Chapter Text
Katsuki didn’t think anything of it at first.
He almost didn’t notice, and he definitely didn’t realize what it was.
At least not until damn Deku, of all people, pointed it out.
”You’ve gotten close, huh, Kachaan?” He wasn’t an idiot. It wasn’t that hard to figure out the hidden meaning behind those words.
He just didn’t expect it to be that big of a deal. Sure, it was there, but it was just a little crush. It would go away soon, like every other fleeting positive emotion he had. And it wouldn’t get in the way of his hero work. It wouldn’t, and it shouldn’t.
Yet Katsuki found himself glancing over in practice, hoping to catch a glimpse of that characteristic smile. Leaning back just a second in case he could make out a hint of rolling muscles, skin brushing skin in combat that sent tingles rushing in wavelengths through his body, not being able to focus in class because his eyes kept drifting over to the same person, again, again, again. Always to the same bright eyes, to the same rippling strength, to the same hardened determination, the same.
It didn’t clear up. If anything, it got worse. And the bright welcoming smile, the friendly shock of idiotic hair, strong arms and firm hands that comfort without judgment, without questioning, they didn’t help.
Because Katsuki had a problem: he was in love with his best friend.
He was in love with Eijiro.
_____
He couldn’t live like this. It was affecting his education, which would, in turn, affect Kirishima’s, since he relied on Bakugo’s tutoring to keep his grades up. But he didn’t know how to deal with this, as evidently, it had never happened before.
So, reluctantly, he turned to the only person who knew what predicament Bakugou was in. He BETTER be the only person who knows what’s going on, though you can never tell with these bastards.
“Oi, Deku.” Midoriya jumped in his seat where he was huddled over his notebook, seemingly uttering a small ‘please lord save me’ beneath his breath before slowly turning around.
“Oh, Kacchan! What do you need?” He shifted in the chair, glancing nervously around the classroom. “Is… Is everything okay?”
Bakugou slammed his palm on the desk, glaring down at the small, freckled boy in front of him.
“What’re you suggesting, huh?!?”
Midoriya winced, and Bakugou let out a huff of breath, slumping back into his chair and crossing his arms. “I have… a favor to ask of you.”
Midoriya’s eyes widened in disbelief. “A favor? From- from me?”
Bakugou turned his head away, rubbing his temples with one hand. “Shut up, okay? I just-” He sighed, getting the feeling he was going to regret this the second the words left his lips. “Remember what you said about Kirishima and my closeness? I… What do I do about it?”
There was a sharp gasp from the desk opposite him, followed by the rough scraping of a chair across the floor and the sound of rustling papers. “Oh my gosh, Kacchan I’m so happy for you! So you want to confess, right? Kirishima’s such a nice guy, I’m sure he likes you back! Now, how should we go about this…” There was more scuffling, and Midoriya thudded a huge binder onto the desk in front of Bakugou, overflowing with papers in differentiating colors.
Now Bakugou’s eyes widened. “What- what the hell is this???”
“Well, I made a list of every tangible relationship in class, color-coded them, and devised possible ways they could end up together, I also tried figuring out some ongoing relationships, if there were any, and maybe some possible crushes, and, obviously, you were one of those people, so you and Kirishima’s section is a little larger as I started trying to figure out ways I could nudge you guys together, of course, I never imagined you would actually come to ask me for help, this changes quite a few things, yes…”
Midoriya rustled through the papers, rubbing his chin and mumbling more words under his breath, shaking his head occasionally as he flipped through the composition before slamming it closed. “Well, we’ll go through the options. But first, what exactly do you mean, what do you do about it?”
Bakugou sat frozen in his chair, a look of bewilderment on his face as he went back and forth from the binder on the desk and Midoriya’s face. “...what.”
Midoriya blinked a few times, before looking back down at the desk. “Oookay, well assuming you’re gonna want him to know, we should plan a confession! Let’s see, putting Kirishima’s tastes and dislikes into account, we can figure out the perfect one… Oh, I know!!! Let’s see… You could take him to a Korean barbeque since he likes meat, I know a really good place. And it’s right by a boardwalk… He mentioned he likes sunsets one time, you could go for a late dinner and then walk the boardwalk, or-”
Bakugou cut him off. “What the hell, Deku, I’m not fucking confessing.”
