affection without doing something soft for the other. Almost like you were uneven. Similar to how you had to tap all four of your fingers with your thumb while anxious or it’d feel ‘uneven’ for the rest of the day.

Kiri pressed back against your front, his fingers clumsily intertwining with yours. He must of felt your lips twitch against his head because his grip tightened before relaxing. The callouses of his thumb rubbing over the back of your hand before he settled again.

Yeah, this was nice. This was perfect. Were your last thought before you finally drifted off.

>_<

“WAKE UP SHIT HEADS WE’RE FUCKING LATE!” Was the next thing you heard. Groaning, your shoved your face further into the pillow while Kiri shot upright in bed dragging the covers with him. Clawing at the comforter, you hoisted it back over your shoulder and snuggled back down as Kiri unceremoniously tried (and failed) to climb over you.

There was a few minutes of shuffling. The rapid fire sprays of deodorant and low cursing as homework was shoved into school bags and promptly zipped up. At one point, Kiri took off at a dead sprint for the bathroom, gel and comb in hand, his shirt hanging off one arm while he tried to pull his trousers up.

With a fond smile, you watched the pair get ready, your eyelids already beginning to drift closed.

“Wake up Dumbass, you’ve got class too.” Bakugo’s voice was uncharacteristically soft as he shook your shoulder. Swatting at him half-heartedly, you shoved your head further under the cover so only the ends of your hair were visible. The blonde chuckled to himself before trying to wrestle the comforter away.

Clutching the material in a death grip, you refused to relinquish an inch of pleasant darkness, much to the cursing and threats of your blonde boyfriend. It got to the point where Bakugo had climbed onto the bed behind you and was trying to roll you off of it. This was usually Kirishima’s job, and it showed when all you had to do was shift unexpectedly for him to lose his balance and crash to the floor.

The click of the door shutting had your amused giggles instantly dying to dread. “Ei, help me.” Bakugo snarled, grabbing the edge of the covers with new found strength. Footsteps approached the bed, slow and menacing. You just knew Kirishima had that dopy predatory smirk on his face as he reached the end of the bed.

“Y/n?” He sang, the bed dipping as he placing his hands on either side of your hips. “Time to get up."

“Ma-KE ME!” You’d barely finished the sentence before Kirishima scooped you up, covers and all. Screeching at the top of your lungs, you tried fruitlessly to wiggle free, but thanks to your earlier tug of war with Bakugo, your arms were pinned uselessly to your sides.

“Shut the fuck up, Shouji will hear you.” Bakugo snarled, clapping both hands over your mouth. Growling into them, you ceased all movements and let the redhead swing you up onto his shoulder. Satisfied that you would provide no further noise, the blonde let go of your face, instead planting a soft kiss to your pouting lips. Sticking your tongue out at him, you let Kirishima set you back down on your feet.

It was amusing how effectively he could set you down and snatch the covers out of your grasp, as if you would curl up in them right there on the floor. Okay fair enough you’d already tried that, twice, but doing it a third time would just make it repetitive.

“Fine. I’m up. What now geniuses?"

“What do you mean, what now? Class starts in ten, Dumbass.” Bakugo chuckled, swinging his bag onto his shoulder as Kirishima straightened his blazer.

You made a show of glancing at the blonde’s bedside clock. “Right about now everyone is coming out of their dorm rooms, it’ll look suspicious is I start walking back to my room while everyone’s heading to class.”

Realisation hit them both like a bus. It was almost comical to watch the gears start turning in the blonde’s head while Kiri mentally slapped himself.

You snorted. “Try not to think too hard about it. You guys go to class. I’ll go back to my room when everyone has gone downstairs.” You offered, shepherding the two to the door.

“You sure? You’re going to be really late if you do that.” Kirishima offered, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

You opened the door for them, being sure to keep yourself out of sight should Shouji decide to emerge from his own. “I’m sure. It’s a better alternative to scaling the outer wall of the building back to my dorm again.” That earned you a sheepish laugh from the both of them.

You could tell they weren’t too keen on leaving you on your own, they were just perfect like that, but time was pushing on. “Goodbye kiss?” You offered, with a playful tilt of your head.

Bakugo came back to life first, puffing out his chest, lips pursed as he leaned in, but Kirishima titled your head to capture your lips first, much to the blonde’s dismay. Smiling into the kiss, you tangled your fingers into scarlet hair, careful of his beloved spikes, just to milk the moment. Kirishima was the first to pull back for air, tucking a stray lock of hair behind your ear as he went.

“See ya in a bit.” Then he was gone.

Bakugo refused to look at you, pouting like a child in his own doorway. Rolling your eyes, you grabbed his collar so he couldn’t dip out and planted a kiss on the corner of his lips. “Try not to burn the classroom down.” You mused, earning yourself a small smile from the blonde.

“No promises.” He grumbled before turning on his heels and heading for the elevator. You closed the door behind him before Shouji could emerge from his room.

>_<

In the end, you decided against going to class.

After so many sleepless nights – which you filled with cramming for the test coming up on Wednesday – you decided your best bet would be to call in sick so you could catch up on some much needed sleep.

The only problem being that since your relationship had begun, you found you craved human warmth in order to sleep more fiercely than before. It didn’t have to be both of your boyfriends thankfully, but you couldn’t drift off unless you knew someone was there beside you. Perhaps it was the trauma of first year given shape.

Where most students became more jumpy after Kamino, or experienced graphic nightmares like Bakugo for instance, you needed someone nearby so you felt safe enough to sleep. Your instincts were terrified someone would snatch you the moment you closed your eyes. But if Kirishima held you or Bakugo pressed his back to yours in the moments you were trying to drift off, you were given some peace of mind.

While you loved your boyfriends for their understanding and enthusiasm to help, your body was now conditioned to clinging to someone even if you only wanted to knock out for a quick nap, and with Iida cracking down on curfew, you hadn’t been able to sneak up to the fourth floor in a few days.

In short, you could just about fall asleep anywhere right now.

Now you may be wondering, ‘how the fuck am I going to sleep when said boyfriends are currently in class?’ Well my friend, you very conveniently stole Kiri’s hoodie and Bakugo’s All Might blanket before making your way back to your dorm room, so hopefully, this would help you knock out.

Spoiler alert; it didn’t.

Your dorm door creaked open a little after three.

After spending a productive day binging Netflix and stealing from Denki’s snack cupboard, you’d lost track of time and were way too engrossed in your movie to notice. That is until your pillow was yanked out from under your head, making you screech in surprise, before you were instantly smothered by it.

Heart pounding, you clawed at the fabric over your eyes, but ceased all plans of escape when Bakugo began talking. “You Dumbass!” He snarled, lifting the pillow long enough for you to draw in a much needed breath before smothering you once again. “You called in sick and left us!”

So that’s what this was about.

Pulling up the bottom of the pillow, you replied in a matter of fact tone. “But no one saw me leave this morning so I’d say my plan worked out perfectly.”

“Tch, idiot,” Bakugo grumbled, removing the pillow entirely from your face. “You could’ve at least said.” He added, avoiding your gaze to throw the pillow at your headboard.

“Too tired,” you breathed through a delicious stretch. “Now, come here and cuddle me, I need sleep.” You whined, making grabby hands for your blonde.

Bakugo’s skeptical expression melted into something softer as he reluctantly sat on the edge of your bed. “You’ve had all day to sleep.” He commented, running a hand through your hair. Curling into the touch, you wrapped your arms around his waist to burry your face into his thigh.

“Couldn’t.” You grumbled against cotton.

Another light snort. “What the fuck would you do without us Dumbass?” The gentle hand kept running through your hair, soothing your mind into a sleepy haze.

“Starve.” You admitted, recalling all the times Bakugo had made you dinner and fiercely fought with you on how bad instant noodles were for your body. “Where’s Kiri?” You thought aloud, surprised the redhead hadn’t emerged already.

“Downstairs.” Came the soft spoken reply. The blonde shifted backwards so he could lean more comfortably against the headboard, his hand never leaving your hair, “I came up to bring you notes, they’ll be expecting me back in a while.”

You hummed in acknowledgment before finally dropping off into a dreamless sleep.

>_<

Light nudging and soft voices coaxed you out of the blissful darkness.

Grumbling, you started to stir only for Kirishima’s soft voice to relax you back into your dream state. Your brain couldn’t comprehend what was being said, but the gentle hands rubbing circles into your back said enough. Pressing your face further into the redhead’s chest, you inhaled a deep lungful of vanilla and burnt caramel.

A weight appeared at your back. Legs tangling in your own as hands wrapped around your waist. Soft music filled the otherwise silent atmosphere, coaxing your dream hazed mind to become more alert.

Cracking open an eyelid, you smiled to yourself upon recognising Kirishima. His eyes flicked from his phone to your face before taking a double take when realising you were awake. “Sorry baby, did I wake you?”

Shaking your head slowly, you allowed yourself a gentle stretch, loving how refreshed you felt after finally sleeping. “Fuck I needed that.”

“You look better now shithead. Not so sleep deprived.” Bakugo commented, tucking a stray hair out of your eyes as you stretched.

“I would hope so.” You mused, letting yourself go limp against the redhead’s chest again. Despite all his muscle, Kirishima made one hell of a comfy pillow.

The blonde hummed to himself, blissfully warm hands dragging over your back to kneed at sense muscles. Groaning lowly, you felt yourself practically melt again. “Good?” Bakugo mused, digging his thumb into a particularly knotted spot where your neck met your shoulder. You wriggled in discomfort for a few moments before the knot untangled. Skilled fingers rubbed the reddened skin, soothing the ache.

“The best dude.” You praised.

Too soon Bakugo pulled back.

“What do you idiots want to watch?”

“Beauty and the Beast!” You declared, to which Kirishima cheered and agreed.

Rolling his eyes a little harder than needed, Bakugo complied.

You weren’t even ten minutes into the movie when Kirishima’s phone began to ring. “Shit, sorry. Sorry!” The redhead apologised, receiving a playful booing from yourself and a light-hearted whack from Bakugo. Offering a sheepish smile, Kirishima answered.

“Hey Mina, what do-“

“Where the hell are you guys? It’s game night.”

“Shit.” Kirishima blurted, shooting up into a sitting position. You whined dramatically about losing your pillow only for Bakugo to lean back and drag you onto his own chest with minimal effort. Snuggling into your new cushion, you watched Kirishima’s eyes darting round the room nervously for inspiration. “We’re in Y/n’s room.” He supplied.

“You and Blasty?” Mina teased, causing Kirishima to flush.

“Yeah, just checking up on Y/n, ya know?”

“Oh shit they were really sick weren’t they. Do you want us to move up to Y/n’s room? Their TV is big enough.”

Kirishima looked to you and Bakugo for help. Eyes flickering from the TV to where the two of you were snuggled up on the bed. You nodded slowly knowing either way you weren’t going to have your couples evening.

