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It’s not that Kirishima thought they were going to break up.
He and Bakugou had been dating since the end of first year, with graduation now just a few months away. In that time, there was never a moment where Kirishima was worried that their relationship would end. There was no particular strain on it, and they spent an “honestly concerning” amount of time together, according to Kaminari.
They trained together Tuesday and Thursday mornings, studied together, spent winter breaks hiking, and once a month they signed up for permission to leave campus to go on extra special dates to the arcade or for Sunday lunches away from their classmates. In the dorms, they almost exclusively spent time in Bakugou’s room together, Kirishima secretly taking pride in the fact that no one else had seen it except for him.
Though Bakugou had never been one for grand gestures, he was still a very attentive boyfriend and Kirishima never felt like he was unloved. His love language was more acts of service than grand declarations. Generally, it was domestic shows of affection, such as cooking for Kirishima and cleaning up if he left his notes in a disorganized mess (Kirishima had very quickly learned that Bakugou was a bit of a neat freak). Bakugou had even learned how to properly touch up Kirishima’s roots when his black hair would grow back.
That started some time in second year, as Kirishima had been talking about having to re-dye his hair soon. Bakugou simply dragged him to the washroom and started setting up everything they’d need, even having bought the exact dye Kirishima had always used. That first time, with Bakugou taking such special care in touching up Kirishima’s roots, he couldn’t help but just smile at the mirror like the love sick dope that he was, watching as Bakugou’s concentrated reflection slowly turned red as he noticed Kirishima staring. That was actually the moment Kirishima realized he was in love with Bakugouーfirst time he said it, too.
“The fuck are you looking at, Shitty Hair?” Bakugou had asked, and it was so obvious he was flustered.
“Nothing,” Kirishima had hummed, amused. “Just thinking that my hair can’t possibly look shitty if the amazing Bakugou Katsuki is the one dyeing it.”
“Why youーshut up!”
Bakugou had bumped him with his elbow.
And Kirishima had laughed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding…” And then he’d paused. “I was actually thinking that I, uh… I really love you, is all.”
Bakugou had frozen at that, his hands stilling for a second as he decidedly looked away from the mirror, his gaze returning to the back of Kirishima’s head.
“... Love you too,” he’d mumbled out.
Bakugou’s been the one dyeing Kirishima’s hair ever since. It went from being a slightly annoying process Kirishima had to struggle through, to one of the things he looked forward to most every month. All things considered, their relationship was going great, and nothing recently would indicate otherwise.
Yet, with graduation coming up so soon, Kirishima was becoming increasingly aware of how school was going to end, and that they were going to be real pro heroes.
You didn’t have to know Bakugou as well as Kirishima did to know he’d wanted to be the number one hero all his life. It was obvious in the way he fought, how he carried himself, even how he talked (albeit more aggressive than most). It was all he’d ever wanted in life, and Kirishima wanted it too. He wanted to be an amazing hero, wanted to fight for those who couldn’t and protect them. They were both in the UA hero course, after allーyou couldn’t get in without a strong enough drive to achieve your dreams. So it wasn’t that Bakugou wanted it more or anything like that, it was just that they both had their individual goals. Even though you can achieve your career goals and be in a relationship, Kirishima didn’t think Bakugou had ever thought about his future like that. He was a one track mind kind of guy, so what if he didn’t envision Kirishima on that track with him?
Recently, the idea just kept nagging at him. It would be midnight, Kirishima struggling to fall asleep, and the thought of “what if this is it?” would plague his mind. What if the second they left high school, Bakugou was going to solely focus on becoming the number one hero? What if he ended this, not because he didn’t care about Kirishima, but because there was no room in his life for a romantic relationship?
He felt bad just thinking about it, guilty even. This kind of fear was so childish, and honestly a little offensive to Bakugou’s character, but it was still a worrying thought in the back of his mind. The very concept was enough to dig up some of Kirishima's buried insecurities, and they only grew from there.
