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Kirishima walked toward the school with Midoriya and Todoroki. “You excited?” Midoriya asked him. “To see the new professor you’re working with, I mean.”
“I’m surprised they found a replacement so quickly,” Todoroki mused. The previous professor had been a ghost who finally moved on mid-school-year. “I hear the new teacher’s a vampire. Try not to get bitten, Kirishima.”
Kirishima rolled his eyes. “Aw, come on. Don’t stereotype monsters like that. We’re the least qualified group to do that.” It was true. Kirishima was a werewolf, but he hated hunting. Midoriya was a demon, but was one of the sweetest people he’d ever met. Todoroki… well, no one knew what Todoroki was. Not even Todoroki himself.
“I was making a joke,” Todoroki said. “Maybe this vampire is vegan or something. That would be funny.”
They entered the school building. “Well, good luck, Kiri,” Midoriya said, disappearing into his own classroom. “Have a good day, Shouto.”
“Unlikely,” Todoroki replied. He stopped at his classroom. “See you, Kirishima.”
“Yep.” Kirishima nodded and entered his own classroom. The ghost teacher had always arrived after him, so Kirishima was surprised to see a blond man already at the desk. “Oh. Are you Bakugou?”
The blond didn’t look up. “You’re Kirishima, right?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Cool.” He looked up and studied Kirishima for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Werewolf,” he guessed.
“Yeah,” Kirishima said again. “How’d you know?”
“Wolf’s blood,” Bakugou said as an explanation. “So what are the little extras learning in class? I didn’t bother to read the plan yet. Figured you had it.”
Oh, this was not going well. “We’re learning about the French Revolution,” he said. “Marie Antoinette and-”
“And Louis XIV,” Bakugou nodded. “I know. I was there. Well, not there, there. But I was in France at the time.” He scratched at his neck. “Guillotines are cool.”
“Yeah, they are,” Kirishima agreed. He eyed the cross necklace Bakugou was wearing. “That necklace,” he started.
Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Don’t stereotype me. Vampires aren’t scared of religious symbols. You’re confusing us with atheists.”
“No, I was gonna ask if it’s silver. I’m a werewolf.”
“And I’m a vampire, dipshit.” Bakugou said. “I can’t wear silver either.”
“Oh. Right.” Kirishima swallowed. “Never met a vampire before.”
“Clearly.” Bakugou stood up. “Are the other professors in? I should say hi.”
“Yeah, they’re-” Kirishima started, but Bakugou brushed past him.
He poked his head into Todoroki’s classroom. “Oi, who’re you?” he demanded.
Todoroki was setting up a lab for his students. “I am Shouto Todoroki,” he said smoothly. “You are…?”
“Katsuki Bakugou.”
“I see.” Todoroki nodded.
Midoriya came over. “Shouto, have you seen my-” he started. He looked at Bakugou in disbelief. “Kacchan?”
“Deku,” Bakugou nodded.
Kirishima furrowed his brows. “You two know each other?”
Midoriya nodded. “We met a few centuries ago. Fell out of touch. Nice to see you, Kacchan.”
“Can’t say the same,” Bakugou responded. He turned and went back to his classroom. Kirishima looked at Midoriya helplessly.
“He’s really not so bad,” the demon promised. “You just have to get on his good side.”
Kirishima sighed. “If you say so.”
Students trickled in, and Bakugou introduced himself. “I don’t know what your last teacher was like,” he said, “but I’m different. Now, Shitty Hair, where’d you leave off?”
Kirishima looked at Bakugou. “Who, me?” he asked. “Um, we left off with Marie and the Dauphin in the prison. Page three-nineteen in the textbook.”
“Cool,” Bakugou said. “Well, the Dauphin gets taken from Marie, and Marie gets executed, the end. Ask me what happened to the Dauphin.”
The room was silent. Kirishima finally asked, “What?”
Bakugou grinned. “Charles-Louis, the Dauphin, was put in a house with these people. When he was retrieved, he was sickly and dying. But! That wasn’t the real Dauphin. In fact, they’ve even dug up his body and confirmed it’s not him. The real Dauphin escaped. Think of Anastasia. It was basically that, but French.” He put his feet up on the desk. “That’s something you don’t get taught.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Kirishima said. “Will it be on the test?”
Bakugou shook his head. “The only test you fuckers have is the final. And you can use notes. I don’t expect anyone to memorize this shit. Hell, I lived through most of it and I don’t remember half of it if it didn’t interest me.” He sat up. “Raise your hand if this shit actually interests you.”
A few students raised their hands.
“Exactly,” Bakugou said. “If you raised your hand, you’re a nerd.” He turned. “Let’s learn about actual useful shit, like who invented the cotton gin. Eli Whitney. Might not seem important now, but you’ll thank me when you’re doing a crossword puzzle and the clue is ‘Whitney of the cotton gin’.”
One student raised his hand. “Sir, next in the textbook is the Cold War,” he said. “Are we learning about that?”
“Why? Nothing really happened that you haven’t already learned,” Bakugou said. “In fact…” He took a textbook and a lighter. “We won’t need these.” He burned the textbook.
The students started screaming. Kirishima ran over. “Bakubro, look man, no fires indoors!”
Bakugou shrugged. “My bad,” he said, and he threw the textbook at the window. It shattered.
Kirishima stared. “What the fuck?” he demanded.
Bakugou looked at Kirishima. “Hush. I know what I’m doing,” he said.
Kirishima looked concerned. “Do you?”
He nodded. “The human brain remembers information tied to exciting events,” he said coolly. “Watch. If you ask any one of these kids about the Dauphin, I bet they’ll get it right.”
“Really?” Kirishima asked doubtfully.
