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Four hours. That’s how long he had been sat in the same goddamn place. Trying his goddamn best to cram as much algebra, quadratics, theories and just, numbers, into his brain.
Plot twist, it was not going well for Izuku.
His leg was bouncing up and down as he stretched out his back and arms for the umpteenth time. He could feel his muscles seizing up from being sat down for far too long. But he’d made a pact with himself that he would not stand up and treat himself to another coffee until he got at least the first three chapters read and digested into his math hating brain.
Except, he had no more focus left within himself. He’d been forced to leave the library; his usual study space, that morning for making too much noise with his mumbling even though it was one of his coping methods to focus better. But the strict librarian had kicked him out for being ‘too distracting’ to the near empty library.
To make matters worse, none of his friends were taking maths that year. Izuku was forced to take maths as part of statistics for his psychology and criminology course. Usually when he had a test to study for, he could rely on his friends to help him come up with creative ways of studying and explaining the difficult concepts to him when he just could not focus., which subsequently would help them study at the same time. It was a win win strategy.
And even though Izuku was an exceptional student academically despite his neurodivergencey and periodic struggles, maths was the one subject he could never get himself to focus on. At all.
And to add the train wreck of a study session, he’d left it until the last day to actually study for the test.
Terrible idea Izuku and you know it. He’d told himself many times in the run up to the exam as he lay on his bed neglecting his algebra and stats books in favouring of studying experiments and cold cases.
And that’s how the freckled boy found himself nearly crying in the coffee shop at 4pm in the middle of the week.
As he looked down at the strewn textbooks, he felt tears welling in his eyes. ‘Come onnn Izuku, you will not. You. Will. Not. Cry over your maths textbooks in the middle of this fucking coffee shop.’ He told himself firmly.
He laughed to himself as the tears betrayed him and fell down his cheeks.
He pulled out his phone, sending the most dignified photo to the group chat.
Bakugo had finished his workout when he got the notification.
Looking at his phone he rolled his eyes as he read where the message had been sent from. Who in their right fucking mind thought it was a good idea to have a group chat with all those idiots in it? Was a constant question whenever he looked at it, especially when the fuckers were blowing up his phone at 3am when he was trying to get his beauty sleep.
Though his attention was peeked when he saw the message was from Deku, so naturally, he delved into the devil’s pit of a chat just to see what his boyfriend had to say.
Staring back at him was a photo of the most gorgeous man on the planet (besides himself of course) holding out a peace sign with a dazzling smile, except the tears streaming down his cheeks really did not mesh with the vibe of the usual ray of sunshine.
The caption that went along with the photo had Bakugo shaking his head.
Fuck maths. Hot badass bitches don’t fuck with maths.
Bakuhoe: Oi Deku where are you
Izu: at the cofefee shop
Bakuhoe: Yeah which one dumbass
Izu: the not skanky one
Bakuhoe: Right I’ll be there in a minute
Izu: k but im a hot mess rn
Bakuhoe: And that differs to normal how?
Izu: ….
Izu: ok. you didnt have to call me out like that bitch
Bakuhoe: Stfu stay there i’m coming
Izu: fine but dont say i didnt warn u
Bakugo chuckled to himself as he put his phone in his back pocket and made his way to the coffee shop. Although they had a little joke around, he could tell that Deku was stressing out about the upcoming maths exam he had. He just wished the other had asked for help studying instead of leaving it till the last minute.
Except, he understood full well why he had done it. Deku hated asking for help when it came to studying, especially when he was having a hard time focusing on the material or found it pointless. Partly because he saw asking for help as an inconvenience, which, despite Bakugo and the other extras had told the green-haired boy was a bunch of bullshit multiple times, never sank in. And partly because he was stubborn as fuck and wanted to do things by himself.
Bakugo couldn’t blame his boyfriend for that. Deku worked exceptionally hard, and it almost always paid off, his grades are a testament to that. Except always wanted to prove that he could, in his words,
‘Make maths my bitch’, by himself.
Which Bakugo did understand to some extent, he was stubborn as well and had a hard time accepting help. Like when the two of them first met on the first day of second year in high school and they had an argument over a topic that Deku was trying to help him with, and he flat out refused to accept the help. Except Deku was so pushy that he had no choice but to accept it. That’s how their rivalry had started with Deku as the pushy, stubborn, and overly energetic transfer who made it his personal mission to befriend the hot-headed blonde.
And at first Bakugo really wasn’t having any of it. The two of them were labelled the ‘arch enemy duo’ of their high school. Both racking up multiple suspensions throughout their second year for fights they started in the hallways.