It went from a passing thought to a chest-tightening concern, bleeding in from a nighttime fear into the daylight of realityーinto his actual relationship. Kirishima felt himself acting distant, his shoulders seizing up slightly from physical contact. This distancing only happened when his thoughts managed to spiral, but even if it happened just once, Kirishima noticed it, and if Kirishima noticed it, there was no doubt that Bakugou noticed it too. He was observant like that, and though it was working against Kirishima right now, he loved that about their relationshipーhow normally intune they were to each other's feelings. But ever since he started thinking about this, that balance had been affected.
Now they were laying down in Bakugou’s bed together, Bakugou comfortably on top of Kirishima’s body. He was on his phone, one earphone in for music as he scrolled. His head rested against Kirishima’s chest as Kirishima’s hand carded through his explosive blond hair.
Kirishima had been napping, today's hero training taking an especially hard toll since he’d stayed up late overthinking. His thoughts had felt so loud he was sure Bakugou could hear them nextdoor. Luckily it wasn’t the weekend, when Kirishima would be sleeping over so they could wake up on Sunday together with no classes to attend. If they’d been sharing a bed, there was no doubt in Kirishima’s mind that he would’ve ceased to be just on principle.
When Kirishima had woken up from his nap, he felt a relaxation he always felt in Bakugou’s company. He squeezed Bakugou to tell him he was awake, the burnt smell of caramel invading his nostrils as he pushed his face into Bakugou’s hair before starting to comb through it with his fingers.
They didn’t need to fill the silence with conversation. This arrangement was usually so casual for them, but the sweetness of the moment didn’t last. Kirishima’s thoughts quickly turned to the idea of never resting like this again if they broke up. If they graduated and Bakugou decided that there was no room for a relationship on his journey to being number one…
“Did you ever think you’d be in a relationship?” Kirishima asked on impulse the second the doubts started playing up. He might as well settle this, get a few months in of being single so it didn’t hit so hard after UA.
“Course not,” Bakugou answered as if it were obvious. The question was random, but Bakugou always just rolled with whatever random thought Kirishima was having. Just another thing Kirishima had come to love about their relationship. “The only thing I wanted was to be the best pro out there. And I was a kid, anyway, I wasn’t thinking about dating and shit. Didn’t really think it mattered, to be honest.”
Kirishima’s heart sank a little. It was the answer he was expecting, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.
“Yeah… no space for a relationship when you’re chasing after big goals, huh?” he stated it more than he asked. “No time for stuff like that…”
Bakugou settled his body against Kirishima’s. “I guess…” he mumbled.
He didn’t exactly expect Bakugou to elaborateーhe wasn’t one to over-share without any prompting, and this likely didn’t seem like that important of a conversationーbut something about him not correcting Kirishima didn’t inspire confidence. “No space for a relationship.” Did that mean Bakugou didn’t think their relationship would go on past high school? That he agreed that there was no space for another person in his life?
“You’re not the only one who wants to be an amazing pro,” Kirishima tried to say casually.
Bakugou tilted his head back to look at him, brows furrowed. He looked back at his phone.
“Yeah?” he answered, tone questioning as if to say “where are you going with this?”. “No shit, Shitty Hair.”
Kirishima nodded distantly. “Yeah… Gotta keep your eye on the prize, right? No distractions.”
“Okay, what the hell is this about?” Bakugou sat up right, taking his earphone out and shoving his phone screen-side down on the bed as he twisted his body around to face Kirishima properly.
Kirishima’s hand momentarily hovered above where Bakugou’s head used to be before dropping it. He averted his gaze.
“It’s nothing,” he muttered noncommittally, still unwilling to say it aloud. “Just talking about how we both have our goals, is all.”
“Like fuck you are,” Bakugou protested. “You’ve been acting all weird lately. ‘s not very manly of you to dance around whatever’s bothering you like that.”
Ah, so he did notice, huh?
“I dunno…” Kirishima’s fingers picked at the bed sheets. “I’ve just been thinking about… stuff… that’s all.”
Bakugou was very obviously unimpressed with that answer. “You know I hate all that roundabout shit, so just say it to me straight,” he demanded.
Kirishima exhaled deeply through his nose, leaning back on his hands. He looked up at Bakugou’s narrowed, annoyed eyes. He felt stupid for being such a baby about this. He couldn’t avoid it forever, either; eventually he’d have to say something.