“Yeah sure, make sure to bring beanbags. Bakugo and I have claimed the bed.”

“No fair.” Kaminari yelled in the background as Mina confirmed they’d be upstairs in ten.

>_<

“What about that redhead between the blonde and h/c? He looks like he’d dig it.”

“You’re buying me a drink when I win this thing.”

“Yeah, yeah. Survive the angry blonde and we’ll see.”

She grinned in response, taking a moment to touch up her lipstick before sauntering up behind the redhead. Trailing a delicate hands from his elbow down to his hand, she spun him round with practised ease. There was only a few seconds to watch his eyebrows shoot up and the smile to fall from his lips before she whispered softly, “pucker up buttercup,’ and kissed him.

“What the fuck!?” The blonde bellowed from Red’s side. She pulled back, releasing Red’s hand as the blonde yanked him away by the collar of his shirt. Flicking her hair over a shoulder, she turned on her heels and made to stride back to her friends when she was tackled from behind.

>_<

You saw the woman approaching the three of you out of the corner of you eye. She and her group had been staring at you for the past ten minutes so you’d opted to keep an eye on them. Nothing to obvious. Just a subtle glance around the theme park every now and then while you slurped your slushie.

Not to be judgemental, but you didn’t like the way she smiled. With those blood red lips tilted up into an easy grin, the way she moved said enough about her confidence. Not to mention that way the others egged her on and laughed, eyes never leaving your general direction.

What you hadn’t expected was for her to have the balls to go after your man while you were staring right at her, not to mention Bakugo had been holding Kiri’s hand while they argued over the map. The way she grabbed him as if she owned him had your blood boiling in your veins, your plastic cup crinkling as you glared at the back of her head.

Then she fucking kissed him!

Bakugo met your bewildered gaze over Kiri’s shoulder with a withering glare of his own. Eyebrows raised, you tossed your cup over your shoulder as his fingers crumbled the map. “What the fuck?!” He snarled, grabbing Kiri’s shirt to separate them.

The bitch smirked. Fucking smirked, making sure to make fucking eye contact with you as she flipped her crusty ass hair and pivoted.

Now between the three of you, it was fair to say Bakugo had the worst anger issues, and with Kirishima being the ray of sunshine he was, you were next on that spectrum. In any other circumstance, you might not have reacted the way you did. Looking back, you should have been the better person and dragged the two of them away, but in the moment, launching yourself at that bitch’s unprotected back was the best form of satisfaction you had ever experienced.

She screeched as you grabbed her. Shoving with all your might, you followed her down. “You don’t just go round kissing other people’s boyfriends ass wipe!” You snarled, grinding her face into the pavement as she thrashed. It was clear she’d never received a self-defence lesson in her life judging by the way she squirmed and failed to land a backwards hit on you.

The noise from the scuffle had drawn the eyes of the crowd but you couldn’t find it in you to care. Rage blinded you as you ruined her face.

Way too quickly, Bakugo was hauling you off of her by your armpits. Squirming like a fish on a hook, you were practically frothing at the mouth as the bitch slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. Doe eyes lifted to the three of you, tiny scrapes from the gravel littered her left cheek. Those eyes trailed to Kirishima’s embarrassed grimace, to Bakugo’s glare, to the gremlin thrashing between his arms. Her expression hardened when your eyes met.

“Over reaction much.” She chuckled, staggering to her feet. Her friends’ cackling could be heard from across the way. You weren’t sure whether to feel satisfied or guilty knowing they hadn’t bothered to try and help her. The cocky smirk she flashed their way and the flirty raised eyebrow she threw Kirishima quickly made up your mind for you.

“Let me down Bakugo, I just wanna talk.” You snarled, struggling anew. The blonde tightened his grip on you in response, and with the way he was built, there was no way you’d be able to bust yourself free.

“Let it go dumbass.” He growled near your ear.

“Just let me strangle her. Ju-just a little bit, the-then I’ll let it go.” You bargained as you wiggled, visibly delighted by the way the bitch flinched before quickly retreating.

Gently, Kirishima put a soothing hand on your shoulder, his tone firm as he gave you a very final, “Y/n, no.” You deflated and let yourself be dragged off the nearest restaurant.

“Jesus dude, what was that?” Kirishima asked leaning over the table to be closer to you.

You grimaced. “I don’t fucking know.” You admit, running a hand through your hair so you could hide from his questioning gaze. “Not very manly right?” Bakugo scoffed at your pathetic tone, sucking hard on the last of his apple juice.

“Na it was hella manly, just wasn’t expecting it from you babe.” Kirishima assured you, taking your hand from your hair and wrapping it in his own before you could start pulling on your scalp.

“Well in all fairness, I was distracted making sure she didn’t fucking quirk you or something.” Bakugo interjected, snatching your half-finished drink while you were occupied with Kiri. “So Dumbass was just defending their territory while I was distracted.” He said it so simply as if yeeting oneself at strangers is what comes with the job of being a partner.

“That I was.” You agreed with a sheepish laugh, squeezing Kiri’s hand. He offered you a small smile in return, not too different from his embarrassed grimace from earlier. Guilt made you release his hand. Kirishima tried not to let his hurt show. “Sorry if that was embarrassing to watch, me losing my cool that is. I just couldn’t do nothing. You don’t just go up to someone and do something like that. It’s disrespectful.”

“Especially when you could clearly see you were fucking taken. You were holding my fucking hand for god’s sake.” Bakugo added, clearly still fuming from being ignored. Kirishima fully laughed at that, looping an arm around the blonde’s shoulder to pull him closer.

That reminded you. Your expression melted into a grin, “your face Bakugo when she first came up to us.” You had to take a moment to collect yourself before continuing. “It was hilarious, when we made eye contact he had this ‘can you not see me bitch?’ face on and it was, priceless, I tell you-!”

“-Sooooo, how was your date on Saturday guys?” Mina asked, leaning back in her beanbag so she could look at the three of you on the bed. Her phone lay forgotten in her lap as she wiggled her eyebrows at the pair as she spoke, effectively snapping you out of your thoughts.

“It was awesome. Bakugo tackled someone who kissed me out of the blue.” Kirishima supplied without missing a beat. Your stomach twisted unexpectedly at Kirishima’s perfect lie. It must of shown on your face because the redhead shot you an apologetic look as Bakugo began to explain in exaggerate detail how he’d ground the bitch’s face into the concrete and Kiri had to drag him away.

Waving it off with a joking roll of your eyes, you pretended to be in shock at the blonde’s daring actions. The two were curled up together on the end of the bed while you sat hugging your pillow. Which came in handy for situations like this where you didn’t have the energy to hide your grimace.

The five of them bantered for a while, thinking up different ways they would’ve dealt with the bitch if they were in ‘Bakugo’s’ shoes, the scenarios becoming more and more absurd and illegal than the last.

Eventually, they grew bored of that and Sero turned the conversation to you. “And you Y/n? You went off campus too didn’t you?” He took a long sip from his soda can as you fumbled for a response.

“Yeah, but no women tried to throw themselves at my feet.” You mused, shooting the pair a sideways smirk, “it was just a boring trip to the park for a change of scenery.”

“Wait, you didn’t go to the theme park? IT CLOSED LAST SUNDAY!” Mina realised, almost rolling out of her beanbag in horror. You quickly realised she was probably recalling that time you’d gushed about wanting to go.

“DAMN IT! I thought I had another week to go.” You cursed with a pout, earning yourself a soft head pat from Kaminari.

“That’s too bad dude, you could of come with the three of us on Friday.” The blonde offered, crawling into the space between you and the headboard to give you a one armed bro hug. You didn’t miss the way Kirishima pouted or Bakugo glared at the oblivious pikachu for his action. Deciding to milk the moment, you leaned into the blonde’s side so you could rest your head on his shoulder.

“Na it’s fine.” You assured him, watching Sero’s character start moving through the undergrowth again. “You win some and lose some, right?”

Let’s just say Kaminari lost all games against Bakugo or Kirishima that night.

>_<

The class bundled into the common room after a long day of classes. The Bakusquad easily took up one of the green couches, piling onto one another in order to fit. Bags were strewn across the floor, Blazers tossed over the arms of chairs. A few students were clattering around in the kitchen, probably Saito getting ready to bake some promised brownies for everyone, others headed straight for the elevator in order to change out of their uniforms.

With a half-smile, you watched your friends stretch out across the couch. Kirishima in Bakugo’s lap on the end furthest from you, while Sero sat beside them with Kaminari leaning against him and Mina stretched out across the arm of the chair and their laps. They were laughing amongst themselves, Sero trying to convince Kaminari to charge his phone.

“You gonna join us Y/n?” Mina giggled, wiggling her feet so her shoes flew off, earning the group a few shouts from Iida.

“I don’t know if there’s any space.” You mumbled slyly, eyeing the back of the couch. Unceremoniously, Sero shoved Mina off of his lap and patted his thigh.

“A space just opened up.” He stated calmly, ignoring Mina’s indignant squawk. Before she could push herself to her feet, you dove onto your friends, wiggling so you were comfortably on your back with your head in Kirishima’s lap. Mina loomed over you, hands on her hips.

“Can I help you?” You goaded, enjoying yourself a little too much. Mina just glared. With a war cry, she threw herself onto the pile. Kaminari screamed, while Sero tried and failed to scramble out of range. Groaning, you took the blow to the stomach like a champ.

“Get off Mina! You’re heavy!” Kaminari complained, shoving at her legs. Kirishima just giggled, threading his fingers through your hair and raking his nails gently against your scalp. You couldn’t help but melt into the touch, eyes open a crack to see Bakugo also watching you with a smug look. Sticking your tongue out at him, you groaned when Kiri found the sweet spot behind your ear.

The couch went quiet.

“Was that a moan?” Kaminari teased, loud enough for the whole fucking class to hear. You felt the blood rush to your face.

“Not my fault Kiri found my weak spot.” You fired back, expecting the skilling fingers to pull back in order to play along, but they didn’t. With an innocent smirk, Kirishima scratched the same spot again, making you bite down on your lip in order not to let any further embarrassing noises slip.

“I wonder if we can get you to do that in the middle of class.” Kaminari whispered earning himself a harsh prod in the ribs by yours truly.

“Wait, SHOUJI!” Mina yelled, despite the teen in question not being in the room. Panicking, you bucked her off, following her off of the couch to clap both hands over her mouth. You mourned the loss of Kirishima’s touch, but you couldn’t have these guys forming plans to make you moan in the middle of a lesson. Aizawa would never let you live it down.

“On that cheerful fucking note, I’m going to bed,” scooping Kirishima up in his arms, Bakugo stood, dropping his boyfriend back on the couch so he could grab his bag. The other members of the Bakusquad groaned.

“But dude, it’s not even six yet.” Kaminari complained.

