Chapter Text
“Suspension?!?” Kirishima shouts as he quickly shoots up from his seat.
Kirishima Eijirou is currently stuck in Principal Nezu’s office. Kirishima looks down at the small man in front of him. Nezu is a small older man with short white hair. He’s one of those old men who will wear a button up and vest to even the most casual of events. And he is definitely very different from Kirishima, a behemoth of a 17 year old who is most commonly seen in a sweatshirt and letterman jacket, no matter the weather.
“Yes I’m afraid that suspension from extracurricular activities is in fact a possibility if you do not pass all your classes this year.” Principal Nezu furrows his brow as he gestures at Kirishima to sit down.
“Sorry,” Kirishima sits down smiling apologetically at the principal. “I didn’t know my grades were bad enough to pull me from the football team?”
“Well you see, you’re currently failing three of your classes and it seems as though you are on track to pass only one class.” Kirishima stares dumbfounded at the principal and drops his head into his hands. “But-”
“I’m so sorry sir, I really do try my best in classes but everytime I sit down in class I either don’t retain the information or I can’t focus long enough on the subject and I just get confused and-” Nezu holds up his hand, telling him to stop. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay my boy. School in and of itself is a hard task for most, let alone for the students who must shoulder the workload of UA. We faculty here know that our curriculum is more intense than your average highschool,” Nezu smiles warmly at Kirishima in an attempt to make him feel more comfortable. “So we do offer many options for makeup work or extra lessons.”
“Like what?”
“Well you’re already enrolled in a study hall, but maybe tutoring could help improve your grades.” Nezu turns away and starts typing something on his computer. “There are many straight A students here that would leap at the chance of extra credit. Is that something you would be interested in?” Kirishima sits quietly for a moment, mulling over the options. Tutoring does seem like it would be the most helpful, he always learned better with one on one teaching.
“I think that a tutor would be very helpful.” Kirishima replies.
“Wonderful! I think it would best if we focused on the classes you are failing first before we tackle the ones you’re still technically passing. What do you think?” Kirishima starts to agree but Nezu keeps going. “So that would be Biology, US History, and Pre-Calculus. Give me some time to find a student who exceeds in those classes and is willing to tutor. I’ll let you know as soon as I find them. And for now we will allow you to stay on the football team. But if you do end up failing even one class this year, I’ll have no choice but to pull you from the team. Understood?”
“Understood. Th-Thank you sir.” Kirishima stares at the teacher whose fingers are flying surprisingly fast across the keyboard. Everybody knows that Principal Nezu is probably the smartest person at UA, but sometimes the man gets a little… energetic.
“Oh yes, you are dismissed. Please return to your fourth period class. And I’ll be in touch.” Nezu waves him off, not even looking up from the screen.
. . .
“SUSPENSION!?!” Kirishima cringes at his best bro before shushing him. “My bad man, I just didn’t know your grades had gotten that bad.” Tetsutetsu says as he throws his clothes into his locker and starts putting on his football gear. Kirishima is honestly regretting telling Tetsutetsu before football practice cause he knows that his bro is just gonna overreact about the whole situation.
“How do you think I feel? I knew my grades weren't the best but I thought I was at least passing my classes.” Kirishima shucks his shoulder pads on and starts on getting his jersey on.
“You know you can always sit in on me and Kendos study sessions, she is one of the smartest kids here.”
“Like I wanna third wheel on one of your study dates. You always end up making out by the end. I would know, remember when you forgot I was supposed to join you guys and I had to see your entire bare ass? Cause I do,” Tetsu tries to stifle his laughter. “That shit is burned into my skull. Fucking scarred for life man.”
“I’d say I’m sorry but it was kinda hilarious.” Tetsu shoves him, fully laughing at this point.
“For you maybe?!” Kirishima starts gagging and shaking his hands back and forth as though he was seeing Tetsu’s ass again. “Fucking. Scarred.”