“It’s just… the whole time I’ve known you, you’ve had a set future in mind,” Kirishima explained. “You know what you want and won’t let anything stop you, and you know I love that about youーI get it, ya know? I wanna be a hero too. It’s just that…” He bit his lip, trying to think of the right way to word this. “I don’t think your plan ever had me in mind, and if I’m not part of your plan…”
“You think I’m gonna dump your ass?” Bakugou finished incredulously. “Are you fucking serious?”
Hearing the words even come out of Bakugou’s mouth was more terrifying than Kirishima wanted to admit.
Bakugou just looked at him, offended. It was written all over his face, and Kirishima felt dumb for even asking about this.
Bakugou was completely out of his lap now, staring at Kirishima like he had two heads.
“Eiji, do you really think I’m dating you to pass the fucking time?” he asked rhetorically. “You honestly think I would be dating you if I didn’t fucking want to? What kind of bullshit is that?”
Kirishima was about to object, feeling a little too attacked for a minute there, until Bakugou added on one more thing:
“No shit you’re part of my life plans.”
Kirishima’s thoughts paused for a half of a second. “What? What do you mean?”
Bakugou rolled his eyes. “I’ve always had the next 10 years of my life planned out,” he stated plainly, as if it were common sense. “You think I really pencilled in break up with Kirishima on Graduation day or some shit?”
“But you said you didn’t plan for a relationship!”
“No fucking shit, dumbass. I didn’t think about that kind of stuff when I was 9 years old. What kind of idiot doesn’t change the life plans made by some bitchass toddler?”
“It… changed?”
He rolled his eyes again. “If I were still following that shit, Deku would’ve been left in the fucking dust eons ago. Shit changes; what idiot doesn’t learn to adapt to the bullshit that life throws at them?”
“Well I don’t know!” Kirishima answered back, feeling confused and kind of stupid and honestly a bit dizzy from his swirling thoughts. “I didn’t think about it like that, I was too busy being worried we were gonna break up or something!”
He sat up, dropping his head onto his hands. He massaged the sides of his temples, trying hard to think.
Bakugou just watched him, he wasn’t yelling and any anger on his face slowly melted away. More than anything, he looked pained, wincing as if an old wound had opened up.
“Why were you so sure I was gonna break up with you?” Bakugou demanded, voice slightly hollowed and face sullen. “Did I do something to make you all worried about this shit? Did I not do something?”
Kirishima quickly shook his head. “No, no,” he corrected immediately. “It’s nothing like that, Iー”
He sighed, taking a minute to think about it. How did he get to this point? Why did he feel surprised that they weren’t going to break up when nothing was wrong? Why was he scared of it for no reason?
“It’s nothing you did or didn’t do,” Kirishima processed aloud. “And I’m not having doubts or anything like that, I swear. Just something about graduation really got me thinking about if you wanted something like this, even after high school.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before continuing. “You only do things you want to, so I’m not saying you’re dating me just for something to do now, but when you talk about the future, I can’t tell if I’m there. I can’t tell if you wanna do this forー”
Kirishima stopped himself.
Forever. He was going to say that he wanted to be with Bakugou for forever, but something like that felt like it was too serious to bring up while they were this young. That kind of commitment could scare someone after less than two years of being together, and even though Bakugou was always one for a challenge, Kirishima was still a bit of a coward. Even with everything else he’d said, he wasn’t brave enough to confess the want to be with Bakugou forever.
Without hesitation, Bakugou reached out his hand and grabbed Kirishima’s forearm. He just held it, not to try to move it but just for some contact, slowly sliding his fingers up and down his strong arm.
“You’re putting words in my mouth, Eiji,” he said softly; the kind of delicate tone that only Kirishima got to hear. “I swear, we’re not ending just cause high school is. Just cause I don’t talk about you specifically in my hero career doesn’t mean you’re not there.”
Kirishima let out a shaky breath, some of the tension building up in his chest loosening. He felt his lips twitch into a sad smile.
“So… I’m in your plans, yeah?” he asked for reassurance.
Bakugou nodded, half-smiling awkwardly.
“Like what?”
He wanted to take his mind off of everything. Affirmations of a life beyond high school would help Kirishima calm down and chase out his anxieties.