“So? No way I’m spending my precious evening with you idiots.” The blonde fired back, offering Kiri his hand. “Come on Hair-for-brains.” Grinning happily, Kirishima pulled himself up. His eyes locked on your’s for a split second, they flicked to the elevator before returning back to your face. Subtly, you nodded.

“Alright, don’t be too loud boys.” Mina lectured, pushing herself up against the couch.

“Please.” Kaminari interjected, “you’re right above my room.”

Ears red, Bakugo flipped them off before practically dragging Kiri across the room. You watched them go with an amused smirk. Kirishima was a good head taller than the blonde, but he always acted like the little spoon of the relationship, you were always middle spoon. Bakugo was just an angry softie that only dropped the asshole façade behind closed doors. Watching him bejng so soft and gentle to Kiri was the highlight of your day and reminded you just why you loved those two.

“I’m gonna head up too.” You stated when the pair disappeared from sight. The other three groaned, which made you grin as you stooped to pick up your backpack.

Before you could get far however, Kaminari grabbed your wrist. You paused to give him time to speak. “Y/n my best bro. I know you mean well, but don’t you think you’re kind of intruding on Bakugo and Kiri’s alone time?”

The breath caught in your throat. “What do you mean?” You mused, voice softer than you intended it to be.

“Don’t get us wrong. We know you three were tight all throughout first year, but they are dating now. You need to give them space to just be, together.” Sero interjected lightly, eyes flickering to the elevator and back.

You fumbled for an excuse. Now was couple time, this was your time to be with them. “I was just going to get changed.” You settled on, despite how weak it sounded.

Mina raised an eyebrow at that, “honey. I know you feel left out, but you can’t always be third wheeling them."

“I’m going to have to agree with Mina there. Kirishima and Bakugo deserve alone time. Relationships are stressful enough without having to make room for a friend who is constantly around.” Sero stated, adding his own two cents to the pile.

You had to bite back your defeated groan. As much as you loved your friends, you wanted nothing more than to collapse into Kirishima’s arms and wrestle with Bakugo for the side of the bed closest to the wall. After a long day of training, you didn’t have the brain power to be civil.

“Seriously guys, I just want to go sleep.” You complained, making to leave only to have Sero stop you this time.

“Why don’t you play some games with us for a while.”

“Do you not believe me or something?” The silence that followed said enough. Grip tightening on the strap of your bag, you had to physically restrain yourself from making your next words venomous. “Fine, but we’re playing Breath of the Wild. I need to see my shark husbando.” You compromised, dropping your bag in favour of snatching up a controller before any of them could register what you’d just proposed.

>_<

“Why the fuck didn’t you come up earlier?” Bakugo demanded, practically throwing you onto the bed where Kirishima was already waiting with open arms. The redhead snuggled up to your side as you made yourself comfortable, while Bakugo slid under the covers on your other side and pulled you close, his nose pressed to your temple.

“Sorry, the others were saying how I needed to give you space for ‘couple time’ and I didn’t want to make them suspicious.” You explained, relaxing into the familiar position.

For a few moments, the room was silent aside from the steady breathing of your boyfriends. The weight of Kirishima’s arms around you and the warmth of Bakugo at your side helped to calm your thoughts. Staring at the ceiling, you felt your muscles untense and your breathing slow. Despite the quiet in the room however, you couldn’t settle.

You had a strangely strong foreboding feeling that whatever can of worms Kaminari had opened wasn’t going to be a one time situation. Then again, you couldn’t exactly complain, the three of you had agreed that it’d be better if the class didn’t know of your relationship.

Regardless of how humanity had evolved, there were still the fair few who didn’t understand poly relationships. While gay couples were generally accepted (especially among the younger generations) your kind of relationship wasn’t exactly considered ‘normal’.

Besides, the last thing you needed to do was draw the League’s attention to the three of you. Bakugo had been hesitant at making his relationship with Kirishima public, but he refused to let the League know he had two weaknesses.

You couldn’t help but frown as the thought left a bitter taste in your mouth.

“I can hear you thinking dumbass.” Bakugo grumbled into your hair, his hand finding yours under the cover.

Squeezing lightly, you released a small sigh. “Sorry.”

“What were you thinking about?” Kirishima interjected, his words slurred.

“Just predicting whether this’ll become a regular thing.” The redhead’s arms tightened around you as if Kaminari would march into the room right then and steal you from him. “You know, the whole ‘third-wheeling my own relationship’ thing.”

Kirishima snorted at your tone while Bakugo let out a grumpy, “nosy bastards,” under his breath.

“It’s fine."

“No it’s fucking not.” Bakugo snarled softly, Kirishima humming in agreement. Threading your hands into the redhead’s loose hair, you began to pet his scalp while you waited for Bakugo to continue. Kiri was practically sleep by the time Bakugo spoke again. “Kiri and I get to spend all day together. Touching and showing affection however we fucking want, but we can’t include you with everyone around.”

“Seriously, Bakugo it’s fine.”

“Shut the fuck up! My point is, this is your time to spend with us and they have no right to take that away.”

“Better said than done Blasty.”

>_<

It appeared that your foreboding instinct were proven correct when the next day Mina slammed her tray down at lunch and declared she was going to find you someone to date.

Kirishima choked on his sandwich after inhaling it from the shock, prompting Bakugo to smack him over the back a little too aggressively to be subtle. The commotion drew Kaminari and Sero’s attention away from their what came first between the chicken and the egg debate, long enough to make sure the redhead wasn’t dying before falling back into conversation, their voices having decreased significantly in volume to eaves drop on you and Mina’s conversation.

The fork halfway to your mouth remained frozen in your hand as Mina dragged you round to her side of the table and began swiping through Instagram accounts of fairly good looking people. She named each of them in turn, checked your face for some sign of interest, before rattling off random facts about them and continuing on. You managed to survive eight minutes of torture before straightening up to stretch your back.

“Mina, I love you, but this is very sudden. Have you lost all faith in me in finding and establishing my own relationship?” You asked innocently, very aware of your boyfriends’ eyes on your back. Thankfully, they remained quiet for now, content to watch you squirm; the bastards.

Mina leaned across the table, taking your hands in hers before you could start eating again. “Y/n, honey, ever since Bakugo and Kiri started dating, you had lost all interest in finding anyone. And don’t you dare deny it!” You gasped, mock shock twisting your face into a grimace as you plopped down beside Kirishima.

“And what has this got to do with you hooking me up with someone I have no interest in?” You wonder aloud, desperately searching for a way out of this situation. Beside you Bakugo was yelling at Kiri for almost dying from choking, but you could feel his eyes boring into the side of your head. The redhead’s chair on the other hand was a lot closer than it had been earlier, to his credit though, Kirishima was much more subtle in his display of possessive behaviour than the blonde.

"You don’t like any of them?!” Mina whined, “what wrong with my suggestions?"

“There’s nothing wrong with them.” You denied, ignoring how Bakugo stiffened. Could he be any more obvious. “It’s just that-“ I'm already taken "-they're practically sticks." You found yourself blurting out

"And?" Mina challenged, eyes wide with curiosity.

"I’d snap all of them in half with a light tap on the shoulder." You countered, scooping up a forkful of pasta and shovelling it in your mouth to avoid further questions.

"Sooooo, not your type?" Mina stated simply to which you nodded enthusiastically at. "Then give me some fucking details." The girl demanded, her voice ramping up in pitch.

You chewed thoughtfully to give yourself time to think of a way to let her down lightly. "Like I said the last time you asked me about my ‘crush’, I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

"But I wanna know your type so I can hook you up with someone when you do."

"If I give you a response will you leave me alone."

"For now." You’d take that; it was better than nothing.

Taking a long sip of your drink, you stated blatantly, "I definitely have an appreciation for muscles and determination."

“Ah so you’re a fellow muscle appreciator.” Kaminari teased, flexing his arm. You rolled your eyes.

“Keep dreaming string bean.” Kaminari let out an indignant squark as Bakugo whacked him over the head with a textbook.

"So someone like Shouji then.” Mina exclaimed way too loudly, drawing the attention of a few neighbouring tables to the conversation. Your face fell, as Mina’s grin only grew.

Thankfully, Bakugo decided he’d heard enough. “Cut it out Racoon eyes I’m trying to eat!” The blonde snarled before stuffing his face with noodles to avoid questions being thrown his way. Mina took the dismissal for what it was and backed off with a private smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

To say the murderous tension throughout the rest of the day didn’t set you on edge would’ve been a lie. Thankfully though, you sat at the back of the classroom, so neither of your boyfriends could focus their gazes on you for longer than a glance. But that didn’t mean Bakugo didn’t tense up when Kaminari dragged you over to Sero’s desk for the group task before Kirishima could even open his mouth to invite you over.

Knowing you wouldn’t hear the end of it if you refused, you reluctantly accepted the crackhead’s offer. Shooting your boyfriends an apologetic look, you tried to ignore the twinge of irritation that made itself comfortable in your guts when Mina skipped over to the pair to join their group. You knew it was petty but still! Aizawa said groups of three not pairs- ugh, never mind!

Relaxing your scowl into a more neutral expression, you focused on the task at hand. Mentally drowning yourself in textbooks while the idiots mucked about throwing things across the classroom at Mina whenever Aizawa’s back was turned.

Mercifully, class didn’t drag on for too long, but it was your turn on clean up duty so it wasn’t much of a relief. At least everyone would go back to the dorms so you could get some much needed alone time. You knew you shouldn’t be salty at the squad’s efforts to give Kirishima and Bakugo space, they didn’t know the three of you were dating and from an outsiders perspective you did look like a third wheel, but you also wished they would keep their noses out of your business.

If you scrubbed down the desks a little rougher than usual and snapped the handle of the broom from cleaning the floors a little to enthusiastically, no one needed to know. You simply tossed the broken handle into the bin and slipped into the supply closet to grab the spare broom and continued where you left off. Next you wiped down the board in confident, therapeutic strokes. With every clean swipe of the eraser, you took a breath until the tension left your shoulders, even if it was only a little bit.

Deep down you knew this was going to become a common occurrence until the others thought you could be trusted to leave Kirishima and Bakugo alone without their input. The irritation twisted uncomfortably in your stomach, making the eraser screech painfully in protest. Gritting your teeth against the sound, you recomposed yourself enough to finish the job.

As you locked the windows, you resigned yourself to a few weeks without the closeness you needed in your relationship. Hopefully if you distanced yourself on your own, the others would back off sooner. In the meantime, you’d just have to be more sneaky when going to hang out with your boys until you could hang around them without a problem. Hoisting your bag over your shoulder, you tucked in your chair, switched off the lights and stepped out into the hall. The door closing behind you with a final click as if to say this is it.

Collecting yourself, you mentally pulled yourself together before turning to find Kirishima and Bakugo loitering around in the hallway waiting for you. Glancing up and down the corridor, you were pleasantly surprised to find Mina and the others nowhere in sight, only for a stab of guilt to override the feeling for being thankful your friends weren’t around. They were just doing what they thought was best.