“Yeah. I’m crazy, but I’m still a teacher. Chill.” Bakugou continued teaching the class until the lunch bell rang. “So, Shitty Hair, where do we go for lunch?”
“My name’s Eijirou Kirishima, not Shitty Hair,” Kirishima replied. “And normally, I have lunch monitor duty.”
“Tch,” Bakugou scoffed. “Can’t these kids handle themselves?”
“Not really,” Kirishima said. “Last week there was a whole food fight.”
Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Let’s go babysit, then,” he said.
The lunchroom was loud, as usual. Bakugou looked pretty menacing, standing in the back with crossed arms. Just for fun, Kirishima tried to imitate his pose. It felt awkward, though, so he resorted to putting his hands in his pockets.
One kid came up to him. “Kirishima-sensei?” she asked. “I, um, forgot my lunch. Could you give me a dollar for the vending machine? I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”
“You forgot lunch?” Kirishima asked. He pulled out his wallet and a few yen. “Are you okay with the cafeteria food?”
“Oh, you really don’t have to pay for a whole meal,” the girl said.
“Yeah I do! It’s my job to help out. Here.” He handed her the money. “You can keep the change, okay?”
“I couldn’t,” the girl said.
“You better, or I’m lowering your grade,” Kirishima threatened.
“That’s so unfair,” the girl replied, smiling. “Thank you so much.” She took the money and went to get into the lunch line.
Bakugou looked over. “The hell?” he asked.
“What?” Kirishima asked.
“Why’d you do that?”
“It was a nice thing to do,” he responded. “I’m gonna be a teacher. I need to make sure I cater to the students. I don’t know what any of their home situations are like. So I gotta be there for them, in case no one else is.”
Bakugou gave him a half-smile. “That’s really sweet,” he said. “So you like to help people?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Huh. Interesting.” Bakugou leaned back against the wall. “Well, you do a good job at it.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” He paused. “No, seriously, if you tell anyone I complimented you I’ll hurt you.”
“Oh,” Kirishima said. “Okay, I guess. Why don’t you want anyone to know?”
“I have an appearance to maintain,” Bakugou said. “A reputation.”
“Right.” Kirishima nodded. “Personally, I’d rather have the reputation of being nice, but you do you.”
Bakugou scoffed in response. “Whatever.”
Kirishima watched as the girl he’d given money to took her lunch out to the courtyard.
The rest of lunch was silence between the two of them, but Kirishima could practically feel Bakugou’s eyes on him when he wasn’t looking.
Back at the classroom, the girl from before approached Kirishima. “Hey, Kiri-Sensei?” she asked. “It’s really not much, since you gave me all that money, but I found this and I thought you might like it.” She shyly produced a small heart-shaped rock from her pockets.
Kirishima took it and beamed. “Aw, thanks! I love it! I actually have a small rock collection. I used to want to study rocks when I was little, and then I found out that there were bugs in the dirt, and I changed my mind. I love rocks, thanks so much!”
The girl beamed back at him and went to sit down.
Bakugou looked over. “You’re excited over a rock?” he asked, dumbfounded.
“No, I’m excited over the gift,” he replied. “It means a lot to me. I’m gonna put it with my keys so I don’t forget it.”
Bakugou watched him, shaking his head. “I don’t understand you,” he said.
“Good,” Kirishima joked.
“You get used to him,” Midoriya said after Kirishima recounted the day’s events. “You just have to get on his good side, like I said.”
“He’s kinda cute,” Kirishima said offhandedly.
“Maybe throw him a welcoming party?” Midoriya said.
“Good idea,” Todoroki said. “He likes red velvet cupcakes.” Midoriya’s eyes widened, and he smiled.
“I can’t make cupcakes,” Kirishima scoffed. “I can’t even make toast.”
“Same,” said Todoroki sadly.
“It’s easy,” Midoriya said. “You could always get Aizawa to help.”
“Oh, the zombie administrator?” Kirishima asked. “Is he good at baking?”
“Surprisingly so,” Todoroki nodded. “Midoriya and I can take Bakugou out somewhere while you and Aizawa bake the cupcakes, if you’d like.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kirishima nodded.
Kirishima emailed all the students to make sure they arrived early. He himself arrived at the school before sunrise, and spent a few hours setting things up.
Students trickled in and took their seats. Some arrived early enough to help Kirishima set up.
Eventually Bakugou walked into the room, stopping as he saw all the decorations. “The hell is this?” he demanded.
“It’s a welcome party,” Kirishima said. “I made cupcakes.”
“You made-?” Bakugou started. “Why?”
“To welcome you?”
“Why?”
“Because it’s a nice thing to do.” Kirishima suddenly felt very uncertain about the whole thing.
“Tch.” Bakugou grabbed a cupcake, unwrapped it, and bit into it. “Huh. This is good,” he said.
“You like it?” Kirishima asked, relieved.
“Yeah. I do. Thanks, Ei.” He grinned, making Kirishima smile too. “So you like me?”
“What?”
“Red velvet,” Bakugou said. “It’s tradition to court a vampire with red velvet.”
Kirishima swallowed. Did Todoroki and Midoriya set him up? “Is it?”
“Yeah.” Bakugou licked the cupcake wrapper. “So, do you like me?”
“Do you like me?” Kirishima tried.
Bakugou looked at him. “Is that a yes?” he asked. He smiled. “Yeah, you seem cool. You’re nice to the students, and you don’t get in my way. You also don’t talk down to me, which I appreciate.”
Kirishima felt his face heat up. “Then… yeah, I like you,” he said.
“Cool. Let’s get dinner sometime then,” Bakugou said.
“Yeah. Let’s,” Kirishima grinned. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Todoroki and Midoriya peeking in through the door, but when he looked, no one was there.
He grabbed a cupcake.