“But seriously man, if you're that stressed I'm sure Kendo wouldn't mind helping you.” Tetsu goes to pat him on the back but Kirishima plops down onto a bench and drops his head into his hands.
“It’s not that I’m stressed about the work, I mean I am! But I just have no idea how I’m going to manage everything.” He looks up at Tetsu and starts counting on his fingers. “I have school from 7:55 to 3:50 from Monday to Thursday. Then Football practice from 4 to 6. THEN I have band practice at Kaminaris everyday. And yes the time on that does change frequently cause the band is full of chaotic gays who don’t understand the concept of time, but it’s still everyday!”
Tetsu sits down next to Kirishima and places his hand on his back, attempting to add some type of comfort to the situation.
“Then we have our gigs every weekend, and sometimes weekdays if we’re lucky. And every Sunday I go to my Mama’s gym and spend most of the day there working out in the morning and cleaning up here and there for her.” Kirishima sighs exasperated and slumps down with his head between his knees. Slowly he turns to look at Tetsu. “What am I gonna do?”
“Honestly bro, I have no idea. Maybe try talking to the band and establishing some kind of schedule so you can actually work with it. Just be careful and please don't overwork yourself. What is the team gonna do without their unbreakable Red Riot? You’re the unstoppable wall that saves our ass all the time, we need you at your best.” Tetsu smiles warmly down at Kirishima.
“I hate to break up such a ‘Bromantic’ moment but coach Aizawa says if you two arent out there in five seconds hes gonna make everybody do suicide runs until he says to stop.” Todoroki says after popping his head out from behind the lockers and immediately disappearing when finished. The two boys stare at each other before sprinting outside after him.
. . .
After Football practice ends, Kirishima heads out to his truck. There is no way to describe how much love and care Kirishima has put into his truck. His Mama Celia bought it for him on his sixteenth birthday and they fixed it up themselves. When he first saw the old red Ford he was very hesitant. Most of the kids at UA who had gotten their licenses had newer cars. But once he realised that his truck had more character than anybody else's at the school, he fell in love. They actually only finished it a few months ago, and it may not run perfectly but Kirishima loves it with his entire being.
He taps the photo on his visor, a weird tradition Mama Celia started for good luck, (she keeps a photo of Kaito and Kirishima from the day he was born on her visor.) The photo Kirishima keeps in his truck is from Mama Kaito and Mama Celia’s wedding. His moms are seated behind him and he stands in the grass of their backyard holding his dog Riot when she was just a little puppy. He was five when they got married, and he remembers how happy his mom looked when she was finally married to Celia, the love of her life. That was truly one of the happiest days of his life.
Kirishima smiles warmly at the memory, then plugs his phone in and turns on some music as he puts his seatbelt on. As he starts to pull out of the school parking lot he starts singing along to the song. It’s Wrecking Ball by Mother Mother and he has to physically hold himself back from getting too into the song for the safety of himself and other drivers around him. He’s on a mission to go get some coffee for the band before practice. And even though Mina is constantly on their case about not drinking milk or iced drinks before singing, he knows they won't turn down something from the Black Rock Coffee by Kaminari’s house. All of them are way too much of caffeine addicts for that.
As he pulls into the Black Rock drive through, Kirishima turns his music down and pulls out his wallet. Already reciting his order silently to himself as he reaches the speaker.
“What do you want?” A gruff voice barks from the speaker.
“Hey man, I’ll have a peach and coconut organic fuel, a medium caramel latte, a medium caramel blondie chiller, and an organic strawberry lemonade fuel.” He’s already got a twenty sitting out since he knows it’ll be stupidly overpriced for decent chain coffee.
“Whipped cream on the Blondie?”
“Um, yes please.”
“$16.80 at the window.” Whoever this is, they're very blunt and straight to the point. It’s pretty surprising compared to his normal interactions with the Black Rock workers. There's even one girl he sees before every gig who always gushes about the Liberty spikes he does for his shows.