“Took your time dipshit.” Bakugo teased when he saw you, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Kirishima straightened from the wall, his signature grin already in place as he swung an arm around your shoulder, dragging you close enough for him to plant a kiss to your temple. The rest of the built up tension left your body from the contact.

“Did you guys seriously wait for me?” You asked in disbelief, leaning into the redhead’s side since there was no one else in the corridor.

“Of course we did babe.” Kiri countered, lacing his fingers with Bakugo and swinging their hands. Curling your arm around his back, you pressed further into the redhead’s touch. Fuck, you were going to miss this closeness.

It took you until you’d left the building to make up your mind. With the dorms being only a few minutes’ walk, you could hopefully get them to understand where you were coming from before you got there. Then you could hide in your room until dinner and give yourself time to put yourself back together before having to face everyone in the common room like nothing had happened.

You waited for a lull in conversation to start speaking. The pair’s attention instantly snapping to you when you opened your mouth. “Listen, I love you both a lot-“ You began, eyes fixed on the dorm building in the distance in favour of their confused expressions.

“Why are you saying it like that?” Kirishima asked, his grip tightening on your shoulder.

“-but I thinkweshouldbreakup.” You screwed your eyes shut as the words left your mouth, waiting for the backlash. Kirishima’s arm fell from around your shoulders as he slowed to a halt, Bakugo doing the same.

A pregnant beat of silence. The words hung in the air in front of you like poison gas; heavy and foreboding if handled with in the wrong way. You immediately wanted to take them back. To erase the last few seconds and stuff them back down your throat, so you could pretend nothing had happened. Fuck. FUCK! The leaves overhead rustled in mock laughter at your screw up.

“What?” Bakugo breathed, voice cracking from emotion. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

“Just hear me out!” You reasoned planting a reassuring smile onto your face, even though you could tell neither of them brought it. ”The others aren’t going to stop in their little quest to give you guys space, so I just thought,” you swallowed, dropping your gaze to the sidewalk where you were nudging a loose stone with your shoe. “I just thought it’d be easier for the three of us it I just don’t be part of this relationship anymore.”

You felt the two exchanging looks, but you refused to meet either of their gazes. Who knew a rock could be so interesting?

“That is the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.” Was the first thing Bakugo came out with. Earning himself a shocked “Kat!” from Kirishima.

“Is it though?” You defended, kicking the rock into a nearby bush and walking away a few steps to find another. If you were going to have this debate right here, you might as well try to move it back to the dorms should anything go wrong. “It might just save us a lot of headaches.”

“No, fuck you, shut up!” Bakugo snarled, stomping forwards to grab your wrist and yank you back around. “You are not leaving us because of some fucked up reason like that! If you don’t want to be here, man the fuck up and just say it to my face.

“I just said-“ You started, annoyance clear in your tone.

“What Kat means to say is,” Kirishima, ever the peace maker, interjected, putting a comforting hand on your back and a firmer one on Bakugo’s shoulder to keep him at bay, “do you not want to be with us anymore Y/n? Because it’s fine if you don’t, we won’t force you to be with us. But, if it’s something we did; something that upset you-"

“Fuck off. You both know you’re perfect motherfuckers, and I know I don’t fucking deserve either of you-"

“Who the fuck told you that? I will blow them to smithereens for you Y/n, just give me some names.” You could help but laugh at the blonde’s declaration, desperately trying to smother the memory of a distant sleepover where you admitted your feelings for both boys only to be brought down to reality by Asui.

“No one!”

“Excluding what those idiots are trying to do.” Bakugo cut in, pinning you in place with a hard glare. “If they weren’t being meddlesome fuckers, would you want to break up with us?”

“Well no, because there wouldn’t be a problem if that were the case.”

“Then don’t leave.” Kirishima said simply, his eyes swimming with badly suppressed panic. Your heart clenched painfully just looking at him.

“But-“

“No fucking buts idiot. You’re ours! Don’t leave us because of a stupid reason like that.” You didn’t think it was a stupid reason. If anything your solution could’ve worked. It’s be painful, but it could work. It’d give you a reason to back off from them while still being part of the friend group. You could always return to the relationship after the others backed off, then again you were a selfish, weak willed human being. You didn’t want to give this up.

“Fuck.” You finally breathed, squeezing your eyes shut. “Sorry for the scare. I just-“

“It’s fucking fine,” Bakugo cut in, jamming his lips over yours in a slightly too hard kiss, but it was so purely Bakugo that you didn’t care and found yourself smiling into it. “Just, don’t do that again.” He growled when he pulled away, backing up a step so Kiri could steal his own kiss.

“I don’t think my heart could take it.” The redhead agreed against your lips. His sturdy arms snaking around your waist to pull you against him. He smiled wide, flashing all of his teeth at you as he brought his forehead towards yours. Big scarlet eyes so filled with adoration and devotion you almost couldn’t believe it was directed at you of all people.

“Knock it off knucklehead! What if someone sees?”

“There’s no one around Kat.” Kirishima fired back, eyes never leaving your own despite the playful smacks Bakugo delivered to the back of his head.

“I’m around, and I don’t wanna see any of that sappy shit.”

“Awe, you feeling left out Blasty?” Kiri snorted, practically pouncing on the blonde, wrapping him up in his arms to drag him off of the ground and against his chest. To his credit, Bakugo tried to struggle for all of two seconds before going limp in his boyfriend’s arms. Begrudgingly, accepting the barrage of small kisses to his face and neck in the same way a grumpy cat would.

A private smile stretched its way across your lips. Your eyes began to burn. “Fuck.” You breathed, too quiet for either of them to hear. It was moments like this that made everything worth it.

With one last wet kiss to Bakugo’s ear, which prompted him to release a new barrage of curse words, Kirishima set him down. The blonde rolled his eyes at Kiri’s innocent grin, a light dusting of red coating his cheeks before he dropped his gaze to the sidewalk. You couldn’t help but be mesmerised by the way the setting sun painted Bakugo’s hair a golden hue, making the orange undertones in his scarlet eyes stand out against pale skin. Nor how the dappled sunlight brought out the bronze in Kiri’s skin, and set his hair aflame with deep rouges and maroon against the deep emerald of the tree leaves overhead.

How the fuck did you get so lucky with not one, but two amazingly good looking people that weren’t assholes? Sure Bakugo took a few months to actually open up, but the brashness had always been a façade. While Kirishima was just sunshine personified. A horrible thought forced its way to the forefront of your mind.

You don’t deserve either of them. Just look at yourself, now look at those greek gods.

You did, only to find Bakugo stared back at you with a sceptical look in his eyes. Forcing a smile, you quirked an eyebrow in question.

“Why’re you pulling that face dumbass?” He growled, expression melting into something softer. Dramatically tossing your head, you spun on your heel and continued back to the dorms.

Why do they even keep you around?

“Nothing.” You sang with a suggestive lilt to your tone.

The blonde caught up to you in a few fast strides. “You making fun of me dumbass?”

You could tell he was smiling without looking. Hooking your arms behind your back under your bag at the wrists, you replied sweetly, “wouldn’t dream of it Katsuki. Baby. Light of my life.”

Kirishima’s arm snaked around your shoulders just in time to catch the playful blow a spluttering Bakugo aimed at your shoulder. “Looks like someone’s trying to steal my job.” The redhead purred in your ear, hot breath curling over the shell of your ear. “Flustering Kat is my profession.”

What do you even contribute to this relationship?

“Better up your game then Red or I’m gonna get you fired.” You whispered back teasingly, watching Kirishima’s cheeks begin to match Bakugo’s. It wasn’t often you were given the chance to be a little shit, but when you could, you milked the experience for all its worth.

You’re a leech, that’s what.

The rest of the walk back to the dorms was uneventful. By now everyone had gone inside, meaning there were quite a few people in the common room when you entered. To your surprise, Kirishima’s arm didn’t drop from your shoulder.

A cloud of cotton candy pink hair immediately swivelled in your direction as if sensing your presence the moment you stepped foot towards the couches. “You’re back! Y/n come here real quick, this one is such a hottie!"

The clouds you’d been floating on throughout your walk immediately parted to watch you plummet back to earth. Dread trickled into every muscle in your body, forcing them to tense up in preparation for impact. Mina blinked innocently back at you, Sero and Kaminari’s heads popping up over the back of the couch beside her. Fucking great.

Lead filled your feet, dragging you down faster. You could feel Kirishima monitoring the scene, weighing his options as his arm tightened reassuringly around your shoulders. Mina’s eyes flickered at the motion regardless of how small it was. She smiled to herself, obviously figuring out something.

You take and take and don’t apologise for it.

It was a struggle, but you managed to force yourself to step towards the couch. To anyone looking close enough your movements would’ve appeared stiff, but you doubted any of them would’ve been looking that closely. “What poor fish have you caught for me now Mina?” You drawled, leaning your arms against the back of the couch and leaning forward to see the phone screen you were presented with.

You had to admit it wasn’t the worst person Mina had ever found, and she had listened to your earlier comment on muscles. Pursing your lips, you examined the specimen in front of you. “It’s not the wors- FUCK!”

You almost leapt out of your skin when Kirishima sidled up behind you and snaked his arms around you unguarded waist. “Fuck you man.” You snarled, rolling your eyes as he chuckled in your ear. “Blasty control your boyfriend.” You added for good measure.

“Have you seen him, there’s no way I could move that mountain of muscle.” The blonde fired back, obviously making a quip about the photo. Sticking your tongue out at his pouting face you forced your gaze back to Mina’s phone.

“Who are you?” Kaminari declared, already using Sero as a shield the moment the words left his mouth. “The great Bakugo Katsuki would never admit to something he couldn’t do.”

“SAY THAT AGAIN PIKACHU AND I’LL GAUGE OUT YOUR EYEBALLS WITH A WOODEN SPOON!”
“Kat!”

“Getting creative with these threats aren’t we pompom.” You interjected before you could help yourself. The trio on the couch held their breath. No one to their knowledge but Kirishima had ever survived backchatting Class 3A’s angriest student.

Bakugo levelled you with a withering glare, which you met with a small smirk on your lips. This went on for all of twenty seconds before the blonde blinked, dropping his head with a defeated sigh. “Whatever. You coming Extra? You fucking promised to spar against me in the gym. Or are you scared of losing again?” He snarled in the true Bakugo manner, blood chilling grin spreading onto his face. You barely had time to form a response before you were grabbed by the wrist and dragged to the elevators. Confused eyes watched you being kidnapped while Kirishima explained you’d promised to spar with the blonde during practice.

“How the fuck did they not die?!” Kaminari’s voice echoed down the hallway as Bakugo punched the up button.

When was the last time you gave?

The pair pampered you that night. Shutting the others down when they tried to pull you away, or keeping you sandwiched between them with one or the other holding onto you in some way during dinner. It was nice to not have to keep your distance for once. But some selfish part of you wished it hadn’t been prompted by a break up threat, regardless of how mild.