“Well for one, we’re gonna live together after we graduate,” Bakugou said, scratching the back of his neck with a discomfort he was trying to hide behind his matter-of-fact tone. “Won’t have much money starting our careers, obviously, so it’ll be a pretty shitty apartment, but we’ll be pretty busy, so…”
“Really?” Kirishima asked in awe. “You really wanna live together?”
He couldn’t help the shock he felt, the idea the complete contrary of everything he’d been thinking. Bakugou wanted to live together for real?
That kind of admission could probably be considered sudden, maybe even creepy, but it gave Kirishima too much joy for it to bother him in the slightest. He wanted that, and after so thoroughly believing they were going to break up, it was everything he needed to hear.
“Wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.” Bakugou tried to sound annoyed, but Kirishima saw the heat building up in his cheeks from embarrassment. “Haven’t found anything for sure, but I narrowed it down based on the area you talked about working in.” He started mumbling, covering his mouth the way he did when he’d talk about someone under his breath. “Made a few compromises on location to get it a good distance and all, but I made sure we were close enough to transit to get to the agencies we’d each be working for…”
Kirishima couldn’t help but laugh, from relief but also from the absurdity of the situation.
“You’re planning on living with me without asking first?”
Bakugou’s whole body shuttered, as if the question disrupted his train of thought. It was a little funny to see him speechless like that, even if it only was for a second.
“Well I meant to ask, alright!?” he insisted. “I didn’t wanna say anything till I found a good enough place! And I had a backup plan if you said no, so fuck off.”
That only made Kirishima laugh harder, snickering at how Bakugou acted when he got all defensive. Then there was a lengthy pause.
“You, uh…” Bakugou hesitated. “You’re alright with all that, yeah…?”
Kirishima smiled wide at the bashful question. “I’m totally down, man!” he answered happily. “I’ll help you look for the place.”
Bakugou nodded. “Alright, good…”
Kirishima noticed the small sigh that escaped him, his shoulders relaxing: he was relieved. Even if he’d planned out something like that, it probably still got to him that Kirishima could refuse. It would be hard for anyone not to be anxious for an answer to something like that.
“But wow!” Kirishima started up again. “You really thought about this!”
“What, you think I’d make half-assed plans for something like this?” Bakugou grumbled, but there was no real bite to it. “I meant it when I said you’re part of this shit.”
“Yeah?” Kirishima asked, bemused and teasing. He dropped his hands down, leaning forwards with his palms on the bed to get closer to Bakugou. “What else ‘re you planning for us?”
Bakugou scoffed. “Don’t worry about it, Shitty Hair.” He leaned back on his own palms, tilting his head back and looking at the ceiling as though he was bored. That only meant one thing: he was evading the question. “Stick around and you’ll get to find out for yourself,” he teased.
“Oh yeah?” Kirishima asked again. “Sounds like you got it all figured out. Probably even planned when you’re gonna propose, huh?”
He chuckled, only joking around, but he saw how Bakugou’s arms tensed. His body went completely still, any minute movement halting, as if he even stopped breathing. Since he was looking up, Kirishima couldn’t see his face, but he didn’t have to.
In that exact moment, Kirishima realized that Bakugou had, in fact, planned when he was going to propose to him.
“You… You’ve thought about that?” Kirishima asked, the mood of the room completely shifting. “You know when you’re gonna propose?”
His heart was hammering against the walls of his ribcage, the very concept paralyzing with excitement. He swallowed hard, trying to contain himself, wantingーno, needing Bakugou to answer him.
Kirishima knew he was too young to be excited about this. The idea of marriage was probably uncomfortable for other guys his age, because what high schooler genuinely thought about marriage? He thought Bakugou would’ve been weirded out by the idea too, and yet he wasn’t. He’d thought about it, but not only had he thought about it, he’d planned when he was going to do it.
This whole time, Kirishima thought Bakugou would hate the sappy idea of being together forever. He thought that voicing those kinds of thoughts would freak him out. He thought Bakugou would think it was too early to think that far down the lineーthat Kirishima was just more invested in all this touchy-feely emotional bullshitーbut he thought about it too. They both wanted that. Obviously not immediately, but someday they each wanted to get married. But not just eventually getting married, they wanted to eventually marry each other. And they’d both thought about that, they’d really both thought about that…
A part of Kirishima felt like he could’ve seen this coming. Bakugou was an all or nothing kind of guy after all. He only invested time and energy into something if he was going to see it all the way through, and Kirishima counted himself lucky that he’d fallen in love with such a goal-oriented idiot.
