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It was wet; dreary, cold, and soggy, yet the thrum of the rain on the rooftop was calming, even amidst the occasional crack of thunder tearing apart the sky. However, for brightly colored rain boots, forest hair hidden beneath a plain red ballcap, and viridian power humming through his veins not unlike nature’s very rain, the weather was no excuse to slack off.
Letting out a breath, scarred, crooked fingers gently pushed open the door to the dorms, steeling his resolve as the sole holder of an extremely important quirk… “Hahh, All Might wouldn’t want me slacking off… rain or not…”
“Oh! Hey! Midoriya! What are you doing?” a jovial voice pulled up abruptly behind the boy, sharp teeth grinning happily. Midoriya, on the other hand, jumped in shock, stepping backwards right into the rain. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about whether or not I should go out…” he mumbled with a slight twitch to his own lips.
“Sorry, bro! Didn’t mean to spook you or whatever!
“Nah, you’re fine, Kirishima. I was just thinking about going out anyway!” he reassured his redheaded friend, waving the worries away.
“Really?” he titled his head slightly, but didn’t comment other than, “Are you going somewhere?”
“Ah! Yes- well, no? I’m not going anywhere like to a destination, but I am going somewhere in the sense that I am going out, if that makes sense? Y’ see I was planning on going on a jog, but I stopped because, if the rain makes me sick, that would set my training schedule back indefinitely, but I’m already out in the rain-” he paused to flap the arms of his rain jacket, “So I might as well right?”
Kirishima stood still for a moment, trying to process the lightning fast movement of his friend’s mouth before coming to the conclusion, “You’re going on a jog!”
“Ah, yeah,” Midoriya giggled, embarrassed with how off track he had gotten in his explanation.
“It’s so manly that you’re not even slacking off on a dreary day like this!” Kirishima cheered with his unbridled enthusiasm, earning a different kind of flush from his fellow Hero student, frantically mumbling, “Well, no, it’s not really all that…”
Suddenly, the redhead seemed to have an idea pop into his mind, “Hey! Do you mind if I join you?”
“What about rain gear?”
“You’re right… Dang…”
Unable to look at the kicked puppy face Kirishima displayed- probably without his own knowledge, Midoriya couldn’t help but push the idea, “Since I have boots and a hat, I can just give you my rain coat. How does that sound?”
The Hardening Hero student immediately brightened before deflating slightly, “I couldn’t do that! You might catch a cold! And it would be all my fault! Besides, I don’t want to take your stuff.”
“It’ll be fine, Kirishima!” he chirped reassuringly, “The boots will protect my feet from getting wet and my hat will keep my head dry. You, on the other hand, get to deal with soggy feet and wet dog hair, but you get to keep your shirt dry the entire time! Besides, I think having a jogging partner will help keep me from just strolling along the sidewalks and jumping into puddles-”
He paused for a moment as realization hit him, “Ah! If you don’t mind, that is?”
Kirishima took one look at Midoriya’s pleading eyes, wide emerald orbs and freckles shimmering in the soft grey light, and he melted. There was no way that he could say no to that, “Well, do you drive a hard bargain, and I’d hate for you to get rained on for any longer than needed!”
“Perfect!” Midoriya cheered, immediately moving to take off his cheesy, All Might themed rain jacket and shoved it off to the redhead. Kirishima shook it off a bit before slipping it on, embracing the huge dork it must have made him look like. The sleeves were slightly baggy, and the entire thing was practically neon glowing in the dull lighting- not to mention, when he flipped his hood up, the jacket even had a cheesy replica of the old Hero’s weird hair things.
“I look stupid, don’t I? You can be honest, Midoriya,” he joked, willing to do just about anything for the amicable grin across the forest haired boy’s freckled face.
“You’ll only look stupid when you eat my dust!”
Without even activating his quirk, Midoriya took off in a sprint, and Kirishima couldn’t help the childish energy that sparked through him as he raced to catch up. With one hand on his All Might rain coat and bright red basketball shorts, he must have looked like such a sight chasing after the forest haired male who was in a semi-sensible red ball cap, a cheesy tee shirt that said “Raincoat” on it, pants, and rain boots.
Catching up after a few seconds, Kirishima let their play slow into an easy jog with Midoriya at the lead. For a while, it was just them, arms swaying, heavy footsteps, and the soft sound of the rain hitting the ground around them. Although it had been raining for a while, it hadn’t been heavy enough for puddles. That was, until a good ways into their jog when the two approached a section of the path that had quite a few potholes throughout it.
If Kirishima had looked over- in the one ironic moment that his gaze wasn’t completely fixated on Midoriya- he would have seen the mischievous smirk sent his way. At the very least, he felt the water directed his way and heard the loud splash as the forest haired male jumped in front of him… right in a puddle. To say that he was dry would have been a lie, but there was something almost violent about the ground water splashing his bare shins and falling onto his poor sneakers that were doing everything they could to avoid getting squishy with circumstance.
“Dude! Soggy sneakers!” Kirishima cried, jumping back. Of course, not even the honest shock and discomfort that inevitably came with wet shoes could keep the twist in Kirishima’s features up when Midoriya started laughing. It was like a fountain of giggles, bubbling up like a melody and surrounding him. As cheesy as it was to say, Midoriya’s laughter was like a song he never wanted to stop playing.