When he drives up to the window he’s surprised by the unfairly attractive man standing there. He has spiky blond hair, bright red eyes, and a jawline sharp enough to cut Kirishima if he ran his thumb on it. He’s not a tall guy per say, but he makes up for his size with how broad he is. He wears a white v-neck and a dark brown flannel over it with black jeans that Kirishima can barely see. The outfit somehow perfectly accentuates his drastic waist to shoulder ratio.
“Blondie, two organic fuels and a caramel latte?” The man barks at Kirishima without even looking as he shoves the drinks into a carrier.
“Uhh, y-yes!” Eloquent as always dude.
“Tch,” The blonde sticks his hand out the window at Kirishima. “$16.80.”
Kirishima fumbles for the twenty and almost drops it when the blond brushes his hand on Kirishimas. He drops his head onto the steering wheel as the man gets his change.
“Oy. Take your drinks.” Kirishima whips his head up at the blond and smiles sheepishly, sucking in a sharp breath and almost dropping the carrier when the blond turns around, showing off the small tattoo on the back of his neck that he can't quite make out at this distance.
“Damn idiot.” is all Kirishima hears before he drives away with the drinks tucked safely in the front seat.
After that less than ideal interaction Kirishima doesn't even want to turn his music on while he drives to Kaminaris. Not only did he embarrass himself in front of the most gorgeous man he's seen in person (since nobody tops his sexual awakening of Chris Evans as Captain America), but he also got called an idiot by the blond. Guess he’s never going to that Black Rock ever again. Doesn’t matter if the closest one to Kaminaris- besides the one with the slightly mean hot guy- is fifteen minutes past Kaminaris house coming from school. But he is willing to make that sacrifice to never see the hot guy again. Once he's pulled into Kaminaris driveway, he sets his head on the wheel and takes deep breaths. Upon turning off the car, he realizes just how quiet it is.
Fuck.
He wrenches the truck door open and slams it shut, making loud footsteps to fill the quiet as he grabs the drinks and his Bass, locking the truck as he opens the garage door and braces himself for the incoming noise.
As soon as the garage door starts to rise up the horrible noise of an electric guitar comes screeching from inside. He starts yelling at Mina and flashes her a big toothy grin until she stops strumming on her guitar.
“Kirishima!” Mina yells excitedly as she sets her guitar down gently.
“DRINKS!” Kaminari screeches as he chucks the mic onto the couch and sprints at Kirishima, ignoring the god awful noise that came from the speaker due to his actions.
“Exactly! Drinks! Don’t tackle me!” Kirishima exclaims as he side steps away from Kaminari's loving attack. Kaminari immediately trips and catches himself after missing his target. Then proceeds to walk up behind Kirishima and search for his drink.
“Ah, Iced caramel latte,” He hands Kaminari his drink, “Caramel Blondie Chiller,” he waltz over to Mina and sets a drink doused in caramel and whipped cream on the table next to her. She smiles widely. “Peach and Coconut Fuel.”
“Organic?” Sero asks, raising an eyebrow as he reaches over his drum set for the drink.
“Organic. I know you hate how overpowering and 'vitaminy' the flavor of the regular one is man.” Kirishima says as he deposits the drink in Seros hand. “And an Organic Strawberry Lemonade Fuel for me. Everybody happy?”
A collective hum rings through the room accompanied by the slurping of straws. Kirishima sets his guitar case down on the couch and pulls out his bass. Taking one last sip of his drink before setting it on the closest table. As he starts to tune his bass he remembers Tetsutetsu’s advice.
“Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that Nezu is trying to arrange some tutoring lessons for me.” He looks up at his friends and smiles sheepishly. “It turns out I’m failing a lot of classes or at least on track to fail, and if I don't pass all my classes this year he’s going to pull me from Football.”
There's an almost eerie silence before a loud eruption of noise comes from Mina and Kaminari. Sero simply sends him a gentle look and tosses his Juul on the couch next to Kirishima.