Bakugou dropped his head back down, making eye contact he obviously didn’t want to hold. He glanced away.
“Forget it,” he muttered out, and Kirishima hated seeing shame on Bakugou’s face more than any other emotion.
Bakugou pushed himself off the bed, whether to just get some distance or to straight-up walk out of the room, Kirishima wasn’t sure, but either way he couldn’t let that happen. He reached out and grabbed Bakugou’s arm, just hard enough to keep him from getting any farther away from the bed.
He turned and looked at Kirishima.
“Eijiー”
“Did you really plan when you’re gonna propose to me?”
Bakugou could whine all he wanted later, but Kirishima needed to know. He needed to hear him say the words, out loud, because it was everything Kirishima wanted at that moment. After weeks of being scared he was somehow going to lose this, he wanted to hear every sweet detail Bakugou had planned. Kirishima wanted to know everything about the future Bakugou had thought about, and he wanted to tell him that he’d thought about it, too.
Bakugou looked at him, and he looked like he regretted ever opening his mouth. Kirishima could practically hear his inner monologue: nice going, dumbass; now you have to explain your shit, you fucking idiot. Contrary to popular belief, Bakugou was as hard on himself (if not harder) than he was on anyone else, and there was no doubt he was mentally kicking himself for saying anything at all.
He finally sighed as he sat back down on the bed, looking out into the room. All Kirishima could see was his back and a full head of ashen blonde hair.
“Yeah I’ve thought about it,” he admitted begrudgingly. “So what?”
He couldn’t see his face, but Kirishima could only imagine the way he was biting at his upper lip. Bakugou always did that when he was feeling like this: upset and down on himself. He didn’t usually care about what other people thought, but Kirishima knew him better than that, and he knew that Bakugou very deeply cared about what he thought. He kept a mental lexicon of every single one of Bakugou’s nervous tells, finally able to tune back into Bakugou’s general energy after weeks of feeling off kilter. He could read him like an open book again, even when he couldn’t see his face.
Kirishima crawled over to him, and instead of sitting next to him or grabbing his hand, he dropped his entire weight onto Bakugou’s back. He wrapped his arms around Bakugou’s torso, linking his hands in front of his stomach.
Bakugou tensed at the contact, but Kirishima felt the air circulate through his lungs and the tips of Bakugou’s fingers starting to slide along the length of his forearms.
“I’ve thought about it too,” Kirishima confessed, and he felt weightless the second the words left his lips.
He could almost hear Bakugou starting to smileーthe kind of smile that was soft and full of such delicate relief it felt genuinely, physically breakable. Kirishima knew that if he leaned over to check and try to catch a glimpse of it right now, Bakugou would make a concerted effort to hide that reaction from him at all costs.
Kirishima leaned the side of his head against Bakugou’s shoulder blade. “So,” he started. “You gonna tell me how long I have to wait for this proposal?”
Bakugou cleared his throat, no doubt turning bright red if the heat coming off his body was any indication.
“Three years after graduation,” he admitted far more easily. “Seemed like enough time to settle and see if we liked living together. You never know…”
“Wow…” Kirishima exclaimed, trying hard to contain the unreasonable amount of joy that gave him. “Did you pick the day?”
“WhaーOf course not, you dumbass!”
Kirishima scoffed at that, leaning harder against Bakugou’s back. “You’re the one with his entire funeral planned out!” he exaggerated. “How’s that a stupid thing to ask!?”
“It’s just a fucking guide, idiot!” Bakugou explained, shoving back against Kirishima in retaliation. “Gotta leave some shit to do in the future. All I got is that three years after UA, I’m proposing to your dumbass. And you better say yes!” He shoved back again, but Kirishima kept his balance.
“Maybe I will!” Kirishima squeezed Bakugou in his arms as he tried to maneuver his legs on either side of Bakugou’s body as he leaned more of his weight on him.