Selfish, third-wheeling leech…

As predicted, things only got worse from there.

It was such a gradual change that you didn’t notice how little time you had begun to spend with your boyfriends. Now a days, you only conversed with the two in private on the days you managed to sneak into one of their rooms. Even then, you weren’t always successful in sneaking down to the fourth floor. More often than not, you found yourself being intercepted by Sero on your way to the elevator or passed Mina or Kaminari on the stairs and had to made a detour to the kitchen for a ‘snack run’. Those runs often ended up as surprise game nights with whoever caught you.

Meaning you woke up quite a few times sprawled across the common room couch with several texts from your boyfriends and everyone rushing around in the kitchen to get ready for class.

Even your time in class was being impacted.

It used to be that the three of you would alternate between each other as partners during hero training, but with the others breathing down your neck, you found yourself partnering with a new range of classmates under the disguise of ‘different quirks to stretch your own abilities’. You didn’t miss the confused glances thrown your way as Kirishima partnered up with Bakugo when it was supposed to be your turn against him.

On the off chance that you caught the redhead’s eyes between matches, you somehow managed a bright smile. Often waving at him, and if you were lucky, you managed to get close enough to compliment him on his newest move.

But most of the time you were intercepted by Mina or Kaminari.

As the days pressed on, you felt the distance between you grow, like the walls of a canyon gradually moving further and further apart with each night spent alone.

At lunch, your usual spot tended to be stolen by one of the others, which wasn’t that much of a change. But what really got to you was the way you couldn’t get a word in edgewise during conversation. You didn’t believe it was deliberate, but it still stung to have your voice overridden by an excited Kaminari and no one notice when you stopped participating in conversation altogether.

What didn’t help was seeing how openly affectionate Bakugo and Kirishima became in your absence, or maybe they’d always been like that and you hadn’t found the need to notice it until now. They were always hanging off one another (Kirishima with his arm around Bakugo’s waist, or Bakugo reaching for Kiri’s hand) and sharing sharp inside jokes you knew you weren’t present for. Almost as if they were filling up for the space you had once occupied.

It hurt in a way you weren’t prepared for. Because it showed how little they needed you. By themselves they were a perfectly functioning couple. There were no obvious cracks or breaks in the rhythm of how they worked around one another. No hesitance. No confused looks when they went to grab the other’s attention with gentle shoulder touches or the interlacing of their fingers.

Really, it shouldn’t of surprised you.

Since the beginning of school they’d been practically inseparable. And since Kamino their bond had only solidified into something stronger. There was no way you could’ve competed with that. You’d barely managed to keep up before your friends decided you were spending too much time third wheeling your own relationship, let alone now when you spent more time with Mina than your actual boyfriends.

Eventually, you found yourself distancing yourself without Kaminari or Mina’s input – much to their surprise.

You trained with Sero most of the time since he didn’t bombard you with questions about your foul mood and prominent eye bags. Compared to sparing with Mina who could talk for hours about anything and everything, ignoring the concerned smiles he gave you throughout the exercise was easy.

Instead of going up to Bakugo or Kirishima’s floor straight after class, you now tended to linger in the classroom until Aizawa came by to lock up. The only reason being that there were no friends there trying to rope you into things you didn’t have the energy to do. When you finally arrived at High’s Alliance, Sero usually accompanying you to the fifth floor under the pretences of ‘grabbing a charger’ when in reality you knew he was just making sure you didn’t get off at the fourth floor. It didn’t matter either way, Kirishima and Bakugo weren’t in their rooms very often anymore.

You weren’t entirely sure where they went because they were never in the common room when you found the energy to walk back from class. Probably to the gym or the 7/11 down the road for snacks, Kirishima always had a tendency to drag Bakugo out to either at any given time.

On the nights you were supposed to hang out with the squad, you put your undivided attention into the games that were being played or the movies being watched, it was easier than Mina’s relationship talk or Kaminari’s comments on your bloodshot eyes. Most of the time you clapped out half way through the evening from pure exhaustion.

Sometimes you woke up in your own bed. And sometimes you were sandwiched between your boyfriends having the life cuddled out of you.

Those nights were worth the loneliness that had begun to make its home into your everyday mindset. So you cherished them, and mourned their lose when the sun crept across the floorboards towards the bed through a gap in the curtains.

>_<

“He’s cute-“

“Mina,” you growled out between gritted teeth, massaging your temple where a splitting headache had been plaguing you on and off throughout the day. “For the last time, I am not interested in any of these fucking people.”

“Oh okay. We can switch to Tinder instead!” You weren’t fast enough in suppressing your groan as you slammed your forehead into the table. Wincing when your brain offered another feeble throb for your efforts. The table ceased its easy chatter.

“Sorry, am I boring you Y/n?” Mina quipped, with no real bite to her tone. She sounded more curious than offended. Inhaling shakily, you closed your eyes mentally praying you’d open them and be back in your room. The dirty cafeteria floor glared back at you when you opened them again.

“I literally do not have the social battery life for this.” You grumbled to yourself. Spying Kirishima’s foot nudging his Crimson Riot themed bag towards you from across the table, you watched Bakugo’s foot join in when the bag tipped over. Wait! Kiri always carried paracetamol with him.

Thanking whatever Gods were listening, you reached eagerly for the red backpack. Shuffling around in the front pocket for the medicine, you heard Mina begin talking again. Suppressing the urge to leave the table entirely, you sat upright again noticing the soft skidding sound as Kiri took his bag back. Pretending not to notice, you popped the white pill into your mouth and downed it with Kaminari’s juice, much to his dismay.

Raising an eyebrow at your antics, your female friend continued her little speech. “If you didn’t want to look at the profiles, you could’ve just told me.” Mina pushed, and you both knew she was pushing. Prodding you in front of everyone until you eventually snapped. You didn’t understand her motives behind it, but she knew exactly what she was doing.

“I have told you. Excessively, might I add.” You countered, lifting your gaze from the table long enough to fix her with a hard glare. Mina titled her head innocently, adding gasoline to that rage you’d kept an ember until now. Kaminari shot her a warning look, but Mina ignored him in favour of not breaking eye contact with you.

“Come on guys, let’s all calm down here.” Kirishima interjected, placing a soothing hand on your elbow, which you flinched away from. With the only skin to skin contact being kicks and punches during training, you couldn’t find it in you to be confused by your own reaction.

“Sorry.” You mumbled when he quickly withdrew his hand.

The rest of lunch was eaten in relative silence, until Tokoyami drifted over to your table, asking in your help in finding his bag. Leaping at the chance to leave the awkward atmosphere, you happily accepted. Following him out of the lunchroom with a grateful sigh.

“Just so you’re aware,” Tokoyami started leading you into the empty classroom and making a beeline for his desk with his bag on it, “Mina has started involving the whole class in her little plan.” Your heart pounded in your chest as the blood drained from your face. Things just got a whole lot worse.

“Fuck.” You groaned, threading your fingers through your hair to grip onto. Backing up, your knees hit someone’s desk where you sat down.

“I’m sorry, Shouji and I were powerless in sticking up for you.” The bird whispered gravely, taking a seat on the desk in front of you.

You took a few moments to collect yourself, not that anyone would blame you for doing so. Your relationship had been a secret since first year and now you had no idea how long you could keep it that way. With the whole class’s attention on you, you wouldn’t be able to breathe in Kirishima or Bakugo’s direction without drawing someone’s attention.

For a fleeting moment you contemplated breaking up again, but you knew they wouldn’t have it so that was off the table. Rubbing your thumbs into your temple, you managed to compose yourself enough to answer. “It’s okay dude, thanks for trying. I really appreciate it.” The bird nodded. “And thanks. For letting me know.”

Another short nod. You and Tokoyami weren’t particularly close, not in the way you used to be with Mina and that, but it was still sweet of him to give you a heads up. “It must be hard.” He continued, drawing yourself away from your thoughts. “Losing trust in all those friends and being isolated from your own relationship.” Your heart stopped.

Your head shot up out of your hands, startling the boy. “You knew! How many people have you told!?” You exploded, grimacing when the sudden emotion only aggravated your headache. The pills wouldn’t kick in for another couple minutes.

“No one!” Tokoyami quickly assured you, hands raised in surrender; clearly surprised by the sudden burst of anger. “I’m just in Shouji’s room a lot for the same reason you’re always in Kirishima or Bakugo’s room.”

A wave of understanding washed away the anger. You let your body relax. Tokoyami wasn’t your enemy here. You had to remember that. Pressing a hand to the side of your head, you closed your eyes against the bright lights of the classroom as you stated simply, “you and I are in the same boat then.”

“Similar boats yes, but our reasons to do vary.” Tokoyami clarified, twiddling his thumbs.

“It would seem so.” The two of you were quiet for a moment. Listening to the hum of the lights or the chatter from the cafeteria down the hall. “Well your secret relationship is safe with me.” You finally said.

“As is yours. By the way Shouji’s door is always open if you need an excuse to come up to the fourth floor.” Taking that as his cue to leave, Tokoyami swung his bag onto his back.

“Thanks dude I’ll keep that in mind.” You called after him.

You waited for the pill to kick in before going back to the cafeteria. Not willing to endure the headache without some extra help. The table quietened when you sat down. Pushing your tray away, you leaned back, eyes closed against the sunlight streaming in through the floor to ceiling windows.

“So Y/n, wanna join Blasty and I after school? We’re going to the arcade?” Kirishima offered in an attempt to get conversation started again.

You nodded without opening your eyes. “Sounds great dude.”

>_<

As if summoned by magic, Uraraka and Asui kidnapped you as you were leaving the classroom with Kirishima and Bakugo, rattling off about having left something important in your room. Having the open door policy you do where you never locked your door, you didn’t find the reasoning suspicious and willingly went along with them after telling your boys you wouldn’t be long.

Once in your room, the girls took a good half hour to find what they needed. They seemed apologetic enough, but then Uraraka launched into a Deku style speech about her crush issues. She spilt her heart across your floor, eyes teared up as she vented about how Midoriya obviously had a crush on Todoroki and how pathetic she felt for being jealous about it. How she should be happy and encourage him to follow his heart. How she felt to toxic for wanting him to herself when he deserved every last friend he’d found. She became too choked up to continue after that.

Being the supportive friend you were, you took the time to talk her down from her frenzy with Asui’s help. Rubbing her back as she sobbed. Wrapping her shaking body up in your comfiest blanket while Asui went to the kitchen to make a hot chocolate. It was dark by the time they left.

Your boyfriends were long gone by the time you stepped out the front door of Heights Alliance. With nothing but an empty courtyard and flickering street lamps, you slowly turned around and trudged back inside.

>_<

Hands thumped down on your desk with a loud slam.