The memory made the blonde smirk to himself as he thought of how far they’d come with their relationship since then. The smirk turned to a frown as he spotted his green-haired boyfriend in the coffee shop. Green hair splayed out across 3 different maths textbooks, his face smack bang in the middle of them, face down on the pages.
‘The fuck are you doing?’ The brash voice causing Izuku to look up for a second, acknowledging who it came from, then returning to his position.
‘Kacchan. I have resorted to absorbing the information through the power of osmosis.’ He responded, the usually energetic voice sounded flat and worn out.
Bakugo took the seat opposite him, running a hand through the green curls in an soothing manner. ‘You know damn well that won’t work dumbass. How’s about I buy you another coffee and help you go over what you’ve got so far?’ He offered.
‘But you’re not taking stats this year, or algebra, it’d just be a hassle, I’ll be fine.’ Izuku replied, sitting back up in his chair and gathering his notes together in an attempt to resume the study session.
‘And? It’s not a hassle dipshit, let me help, I’m pretty fucking good at maths y’know.’ The other retorted, a smirk dancing on his lips as he took his hand away from Izuku’s hair in favour of holding his shaky hand.
‘But,’ Izuku started in protest again.
‘Am I, or am I not a hot as fuck chemistry major?’ Bakugo questioned, eyebrows raised.
‘Well duh..’ Izuku conceded. It was true, Bakugo was exceptional with numbers, formulas, and equations. Plus, he had a way of explaining things to him in just the right why when he really wasn’t grasping a topic, that helped him understand far more than when his professors attempted to explain number-based topics.
Izuku’s eyes welled with tears once again as he relaxed into the touch from his boyfriend, feeling the day’s overwhelmingness catch up with him. ‘Yeah, ok Kacchan, that sounds good…’ he half sniffled, accepting the help offered to him.
‘Alright then nerd, I’ll go get the coffee’s, you take a little stretch break and then we’ll start, deal?’ He asked, the rough sound of his voice further helping Izuku relax a little more.
‘Deal.’
An hour or so had passed since Bakugo had arrived at the coffee shop when Izuku slammed the textbook he was reading shut.
‘Kacchan I’m just going to drop out. I hope you’ll still be my boyfriend even if I’m not a hot psychology student anymore.’ Izuku declared, flopping his head onto the table in defeat.
The coffee had helped kickstart his system again and the two had gone for a short walk around the gardens that surround the back of the shop. Izuku had begun to make some headway with the material, especially with the help of Bakugo explaining the more complex concepts and equations.
But no matter what they tried, Izuku could not for the life of him memorise the formulas and equations.
‘You’ll always be hot you nerd. And you’re not dropping out over a maths test. If it fucking kills me, I will come up with a way to get these equations into that brain of yours.’ Bakugo declared, slamming a fist on the table for over dramatic emphasis.
‘But if I sit here any longer, I’m going to become one with the seat. I can already feel my skin welding to it.’ Izuku whined.
Bakugo took a look at his body language, he was jittery and fidgety, much more so than usual. His leg was bouncing at rapid fire pace, and he was building towers out of his pens and highlighters.
‘Ok ok, pack up your shit, we’re leaving.’ Bakugo stated, standing to help him gather up his notes.
‘Hm?’ Izuku looked up from his tower, ‘why? Where are we going Kacchan?’
‘The gym. You’ve been here for way too long, need a change of scenery.’ He explained, handing the smaller male his backpack.
Izuku’s face lit up like the sun at the mention of the gym. ‘If you think that’ll help then sure why not. I’m at info capacity here anyways, nothing else will go in no matter how hard we try.’ He concluded as they left the coffee shop walking hand in hand, back towards the campus gym.
Bakugo nodded, ‘You’re like a sponge or some shit, once you’ve absorbed all you can in one sitting you need drying out a bit.’
‘Wowow, never pegged you as the metaphorical type Kacchan.’
‘Shut the fuck up. I’ve been spending way too much time around Mina lately.’
‘At least her metaphors are actually philosophical and cool.’
‘You little shit.’ Bakugo playfully smirked as he picked Izuku up over his shoulder and began tickling him.
‘Kacchan! Put me down! Kacchan!!’’ Izuku laughed and shrieked.
‘Tryna say I’m not cool Deku? You know I’m by far the coolest person you know.’ Bakugo teased, tickling the other more until he was snorting with laughter.
Izuku pushed himself free of Bakugo’s grasp and fell back into step with him. His beaming smile never faltering as he turned to face him with a playful glint in his eye, ‘Hm, I don’t know Kacchan, I think even Monoma is cooler than you.’ He stated, immediately picking up a sprint.
‘THE FUCK HE IS. GET BACK HERE YOU DAMN NERD.’ Bakugo called out to him, taking off after him as they both ran up the pathway to the gym.