“S… or… ry…” he pushed out through chuckles, but it was clear that his apology was not at all serious.
“Not cool, bro!” the redhead scolded with no malice, his nose scrunching up dorkily at the sight of Midoriya doubled over and clutching his stomach. “What would you do if I did…” Kirishima paused for a moment before leaping at Midoriya with a near booming, “This?” Of course, he didn’t in any way touch the forest haired Hero in training, but the shock was enough to send him stumbling backwards.
Midoriya let out a surprised yelp. Trying to step back, he ended up tripping over his own feet and falling ass first onto the wet ground. “Hey!” he whined, “That’s unfair!”
“Says you!” Kirishima teased, running off when he saw Midoriya standing up and locking onto him.
Just like that, they danced around each other. Midoriya jumped into any puddle that was near Kirishima, and Kirishima tried to run away from the splash zones. Their laughter filled the air, drowning out the ever pouring rain around them as they fooled around until they were huffing for breath. By that time, Midoriya’s shirt was practically soaked through, but Kirishima’s sneakers squished audibly with every step he took.
“Are you… ready to head… back?” the forest haired male huffed, angling his cap to better cover his mop of curls.
“Yeah, bro, I want out of these sneakers as soon as possible,” the redhead joked back, his hair completely flat and sticking to his forehead and neck uncomfortably.
Once again, Midoriya took the lead, casually walking them back in the direction of the dorms. Emerald gems glanced over to Kirishima every so often- after the second time making eye contact, ruby eyes took the liberty of looking away. Unbeknownst to the hopeless gay refusing to look over, Midoriya was watching his chest rise and fall; it wasn’t in a creepy or underhanded way, he was waiting for Kirishima to catch his breath before they took back off on a jog.
Admittedly caught out guard and quite frankly a bit flustered, the redhead jerked up to see his partner a short ways ahead of him, so, obviously, his natural response was to surge forward and run past Midoriya.
It turned out that they didn’t need puddles to dance around each other; the entire way back they had an unspoken game to come up with the weirdest way to walk back to the dorms. It started when Midoriya had skipped past Kirishima who was jogging ahead. The redhead, unfortunately, could not skip to save his life, so, when he tried it, he was honestly doing more of a half hop, half gallop. Either way it looked hilarious, but the look of embarrassment on Kirishima’s face when Midoriya burst out into laughter was enough to make the forest haired male feel bad.
From there, they tried hopping, twirling, leaping, and anything else that came to mind until they made it back to the UA gates, where one look shared between them was a silent agreement to walk normally and never speak of that to anyone else.
Midoriya was the first one through the door, stepping out of his rain boots and taking off his hat as he moved to make way for his partner. The first thing Kirishima did was complain about his soggy sneakers and how they would have been fine if someone hadn’t been jumping in puddles.
Of course, Midoriya retorted with the fact that Kirishima didn’t have to come along, that no one was forcing him, and a reminder that the ass of his pants was completely soaked through because of Kirishima’s little stunt.
The furrow in their brows, however, didn’t last longer than three seconds when they looked at each other; both burst into giggles like schoolgirls sharing an inside joke.
“I’m gonna get some water- some drinking water-” Midoriya started in the direction, silently hoping that Kirishima was going to follow him as he saw the redhead hanging up his All Might rain jacket to dry after flinging off his socks and shoes.
“Oh! Yeah, bro, I’ll grab some, too!” Score.
Walking over to the cabinets, Midoriya grabbed two glasses while Kirishima slid onto the counter.
“You have wet dog hair,” the forest haired male chuckled, glancing over at the soaked scarlet hair flopped over all sad like.
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Kirishima pursed his lips in a pout, too busy looking at his lap to see Midoriya setting down the glasses and walking over. He easily thread his fingers through the slick, untangled locks, pausing for half a moment before harshly ruffling it like he was petting a dog.
Again, they both laughed at the absurdity of the situation, but, as Midoriya’s fingers slowed down and their eyes opened slowly and dramatically to reveal the other, Kirishima almost couldn’t help letting his wet lashes flutter shut once more as he leaned forward. Their noses brushed together, exchanging droplets of water as the two of them leaned into the kiss.
It was hesitant, slow. Kirishima moved just far enough to feel Midoriya’s lips touch his own, but the freckled male found himself pushing in slightly as well. The entire exchange was careful, peaceful, but in a way that set off fireworks in their minds.
As Kirishima pulled back, his face lit up in embarrassment. He hadn’t meant to actually kiss Midoriya and frantically hoped that he hadn’t made his friend uncomfortable, “I, um, sorry, I-”
“No, no, don’t be- I, uh, I enjoyed it…” the forest haired male cut him off, damp lashes framing his wide emerald eyes gorgeously.
“You did?” it was barely a whisper, a flutter of hope left to the wind.
“Y-yeah… Could you do it again?”
That was all Midoriya needed to say for Kirishima to close the gap once more. The second kiss wasn’t rushed or hurried, but it was passionate- the way their lips slotted together without fear. Kirishima wasn’t afraid to put his weight into it as he leaned down from the counter, and Midoriya wasn’t afraid to stretch up and support that weight. In that moment, the only sounds in their moment were the sound of the rain hitting the dorms and the raindrops from their clothes hitting the floor.