Snapping out of your thoughts, you turned your head to peer up at a fuming Bakugo. Beside you Mina fell silent in her rant about the new cat café that had opened up at the mall, eyes flicking between the two of you as you stared each other down. A flicker of red over the blonde’s shoulder notified you that he wasn’t alone.

“Can I help you?” You offered, your tone clipped from lack of proper sleep. You’d lane awake last night agonising over the fact that you practically ghosted Kirishima and Bakugo. They probably got bored waiting for you and went to the arcade anyway. You’d been too occupied with Ochako to even send a text to explain. From there your thoughts had spiralled and your alarm was going off before you knew it.

Blonde eyebrows rose before you were grabbed by your tie and yanked out of your seat. Mina squeaked, wincing as your chair rammed into the desk behind you from the force of that pull, but you stayed standing, leveling the blonde with a tired look. “You avoiding us or something shit head?” He snarled, knuckles white on the material of your tie.

Beneath the anger, you identified the hurt and confusion swimming in his eyes. You saw it in the subtle shake of his hand and the force of which he gripped your tie. The slight shine of his eyes indicating just how much he’d probably kept this to himself and torn himself up over it. Releasing a long sigh, you gently removed his fingers from your uniform.

“What do you mean by that?” You asked calmly. You’d warned him and Kirishima both that this would happen. You’d tried to spare them for fuck sake, so why the hell was he taking it out on you now?

“You fucking ditched us last night.” Bakugo fired back without missing a beat.

“What? You guys left without me!” You retorted, glancing over the blonde’s shoulder for help, but Kirishima wouldn’t meet your gaze. He just chewed on his lip, glancing anxiously round the room so he could let Bakugo do the talking. There’d be no help there then.

“We waited outside for two hours!” Bakugo yelled, throwing his hands up in defeat. “If you didn’t want to come, you could’ve fucking said.”

That’s when you felt it. The delicate relationship the three of you had built and fought for was circling the drain. And with every day that went past, it drew closer and closer to the plughole where it would slip down the pipes and disappear.

You knew you couldn’t let that happen.

“But I did want to, Uraraka just-“ You trailed off, magma heated and bubbled in your stomach as you felt the impending eruption draw nearer. Realisation coated the mouth of the volcano, cooling the bottled anger you were so temped to unleash. Tokoyami’s warning sounded like a taunt in your mind.

Inhaling deeply, you tried to calm yourself before continuing. Reminding yourself all the reasons why you’d put up with the class’s bullshit until now. Gently remembering who you were doing this for-

“Hey Y/n can you help me study for finals?“ Todoroki asked out of the blue, appearing at your elbow with no warning.

Your eyebrows drew together, lips opening and closing uselessly for a few seconds. “You get better grades than me Todoroki.” You deadpanned.

He blushed, quickly breaking eye contact as he stumbled over his next words. “I, um-” Tokoyami’s warning increased in volume to the point where you could barely hear yourself think, let alone Bakugo telling the idiot to get lost.

The volcano erupted violently and without hesitance.

Your chair screeched as you shoved it out and then under your desk, drawing the whole class’s attention to your clenched palms and narrowed eyes. “All of you fuckers better listen the hell up before I do something that will get me kicked out of this school.” You snarled to the silent room, drawing their attention like moths to a flame. No one had ever seen you this pissed off before and it showed in the nervous glances they shared and subtly steps back. It appeared they didn’t like the spitting volcano they had awoken.

“If anyone; and I mean, ANY ONE, tries to pull me away from my friends just for talking to them, I am going to relieve you of your skin and use it as my next hero costume. Do I make myself fucking clear?” The words hung in the air like ash, choking the responses that would’ve been thrown your way if you weren’t so clearly feral.

No one dared to make eye contact with you as your gaze swept the room, let alone find the courage to respond. “I do not need to be babysat. If Kirishima or Bakugo feel I am intruding on their relationship, emphasis on their relationship not yours,” you jabbed your pointer finger in a few chosen people’s directions, “they are mature enough to tell me. This is the Bakugo Katsuki we’re talking about here, he’s well versed in telling people to fuck off, especially when it comes to Kiri."

If you weren’t as far gone as you were, you would’ve added a humorous note to your voice to break the awkward silence. “Stop, ruining my relationship with them because your noses are too big to stay within your own business.”

With a final glare around the room, you yanked your chair back out and sat, arms crossed, eyes burning holes into the board.

The rest of class pasted by awkwardly.

>_<

“You’ve got to eat dumbass.” Bakugo scolded, glaring at your back as you refilled your water bottle at the sink.

He’d made dinner for the squad, who were currently sitting round the kitchen island. You took your time screwing the lid of your bottle on, eyes far away as you watched your friends in the kitchen window’s reflection. Mina, Kaminari and Sero sat on one side of the island talking amongst themselves between mouthfuls of food, their backs to you. While Kirishima sat on his own on the other side, the two spaces beside him set and the chairs empty.

He watched the two of you with a frown, trying and failing to be discreet.

“I already ate.” You lied. And sure, you could sit at that table next to Bakugo, and enjoy some decent food for once, but what did you have to contribute to the conversation. All you’d been doing for the past few weeks was school work and playing Zelda where once you had spent your time hanging out with your boyfriends.

Were they even your boyfriends at this point or had you lost that too?

Bakugo frowned, “hey, is everything okay?”

You shook your head, the first honest thing you’d said to him in weeks. “No, everything is shit and I don’t know what the fuck to do about it.” You admitted, taking a long drag of water so you wouldn’t say anything else.

“What do you mean?” He asked gently, his voice uncharacteristically soft even for him. You could see the genuine confusion in his guarded expression, so you took a deep breath to begin calming yourself enough to talk, only, Kaminari decided now would be a good time to open his big mouth.

“You coming Blasty? Your foods getting cold.” Your mind latched onto how he only addressed Bakugo, but decided to not let it get to you. The blonde’s head snapped to the table, a retort on the tip of his tongue when his gaze met Kirishima’s. Spotting your opening, you brushed past him.

Right about now you needed some convenience store food and some sleeping pills.

Somehow you found yourself knocking on Shouji’s door.

The quiet conversation inside instantly hushed. Soft footsteps approached the door. The handle turned in one fluent motion. Your knuckles grew white on the neck of your bottle. Shouji swung the door open enough to see out into the hall, his massive bulk strategically blocking the contents of his room and in doing so, whoever was with him. For once his mask was off and his hair appeared in disarray. Your cheeks flushed as you recalled what you’d found out in the classroom while talking to Tokoyami.

“Is,” you swallowed suddenly finding yourself unable to maintain eye contact. “Is this a bad time?”

The student blinked at you in bewilderment, you could practically see the cogs turning in his mind. Shouji stalled for a moment, glancing over his shoulder to ask the person in the room for help, but you had a pretty good idea who it was.

“S-sorry for bothering you. I, I’ll just go back to my room.” You suggested, motioning over your shoulder to the elevator with your thumb.

A gentle hand rested on your shoulder before you could turn away. “Why are you crying?” Shouji asked, his voice much less raspy than you were used to. Then again you’d never seen his face without the mask.

“I’m not.” You denied, angrily threading a hand through your hair to pull it out of your eyes. “It’s jus-“ The words died on your tongue when your hand came into contact with your damp cheek. You stared wide eyed at the evidence glistening on your finger. “Fu-ck.” Now you voice wouldn’t work properly. Now Shouji had drawn your attention to it, all you wanted to do was curl up and cry.

Weak, third-wheeling leech.

And now your own mind hated you for being so useless. Your breath was starting to come in sharp bursts, a mild headache forming in a tight band across your forehead and down the back of your neck. You vaguely registered your water bottle landing on the carpet with a thump from how shaky your hands had become.

“Shouji? Don’t just stand in the doorway, who is it?” Tokoyami sounded far away despite being right in front of you. He ducked under Shouji’s arm with practiced ease, eyes glancing sceptically from his frozen boyfriend to; your sobbing form. “Y/n!” He exclaimed, the volume making you flinch and your breathing pick up to the point where oxygen barely entered your lungs before being punched out again in the next breath.

“Shit I think they’re having a panic attack.” Tokoyami swore, finally snapping Shouji out of his daze. The smaller of the boyfriends took charge, instructing Shouji to get the bed cleared and open the windows while he tended to you.

“Y/n.” His voice was gentle but so distant. “Can I touch you?” Slowly, so as not to startle you again, he reached out his hand towards you. Leaving just enough distance from your own hand so it would be your choice to take it. “Just nod yes or no for me Y/n, we aren’t in any hurry. Can you do that for me?”

Your neck muscles moved your face up and down. Tokoyami smiled reassuringly. “Is it okay if I touch you Y/n?” Again you nodded, but your hand didn’t move. Tokoyami remained patient though, waiting for you to get your muscles to work at your own pace. “Do you want to come into Shouji’s room?” Another short nod. “Okay,” his hands gripped yours with care as he began leading you into the room.

You were sat on the edge of the bed, the balcony windows wide open to allow as much air and light in as possible. Vaguely, you registered Shouji scooping your bottle out of the hallway and gently closing his door. Tokoyami on the other hand sat on the bed beside you, your thighs touching and his hand in yours, the physical contact helping to ground you.

“Take your time.” He kept reassuring you, alongside instructing you to try and imitate his own breathing. “You’re safe here. Just take your time.” You managed to nod, breath coming much easier now.

The tear tracks gradually dried on your cheeks as your breathing returned to normal. The headache remained though, much to your dismay.

“Thank you.” You breathed once your mouth could form words again.

“It’s fine.” Tokoyami reassured you, “do you want to talk about it?”

“You practically saw it in the class the other day. Everyone’s avoiding me now. Bakugo and Kirishima won’t even look at me. I just, fuck.” Pressing the heels of your palms into your eye sockets you fight a second wave of tears. “I just feel so isolated and stressed. And when I thought I was intruding on you two it made me panic and,” a heavy swallow, “you know the rest.”

“Have you tried to talk to Kirishima and Bakugo about this? About how you’re feeling?” Shouji asked gently, sitting on the floor with his back leaned against the opposite wall.

You shook your head, lowering your hands to grip the hem of your shirt instead. “No. I can’t get within a fifty foot radius of either of them.” You stated bitterly, ignoring how the couple exchanged a concerned look.

“But do they at least know it’s affecting you this much?” Tokoyami interjected, his face devoid of emotion again.

“I haven’t talked to either of them in weeks. They’ve probably forgotten what I sound like.” You mused, trying to break the tense atmosphere. Thankfully they let you drop the subject without a fight and instead opted to putting on a movie and cuddling on the bed. Of course you sat at the bottom of the bed and the couple stole the pillows, typical.

By the time you’d gotten through an old pre-quirk era superhero trilogy -which you hadn’t pegged Shouji as someone to possess, but hey we all have our secrets – both of your companions were out cold. It was getting late anyway, so you decided to steal some food from the kitchen and head to bed. Shutting down Shouji’s laptop, you stowed on his tidy desk and threw a blanket over the pair, you switched off the lights on your way out, water bottle in hand. The door clicked shut behind you and you were once again alone. Or so you thought.