“Tutoring?!” Mina shouts. “I know you're not the smartest but I didn’t know it was getting this bad.”
“Yeah man, you could've asked one of us to help,” Sero sends Kaminari a doubtful look. “Okay well you could have asked me to ask Shinsou. You know he helps me with my school stuff. I probably would have failed all my classes without him. Speaking of, I forgot to text him after school.” Kaminari turns away with a goofy smile as he pulls out his phone.
“Ignore the idiot with a smarty farty boyfriend. But you could have asked, I’m sure Shinsou would have helped.” Mina says as she shoves Kaminari onto the couch. Kaminari flops down like a big dog and keeps messing with his phone.
“But I don’t want to just sit in on a study session with one of my friends' partners. And Tetsu already asked if I wanted to join him and Kendo.” Kirishima takes Seros Juul and hits it once before continuing. “I would just feel like a burden if one of you guys helped me. You all know how hard it is to study with me, it’s not exactly a simple task.”
“I know hun, but we do care and we want to help you in any way.” Mina leans over him and sets her hands on his shoulders.
“Yeah, I know that. My only problem is that I have to figure out an actual schedule for everything. Which means we ” He gestures around the room, “have to set up a real practice schedule. Not just go over to Kamis everyday and hope for the best.”
Even Kaminari looks up from his phone to stare at Kirishima.
“But thats like our whole thing. We just dick around everyday with some productive days and some lazy days, then we meet up at The League's every Saturday for our weekly gig.” Sero walks up and snatches his Juul back. “Sometimes if we’re lucky we get an extra gig.” He starts hitting the Juul as he stomps back to his spot behind the drum set.
“It ain’t much but it’s honest work.”
A chorus of shut up’s are thrown at Kaminari. He simply starts laughing his ass off in response.
“I know it’s not the way we’ve done things but having a schedule would be awesome for me, it doesn't have to be insane or anything. It just has to be clear enough for me to work with.” The others stare unwavering at Kirishima.
I didn’t want to have to do this, but they’ve put me in a corner.
Kirishima drops his head between his knees and waits for a second, letting the tension build. He hears somebody take a breath and he lifts his head and musters the most powerful pair of puppy dog eyes he can. He’s sure to make dead eye contact with everybody. He takes a deep, melancholic breath.
“Please?”
“. . .”
“FUCK!” Sero drops his head into his hands, and one by one they all crack. “Fine. You win. But you have to set it up, and bring us coffee tomorrow too.” Sero stares at Kirishima's smiling face, pointing his finger to make sure he understands the gravity of the agreement. Kirishima nods stupidly in response.
“And you're driving us to all the next gigs.” Kamiari butts in.
“He already drives all of you, since nobody wants to ride with me.” Sero stares pointedly at Kaminari and raises his eyebrow.
“You’re shitty little subaru always smells like pot and my parents are starting to notice, so I’m out.” Mina explains as she plops down next to Kaminari and Kirishima on the couch.
“You are a scary driver,” Kaminari blurts out, earning a scary look from Sero. “But you’re somehow better when you’re high. It’s really weird.”
“I really don’t mind driving everybody Sero. I have enough space if we put most of the equipment in the truck bed.” He really didn’t mind, it was always more fun driving with friends than driving alone.
“If I let you win this and drive everybody it’ll be as if I lost all of my dignity-”
“What dignity.” Sero hits Kaminari point blank in the head with a drumstick and Mina starts laughing so hard she’s snorting.
“Goddamnit Sero! Fuck!” Kaminari rubs his head. “You can’t just do that, I coulda gotten a concussion or some shit!!” He glances up to see Sero winding up his arm with the other drumstick in hand.
“Damn, better try again.” Kaminari yelps and tries to jump behind the couch in time but Sero hits him square in the ass as he dives over the back. “Bullseye!”
It’s times like these that Kirishima realizes how much he loves his friends.