Bakugou exhaled, flabbergasted. “Yeah no shit?” he said, now grabbing at Kirishima’s arms as he half-heartedly struggled against his hold. “Then fucking be patient on the details andー”
Before he could finish, Kirishima pulled him back suddenly, laying down on the bed and bringing Bakugou down with him.
They both groaned when they landed, Kirishima getting the wind knocked out of him though he’d initiated the drop on purpose. Bakugou rolled over, Kirishima ever grateful for the weight being taken off his chest when he did. And for a few seconds, they just lay there as he took count of Bakugou’s heavy breaths.
For the first time in what felt like forever, he was completely comfortable.
“So d’you pick out the rings yet?” Kirishima asked, breathless.
Instead of retaliating like he had before, Bakugou just laughed. It was a laugh of disbelief, as if he seriously couldn’t believe Kirishima was still going on about this.
He turned on his side, now facing Kirishima, hand resting between their faces. “No,” he answered plainly. “You think I have the cash for nice-ass rings right now, Eiji?”
“I dunno,” Kirishima smiled teasingly. “You could’ve planned well enough ahead to save up.”
“Oh fuck off,” Bakugou laughed harder, this tickling his funny bone harder than any joke for whatever reason, and it just made Kirishima smile wider.
Kirishima looked him over, watching as Bakugou laughed, eyes closed and mouth open. He could count all the crinkles along his nose and the creases made in the corners of his eyes and the edges of his smile if he wanted to, but Kirishima just took it all in instead of focusing on small details. He just loved watching Bakugou laugh like that. The sound was obnoxious and far from melodic, but it lulled Kirishima more than any heartfelt vocals he could ever dream of.
Well after the laughter stopped, he was still staring at him, all doe-eyed and thoughts almost incoherent as he took in the sight of Bakugou just being.
“You’re staring, dumbass,” Bakugou stated the obvious, as if Kirishima weren’t fully aware of what he was doing. “You always do that shit when you get all sappy and shit, what gives?”
“We just talked about wedding rings and marriage and you’re asking me why I’m sappy?” Kirishima almost started laughing himself. The audacity this boy had was astounding.
“You surprised I think about this kind of stuff?” he asked sincerely.
“A little.” Kirishima’s answer was honest but comfortable, his hand coming up and tracing lines along Bakugou’s. “But it’s a good surprise. I… feel a lot better now.”
Bakugou hummed. “You better. We’re basically engaged to be engaged now.”
This time, Kirishima did laugh, though it never left his throat.
Thinking about it like that felt a little unreal, but Bakugou wasn’t totally off. He knew that Bakugou was going to propose to him one day, even had a vague outline of when. They both wanted that and, though every teenager said stuff like this, Kirishima was sure their relationship was going to last. It was like two people getting promise rings, only there were no actual rings to keep as physical reminders, but what did they really need that for anyway? The only reminder Kirishima needed was right across from him, Kirishima’s finger gently prodding at the calloused palm of his hand.
“You know what’s a problem though?” Bakugou added randomly.
Kirishima raised a brow. “Problem?”
“When we have rings,” Bakugou started to explain. “We’d break ‘em with our quirks, so we’ll have to wear them on a chain or some shit.”
“No way, man,” Kirishima protested. “The second we’re engaged that ring’s never leaving my fingerーEr, except for when we gotta do the ceremony and all that.”
“With hero work?” Bakugou reminded him. “With your quirk? No amount of reinforcement on some ring is gonna save it from your hardening, idiot. You’ll destroy it the day you fucking get it.”
“It’s not gonna be much safer around your neck,” he countered. “With the explosions and jumping around and stuff? It won’t last a minute with you.”
Bakugou tch’d at that. “You got any better ideas?”
Kirishima thought hard about it. Some people in hero work didn’t really do rings, due to obvious reasons Kirishima didn’t consider until just now. And sure, not wearing the ring while on the job was an option, but he really wanted to. As dumb as it sounded, the thought of being able to look down and see Bakugou’s ring on his finger made Kirishima giddy as a child in an amusement park, and he got pretty excited at amusement parks himself. But there were things besides rings, weren’t there? Didn’t he see something recently about that?
Then it dawned on him.