Kirishima and Bakugo stared bug eyed at you from their doors. They appeared to of been having a heated debate judging by their stances and flushed cheeks. How you hadn’t heard them, you were unsure.

Offering the pair a sheepish smile, you made your way down the hall. Not even bothering to wait for the elevator, you took the stairs two at a time. Content to collapse on your bed and die of exhaustion, you weren’t hungry anyway.

>_<

You’re not quite sure how it happened. You’d been in the gym with Shouji getting some extra reps in, when your boyfriends appeared to do their own workout. The air in the room turned awkward.

Shouji finished his last rep quicker than you could watch. You didn’t need to see all of his face to know he was telling you to talk to them. Giving a small nod, you put your barbells back on the rack as your taller friend grabbed his things and stealthily exited the gym without drawing either of your boyfriends’ attention.

You had just turned away to get some much needed water, psyching yourself up to begin the conversation, when they started snapping at each other in clipped tones. No one else was in the gym, so you gave them a few minutes to work it out, but it seemed to only be escalating. By the time you’d downed your whole water bottle, their voices had risen to shouts.

Eyebrows furrowed, you approaching.

“Katsuki, I am not in the fucking mood right now.” Kirishima gritted out, trying to occupy his hands with putting away the barbells they’d been using. His back was tense, the sweat making his tank top cling to his muscles in a way that shouldn’t have been as distracting as it was.

“Well if you would just listen to me instead of losing your fucking shit.” Bakugo retorted, throwing his hands up, steam practically erupting from his ears. His yelling brought you back to the task at hand, you were supposed to be breaking whatever this was up, not ogling your boyfriend.

You opened your mouth to diffuse the situation when Kirishima spun on his heels. “Oh that’s gold coming from you! Mr-I-blow-up-anything-that-makes-me-feel-uncomfortable-rather-than-face-my-fucking-emotions.” Your jaw dropped.

“Kir-"

“Well at least I have a backbone you spineless idiot instead of letting people walk all over me! All Racoon eyes has to do is bat her pretty little eyelashes and you’re magically there to help! If you want her so much-"

“You stop right fucking there Katsuki. You assured me you were fine!”

“Clearly I’m not Shitty Hair if I’m reacting like this.” Bakugo growled, glaring daggers at the redhead who bared his teeth in response. “Aren’t I supposed to be the emotionally constipated one? Ha? Or has your IQ dropped to also resemble a fucking rock?”

Kirishima opened his mouth to spit more venom, but you managed to successfully interrupt this time. “Hey! I think we should all take a moment to calm the fuck down.”

“Shut the fuck up Y/n. This isn’t about you.”

“Don’t talk to them like that Katsuki.” Kiri warned.

“Oh I’m sorry. Excuse me for not wanting to watch my boyfriends tear each other a new one.” You retorted, drifting between them so you could step right up to the blonde.

“Why would you fucking care? You’re never fucking around anymore.” Bakugo held your gaze, fists clenched tightly at his sides.

“Oh, so you care about my absence?” You declared, faking surprise before your tone turned patronising. “You could’ve fucking fooled me Bakugo!”

“Of course I fucking noticed when my supposed partner no longer wants to hang out with us.” The blonde fired back, stepping forward in a cheap attempt to intimidate you into standing down, but you’d had enough. The fucking asshole had hit a nerve and he knew it. He was smirking like he did anyway.

“You knew my hands were tied.” You snarled, pupils retracting as you glared at him. You shoved your hands into your tracksuit pockets to prevent yourself from lashing out at him out of utter rage and the unfairness of this entire situation. “With the way we’re going about this, I can do nothing without drawing everyone’s attention. ‘Gotta give the fucking couple some alone time Y/n’,” you mocked in a terrible impression of Kaminari, “ ‘can’t always third-wheel them Y/n, you’re going to make them uncomfortable! They turned the whole fucking class against me!” You were yelling now, but you didn’t care. You hadn’t realised how badly this had affected you until it was all spilling out of the flood gates.

“Did you ever try to correct them?” You snarled, watching Bakugo loose some of the fight in his eyes. “Did you ever try to stand up for me? Did you even care that I was losing out in my own relationship? Watching you two get closer and closer and even fucking closer while I watched from the fucking side lines like some pining fool.”

You glanced at Kirishima who’s expression was one of utter heartbreak. His eyes were wide, hands outstretched as if he were going to reach out to you but had thought better of it. You felt something in you twist unpleasantly, so you forced your gaze away.

Bakugo swallowed loudly before continuing. “You knew we couldn’t do anything. We agreed it’d only be the three of us in private.” He reasoned looking to the redhead over your shoulder for reassurance, but it seemed Kiri wouldn’t meet his gaze either.

“And I respect that.” You reasoned much more quietly. The affect this conversation was having on the two of them managing to sober you up enough to leash your anger. “I know you don’t want them to know and that’s fine, but you can’t leave me out of this. You can’t make me watch what I’m supposed to fucking have and expect me to be okay with it-“

“What did you expect us to do Y/n?” Kirishima asked weakly.

The leash snapped and you rounded on him.

“I expected you to be there for me! To try. I didn’t see you sneaking around to come and find me.” Tears turned Kiri’s eyes glassy as he forced himself to look you in the eye as you spoke. You stepped out from between them, eyes tracking back and forth between the two as you yelled, “it has always been Kiribaku from the start with Y/n tagged on as A FUCKING AFTERTHOUGHT!”

“Then you should’ve said something!” Bakugo countered, his own anger returning with full force.

“WOULD YOU HAVE LISTENED TO ME?” Your voice rebounded off of the four walls, bouncing back to you sounding hollow, your words strangled and desperate. As if someone kept dumped a thousand kilos of mentos in a volcano until it finally retaliated and exploded in one heart retching shout.

The door to the gym slammed open before the echoes had faded entirely.

“What is going on in here- Y/n, why are you crying?” Mina demand faltered as she took in your appearance. The flushed cheeks, the ruffled work out gear, the white knuckles and lastly the tear tracks drying against your sweaty skin. You couldn’t find it in you to wipe them away. Her eyes carefully trailed to the two behind you, and you dropped your gaze.

Shame reared its ugly head within you as you turned your back to collect your things. Eyes sharp, Mina stared down both of your boyfriends as she approached cautiously.

“What was all that yelling about?” She asked gently, looking to Kiri and then Bakugo. You didn’t respond, instead you occupied yourself with grabbing your jacket from your locker and swung it over your shoulder, as well as snatching your phone and cash for good measure. Stuffing the latter two into your pockets, you spare none of them even a sideways glance as you strode out of the gym and into the sunshine beyond.

The door closed on Bakugo’s lowered voice with a final bang. Somehow it wasn’t as satisfying as it should’ve been.

You stormed straight past the dorms, down the path towards the school, took a right at the main entrance and marched straight out into the street through the open front gates.

The sun hung low over the horizon, the honey gold of its light bleeding out into a soft orange to a bright pastel pink against blushing clouds. A soft breeze ruffled your damp hair as you let your feet carry you wherever. Numbly, you registered getting on a bus, passing a heavenly smelling ramen shop and dipping inside to get a well-earned snack, trudging over a creaking metal bridge arched over a lazy sludge river and finally the cold wood of a park bench.

Empty ramen container by your hand, you leaned back to stare blankly at the rustling leaves overhead. The sun had almost fully set by now, and it had grown cold enough for you to pull on your jacket. Your phone had buzzed a few times over the juration of your time outside of school, but you couldn’t bring yourself to check it. They were probably from Mina asking about what she’d walked in on, or Kaminari wondering why you stood him up for games night, or most probably it was Iida reminding you about the importance of curfew and getting eight hours sleep.

A small part of you prayed it was Bakugo or at least Kirishima wanting to smooth things over, but you couldn’t decide if it would hurt more to read those worried text, or not have received any.

“Ah, thought I’d find you here.” Mina’s voice commented as she plopped down beside you.

“How much did you hear?”

“So we’re having that conversation.” She mused laughing dryly. You couldn’t find the energy to smile in kind. Mina quickly recovered. “Enough to understand we’ve been doing you dirty.” She spoke softly, not appearing upset when you flinched out of her grasp when she tried to put a comforting arm around your shoulder.

“I fucked up,” you said to the growing darkness, unfocused eyes counting the trees.

A beat of silence.

“How so?”

“Just had to turn that into an all-out war didn’t I?” You forced a self-deprecating chuckle.

“It’s okay to be upset, about being left out.”

You laughed bitterly. “I didn’t let them get a word in edgewise.”

“I think it’s because they wanted to hear you out. Give you a chance to just let it all go rather than letting you bottle it up for any longer.” Mina thought aloud, also turning her gaze forward. “You haven’t been too happy lately.”

For a few minutes, the rustling of the leaves overhead and the distant honking of horns filled the silence. Mina didn’t press you for answers. She just sat and waited. Readjusting her coat every few minutes, or checking her immaculate nails in the weak lamplight, letting you stew in your thoughts until you were ready to share.

“How long have you known?” You finally asked.

“I’ve suspected it for a while. Did some tests of my own like trying to hook you up with someone. Kiri never said anything, but you could see it in his face. While Bakugo just looked ready to murder me on the spot. From there, it wasn’t difficult to piece together.”

“Ah.”

“Wanna head back?”

“Where even is here?”

“You managed to get halfway across town, but thankfully for me you left your location on so I didn’t have much trouble finding you.”

“Did the others-“

“They wanted to come, but I thought things would end up better if I brought you back.”

“Smart.”

Mina pretended to flick her hair over her shoulder before replying dramatically, “what can I say?”

>_<

Kirishima and Bakugo weren’t in the common room when you got back. Nor did they come to your room to apologise, so in return, you didn’t bother to go to them. You knew they’d be in one or the other’s room, probably cuddling, probably cursing your name, but in that moment, you couldn’t find it in you to care.

Sending a quick text to Mina, you changed into pjs and made your way back down to the common room with a blanket and pillow in tow. Mina and Uraraka were already downstairs setting up a blow up mattress big enough to take up a fair portion of the floor. Plenty of space for six girls and yourself. You helped them to move the coffee table to the side, before raiding the kitchen for snacks and bottles of fizzy, setting that out on the coffee table, you busied yourself with setting up the movie.

The rest of the girls began to trickle down within the next ten minutes. You’d let it slip to Mina on the way home that you couldn’t sleep without someone next to you, and with Bakugo and Kiri out of the question, she had invited all of the girls down for a well overdue sleepover. Blankets and pillows piled up on the blow up mattress, while Momo created beanbags for everyone to add to the mess.

By morning it was a massive tangle of limbs, but it’d been the best sleep you’d had in a long time.