The gym was relatively quiet when they arrived, the fact that it was nearing 9pm just meant that they got one of the martial art studios to themselves. Warmth practically radiated off Izuku as he ran into the room, eyeing up the punching bags as he kicked off his shoes and dropped his bag to the ground, a blinding smile on his face.
Though the smile faded slightly as he watched Bakugo pick up his bag and sit on the floor against the wall.
‘Are we not sparing Kacchan?’ Izuku asked, pouting towards his boyfriend.
‘Nah. Not yet anyways. You’re gonna go through your drills and shit.’
Izuku cocked his head to the side, not quite understanding how this was going to aid his memorisation of formulas.
‘Ok so, I’m gonna shout out a formula to you for each drill you do. Then when you do that drill you’re gonna call out the formula associated with it. Like practical learning y’know? I read it’s good or some shit for people who struggle to learn from just reading crap.’ Bakugo explained, going through the exercising and the correlating formulas with Izuku before they started.
‘And, if you get each one right 10 times then we’ll finish with sparing, deal?’ Bakugou added, giving Izuku a playful smirk.
Izuku’s smile returned as he nodded in agreement, ‘Let’s start then, what are you waiting for?’
It took just under 3 hours for Izuku to get each formula right 10 times in a row with no mistakes. After he finished recalling the final formula, he punced on Bakugo.
‘Sparing time! Sparing time! C’mon let’s go let’s go, I’m gonna beat your ass.’ Izuku declared, jumping back up and pulling Bakugo up with him.
‘Fucking hell how do you still have this much energy nerd?’ Bakugo asked, chuckling as he allowed himself to be dragged to the middle of the studio. A promise was a promise after all.
‘I don’t know. Might have something to do with all the coffee I drink today.’ Izuku answered, shrugging his shoulders.
‘How much did you drink Deku?’ The blonde asked, suddenly realising that a caffeine driven Izuku was a whole other beast to put up with while sparing.
‘I think you bought me my fifth but I kinda lost track.’ Izuku replied, readying his stance.
‘Fucksake. How the fuck do you except to sleep tonight?’ Bakugo asked exasperatedly as Izuku closed the gap to begin the fight.
‘Cosily in your bed?’ The greenette fainted a punch but went for Bakugo’s legs.
Bakugo dodged, though the comment threw him off slightly and he took a jab to the side. ‘You conniving little shit. As if you’re even going to be able to fall asleep.’
‘I’ll cross the bridge when we get to it.’ Izuku beamed at the taller male.
The bridge was on fire when they got it. Quite literally as Izuku had set fire to the microwave in attempt to cook him and Katsuki a meal in thanks for helping him study. The method that Bakugo had gone with in the end had really helped his memory for the equations and formulas. He was 100 times more confident for the exam that was first thing in the morning. The new found confidence in maths did not however, stop him from crying at the mess he’d made in the kitchen.
‘How in the ever loving fuck do you set fire to soup?’ Bakugo shook his head as he poured water over the plastic microwaveable bowl. Holding onto Izuku’s hand rubbing small circles to the back his hand to let him know everything was fine.
Izuku giggled sheepishly, sniffing, ‘it was meant to be a thank you gift. For helping me all day, and for just being the best person in the world.’
Bakugo couldn’t hide the blush forming on his cheeks, though if anyone asked he would whole heartedly blame it on the heat from the steaming soup. ‘Yeah, well, I am the fucking best. But you’re the smart one, you learnt all that shit in one day.’
Izuku smiled in response, ‘dare I say Kacchan, I have made maths my bitch.’
Bakugo snorted at the sentence, ‘yeah alright nerd, whatever you say.’
The two were interrupted by the arrival of Bakugo’s roommate, Kirishima and his friend Kaminari. ‘What the hell is that smell? Are you trying to burn the room down?’ Kirishima asked, eyeing up the burnt bowl.
‘The plastic fumes are going to kill off any remaining brain cells I have.’ Kaminari said, pretending to faint against the doorway.
‘Well, I suggest the four of us go out for dinner, as a celebration for Izuku still being alive after a day of cramming.’ Kirishima proposed.
‘That’s a good idea Kirishima! I vote McDonalds.’ Izuku said firmly.
‘McDonald’s it is then,’ Bakugo approved, ‘but I swear to fuck, if you guys pull anything in the parking lot, I’m leaving you all there.’ He stated, grabbing his keys off the counter.
‘Alright! McDonald’s time!’ Kaminari exclaimed, ‘I call shotgun bitches!’ He shouted, racing through the front door.
Despite being kicked out of the parking lot at McDonalds for having a shopping kart jousting match at 1am; not being able to fall asleep until 5am and then waking up at 7am for his maths exam, Izuku Midoriya passed the first exam of the semester, top of his class.