“What do you think about tattoo rings?” Kirishima vocalized. “It’s not traditional or anything, but nothing can happen to them if they’re literally on you.”
“A tattoo around my ring finger?” He looked a little skeptical, Kirishima watching as he mulled it over, staring at the hand Kirishima traced.
Bakugou finally shrugged. “‘d look pretty badass,” he decided. “And they’re forever, so…”
He physically bit his lips closed after he said it. His face looked so shocked it was as if he’d forgotten he was speaking out loud, or like he didn’t expect himself to actually say it.
They’re forever. The words echoed in Kirishima’s mind, and very quickly his own thoughts supplied the continuation of that train of thought, or at least he understood the sentiment behind it. They’re forever, and that’s fine because we’re never going to need to take them off.
For the umpteenth time, Kirishima’s face broke out into a giant grin. He couldn’t have made it more obvious if he tried, the pure, distilled joy sending a clear message to Bakugou that practically screamed how fine with that he was. Maybe it was a little stupid to feel such exhiliration from thisーthey were already talking about proposals and living together, that generally meant being together for the long haulーbut something about hearing it put like that made it all the more sweet. Because Kirishima had been scared to say that wordーforever. Bakugou was the one that said forever, and it meant the world to him.
“Calm down, Shitty Hair." Bakugou rolled his eyes, but even he couldn’t hide his own small smile as it managed to bleed through the embarrassment. “This shit won’t happen for years, anyway.”
And Kirishima knew that, and honestly he was more than fine with it. Even he wasn’t okay with getting engaged right now or even immediately after high school, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be with Bakugou any less. Not wanting it now didn’t mean that he wasn’t thrilled by the idea of it happening at all.
“It’s still in your plan for the future?" Kirishima asked. “You know, marrying me and all that?”
The tips of Bakugou’s ears went pink. “Of fucking course it is.”
“Then I’m not gonna calm down. It’s a pretty big deal, don’t you think?”
He got all the more flustered, Kirishima feeling the hand he was tracing twitch in want to pull away. Instead, Bakugou just turned his face a little more into the sheets of his bed.
“Yeah, whatever…” he finished, the words muffled by the mattress. “All this shit’s making me tired as fuck…” he added, and Kirishima knew he was desperate to change the subject now.
Kirishima was fine with that, however. He was content with the knowledge that he was, in fact, delusional for ever thinking that Bakugou was going to quit on this relationship. Completely out of his mind for even questioning it, honestly. He never wanted to be right about those kinds of crazy thoughts, because it didn’t feel like the world would be right if the two of them weren’t together.
“Yeah.” Bakugou yawned as he said it, closing his eyes for further emphasis. “I’m gonna pass out…”
Kirishima breathed a laugh. “You want me to stay?”
Bakugou responded by grabbing hold of Kirishima’s hand, lacing their fingers together and turning it so his hand was sandwiched between Bakugou’s and the bed.
“That’s not even a question,” he grumbled.
It really wasn’t, but Kirishima liked asking anyway. Everytime he did, Bakugou would always make him well aware that he was welcome to stay hereーthat he preferred it that way, even.
“Okay,” Kirishima no more than whispered, staring once again. “Love you, Kats.”
Bakugou peaked at him through heavy eyelids. He looked over Kirishima’s bright face, an intimate smile etching itself onto his lips.
He reached across with his free hand, arm linking around Kirishima’s waist and pulling the two together. Bakugou rolled over closer, tucking his head into the crook of Kirishima’s neck. His natural, sugary sweet smell reentered Kirishima’s conscious attention, and he felt Bakugou pepper feather-light kisses all over his neck. He could feel the smile in each and every one of the quick pecks, and he wrapped his own arms around Bakugou’s waist and slotted his legs perfectly with Bakugou’s as they had a million times before.
“Love you too, Eiji.” Bakugou finally answered back, a heavy, blissful sigh escaping him. “Now be a good pillow and sleep with me.”
Kirishima giggled, muttering out a small okay in agreement as he held Bakugou comfortably, and he thought to himself that this was nice. And honestly? This was how Kirishima wanted to spend every night of his life, and he’d get to.
So he wasn’t really worried about graduating anymore, because he and Bakugou weren’t going to end just because high school did.