>_<

The next few days passed in a blur. Your fellow classmates still kept their distance, but Shouji and Tokoyami made sure you were never on your own for long. Mina was relentless in her attempts to keep you comfortable within the Bakusquad, even if you and your supposed boyfriends hadn’t spoken a word to each other since your fight at the gym. At least Sero and Kaminari were talking to you again with no ulterior motives. It was obvious she’d already told Kaminari and Sero what had happened judging by the way they offered you apologetic glances and tried to include you.

You were just glad not to be the target of everyone’s attention anymore. Even if you didn’t feel like you could be as carefree as before. You found yourself withdrawing into yourself. The only things keeping you sane being Mina’s constant support and Zelda. The Zora Domain had become your comfort place over the past few days. More often than not, you were down in the common room listening to the soothing music after classes.

That’s where your boyfriends finally decided to talk to you again.

As usual Bakugo made dinner for the squad. Like usual they ate at the kitchen island, cracking jokes and laughing at nothing. You tried not to think about how easy the atmosphere was when you weren’t clogging up the table. Pushing the thoughts back, you heard the clatter of plates and running water as they started to clear up.

The joking continued for a little bit, but you weren’t really listening. Focusing on killing this pesky Lynel was much more important. Eventually the group tired themselves out and started heading up to bed. You accepted the light forehead kiss and tight hug from Mina knowing it was her own way of trying to coax the others into actually talking to you. You even let Sero squeeze your shoulder and Kaminari pat your head a little too enthusiastically, but it did help to draw a small smile out onto your lips.

“You coming up Y/N?” Kirishima offered, to which you shook your head, not bothering to part your eyes from the screen to answer him. Taking the memo, the redhead continued through the common room to the elevator, apparently unaffected by your rejection. That stung.

A blur of colour appeared at your side and sat itself on the arm of the couch to your left.

“What do you want Blasty?”

He just sat there, waiting for something. You had a sneaking suspicion you knew what it was, but you couldn’t set aside your pride to give it to him. This was the first time you’d been in the same room in days. Days… Fuck that hurt to think about. Fighting the shaking in your hands, you turned Link around and began heading to where you’d last seen Sidon, fuck the Lynel you didn’t need to kill the bitch, just the arrows would do. Right now though, you needed some much needed words of encouragement from your fish husbando.

The two of you sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until Bakugo finally broke it. “Aren’t you going to kiss me goodnight?”

The question caught you off guard. You’d half expected him to tell you how much you sucked as navigating through the domain despite how often you were playing now a days, but not that.

After the fight and then radio silence, you’d resigned yourself to believing it was over. Though neither Kiri or Bakugo had stated as such, you’d taken the silence for what it was. This was the first time you’d spoken in days and both of them suddenly start including you? They’d definitely had some kind of discussion. Maybe a truce to make peace so things in class wouldn’t be so awkward. Another stab of pain attacked your guts as your mind fixed on that thought.

“I don’t want too.” Your voice came out broken and quiet, the words barely making it out of your throat before they disappeared. The blonde stiffened on the arm of the chair. You could feel him looking at you as you stared at the screen with glassy eyes. You focused on the flash of red across the lake which Link was now swimming across, in favour of Bakugo.

You were defeating Vah ruta when he finally got up to leave.

>_<

There was a subtle knock on the door later that night. Eyes wide, you rapidly closed the ASMR tab and launched your phone at your laundry basket, only watched it long enough to make sure it made it inside, before turning over and burying yourself under the blankets, pretending to be asleep. Just in time too as the door slowly creaked open.

Hoping it was Mina, you kept your back to door in silent prayer she’d get the message and leave.

“Fucking finally.” Bakugo’s voice had your entire body going rigid. The door opened wider, allowing more of the hall light to slip into your cocoon of darkness. Twin pairs of footsteps approached your bed.

“Dude we really shouldn’t. If they wake up we’re as good as dead.”

“They’re not asleep.” Bakugo responded at his usual speaking volume.

“Keep your voice down!”

“What’s the point? Fucker can’t sleep without someone holding them or something stupid like that.” Your nails bit into your palm from the sheer self-restraint it took to not launch yourself at the asshole.

“Go away.” You growled out instead.

“See?” Bakugo declared to a silent Kirishima. You could already picture the redhead’s unimpressed expression.

“I’m trying to sleep, can this wait.”

“Not really no.” Kiri replied sheepishly. “Haven’t been able to sleep properly for the past week, so I would kind of like to make up.”

“So you’ve got a guilty conscience and that gives you the right to barge into my room and demand I apologise?” You snarled, shoving back the covers as you sat up. Your bedroom door was still wide open, letting the light from the hallways spill into your room. The sickly yellow hue painted your boyfriends in a pale light. Kirishima’s hair was limp around his face, dark bags weighing down his eyelids. Bakugo didn’t look much better. His scowl had turned into a grimace while the creases in his forehead seemed to of become permanent.

“You have nothing to apologise for.” Bakugo snarled without missing a beat, crossing his arms over his chest as if creating a barrier between you. Your eyes caught a glimpse of his nails bitten down to stumps. He was supposed to of grown out of that habit during second year.

“False.” You barked throwing yourself back onto your pillow, pulling the covers up and around yourself. “I was being an asshole and turned myself into the victim. Happy? Yes happy, now fuck off.”

You felt rather than saw them exchange looks.

“Baby, where is this coming from?” Kirishima asked curiously. The mattress dipped as he sat down by your thigh. “If anything we were the assholes excluding you like we did.” You had nothing to say to that.

“Y/n please talk to us. We don’t want to watch you crawling any further into your shell. You don’t need to defend yourself from us.” Kirishima reassured you, cautiously putting a hand on your ankle as if scared you’d slap it away. As if you could do that to him.

“I thought we were over.” You whispered into your covers. “Neither of you would even talk to me so I thought I’d fucked up so badly you finally realised you didn’t want me. And, I couldn’t hate you for it.” You chuckled dryly, closing your eyes against the wave of tears threatening to escape. “I realised throughout this that I don’t deserve either of you okay? They fucking saw that and tried to correct it. It was selfish of me to drag you two down with me.”

You stopped talking when the mattress dipped for a second time. The hand on your ankle, now on your calf, never stopped in its soothing ministrations. Even when Bakugo yanked the duvet back from your face on the first try compared to the disaster of a few weeks ago. Gods, that easy time together felt like years ago.

The light from the door made the blonde’s crimson eyes swim with unshed tears. “This is the fucking problem dumbass.” He growled, cupping your face with both hands, eyes never leaving your trembling lips. “You don’t think you deserve something so you ruin it.”

Your breath hitched at the realisation.

“Something inside is hurting you baby– that’s why you distance yourself when you’re stressed. It’s why you don’t sleep or listen to music turned up so fucking loud you can’t think.” Kirishima added, appearing over the blonde’s shoulder with a sad smile on his face. “You feel too much baby. But we know that, and we know to give you space to work it out or you feel boxed in.” Kiri’s hand stilled on your leg, and instead rose to grab your limp hand from where it was loosely gripping the duvet. “Kat and I know we shouldn’t of left this one alone now, but we thought we were doing you a favour by giving you space. We thought you’d come to us when you were ready.”

“So why the hell where you in Shouji’s room last night?” Bakugo cut in, eyebrows drawn together. You let out a wet chuckle. With his eyes so full of unshed tears you couldn’t take the blatant anger seriously. Or perhaps at this point you were completely immune to any and all forms of Bakugo rage.

“The entire class turned on me Jackass! Where else was I supposed to go?” You mused, only to have your cheeks mushed together by a seething Bakugo.

“To us!” He growled, “you were supposed to come to us!”

“I was having a panic attack okay?” You giggled, planning to speed past this part and not dwell on it. Because then it would be real. It actually happened and you didn’t want to think about that. “My mind shut off so my body took me to the next safest place.” The small smile Kirishima had grown during the lighter conversation instantly slipped off his face. His grip on your hand tightened as he fought for words. You squeezed his hand back while giving a flabbergasted Bakugo a reassuring look. “I’m fine now. All the stress just got to me.”

The three of you fell into an uneasy silence. You wanted so badly to call it a day and tackle them both under the covers, but there was something that was bothering you. You figured you’d get it off your chest now since you were all having a heart to heart anyway.

“Why were you two fighting out in the hall yesterday?”

Bakugo answered without even consoling Kiri about it. Which was a first. “Kirishima was stressed as to why you were pulling away. I was assuring him it wasn’t your choice. We knew it was going to happe-“

The redhead cut in, his tone devoid of all the tenderness he’d used when consoling you. “I hated how they were treating you. I was trying to convince Katsuki to make our relationship public already and shut everyone up.”

“But you know why we can’t do that dumbass.” Bakugo fired back, letting go of your face to turn on his boyfriend. It was the gym all over again. Only this time you felt powerless to stop them.

“Why?! Remind me Katsuki. We’re hiding because of some theory that the League will come after them? Well won’t they be more safe with us there than-“

“Yes! It is exactly that. You weren’t there when they kidnapped me kiri. You didn’t see the shit they did to people who opposed them. You-“

“If you’re going to fight again, get the hell out!” You cut in, eyes stinging. “No more fighting. I can’t fucking take anymore.”

They immediately deflated. Kirishima stood from the end of the bed to shut the door and locked it before rushing back over to reassure you. “Sshhh baby, we’re here.” He whispered, tone sweet like honey again. “Katsuki and I aren’t leaving again. We’ll be here when you wake up.”

You held your breath. Waiting for the yelling to start up again. When it didn’t you offered a quiet. “Okay.”

That was all the invitation Bakugo needed. Whipping back the covers with breakneck speed he dived under, wrapping his strong arms around you before the duvet even settled back on the bed. You relished in the feeling of his skin. The callouses of his hands on your lower back. The sensation of his lips against yours was almost enough to bring you to tears.

Holding onto him tightly, you planted a sweet kiss to his forehead, murmuring against his skin, “there’s that kiss you wanted sweetheart.” The slight shake of his shoulders and the sensation of his nose digging into your collarbone made the last few months of hell almost worth it. Almost.

For it to be perfect, Kirishima had to join in.

Unlooping an arm from Bakugo – which earned you a low growl – you made grabby hands at your redhead while offering him your best puppy dog eyes. Kirishima grinned back but paused before climbing onto the bed after the blonde. Fishing around in his back pocket, he found his phone and stooped by the bedside table to grab your charger. You pouted about having to wait. “Babe? Where’s your phone?”

“Laundry basket.” You answered quickly, practically foaming at the mouth to get your hands on your redhead. “Don’t ask, just get into bed.” You added when said redhead arched an eyebrow at your initial response.

It took him a few seconds of shuffling to find it. Impatiently, you watched Kirishima stride back over to the bed holding your phone, eyebrows drawn as he read the screen. Your blood ran cold in your limbs but heated your face as you remembered exactly why it had been in the basket to begin with.

And with his next breath, Kirishima said the dreaded words. “Babe, who is Yagami Yato?”