Midoriya's face scrunched in concern and confusion. “But then… Why did you come asking me for help?”
“I didn’t ask you for help.” Bakugou scoffed, turning in his seat so he was facing the board.
“But… you asked me what to do about liking Kirishima. What does that mean if you don’t want to let him know?” Midoriya cocked his head to the side, and Bakugou was unnerved by the stare directed at him. He did a few hand waves in the air, trying to gather the words.
“I- aren’t you supposed to be smart, Deku? I just-” He sighed, dropping his hands and slouching further in his seat, not being able to stop from glancing over across the room to where Kirishima sat talking with Denki, Mina, and Sero. Lucky bastards, standing so close to him with no effect whatsoever. Do they know how lucky they are?
“How do I make it go away.”
Midoriya’s eyebrows turned up, moving in concern for the boy sitting adjacent to him. He shuffled forward in his seat, starting to reach a hand out before changing his mind and bringing it back. “Why would you want that?”
Katsuki turned, palm upturned in preparation for a fight, snarling, “What does it matter why? It’s none of your business, Deku, no one asked. It’s messing with my education and hero work, and I need it gone. I’ve tried waiting, but that doesn’t do the trick as it’s only gotten worse. I don’t have time for a relationship, use your brain since you supposedly know everything because I am on hold for ideas right now.”
Midoriya looked shocked, but slowly relaxed a little bit from the stiff position he had been in before. “I don’t know, Kacchan. Normally, crushes do go away on their own, but if you say that’s not the case for you, then… Are you sure you don’t want to confess? It might take some of the weight and pressure off your shoulders.”
Bakugou turned back to look up at Midoriya, an intense glare on his face. “I’m. Not. Confessing.”
“Okay…” He turned straight in his seat, combing his hand through the hair at the base of his head a few times before a glimmer seemed to pass through his eyes. “Oh, Kacchan! What if you confessed- hold on, here me out- but in a roundabout way, so Kirishima technically doesn’t have to know you confessed? Like if-”
“Everyone get in their seats and shut up, the bell rang five minutes ago.” Aizawa walked into the class, interrupting Midoriya who instantly turned towards the board, only offering a small look of encouragement towards Bakugou.
Bakugou scowled. Well Deku wasn’t any help. Confessing? He didn’t have the time. He was not scared, it was just... Unnecessary. He didn’t need anything unnecessary.
His scowl deepened, and he jotted a quick note on a sheet of paper, slamming it on Deku’s desk. Tell anyone, and you’re dead.
Hang on… A note? What if he could write one to Kirishima? Then he wouldn’t have to directly talk to him… He glanced over at the mentioned redhead, who perked his head up when he saw Bakugou turn and gave a little wave, smiling softly and brightly.
Bakugou spun right back around in his seat, feeling the heat glow in his cheeks. No way, I’m not writing that idiot a love letter. That’s so cliche. He chose to ignore the other reason he denied it, of how agonizing the wait would be without an immediate response.
Damn, and it wasn’t a bad idea, though…
But what if he didn’t have to give it directly to Kirishima? It would be pointless if he just kept what he’d written to himself, defeating the whole point, but what if he just…
By the time homeroom was over, he’d devised a plan.
_____
Bakugou sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. How the hell am I supposed to do this? He had a plan, a setup, and a backup, but he’d forgotten the key part.
The plan was this; write a “confession” on a slip of paper and hide it somewhere in Kirishima’s room. Setup; while tutoring Kirishima. Backup; pretend it was for someone else and must’ve fallen out of his pocket, even though that would be annoying too…
But now; the issue, he didn’t know what to write.
“I like you.” Yeah, sure, but that was obvious. He felt like it needed to be… more… special. Something worthy of Kirishima- God, no, that’s too cheesy.
Sighing, he put the pen to the paper, trying to figure it out as he went.
This is stupid, but I guess I have a crush on you. It’s freaking annoying, since it means I can’t focus, so do me a favor and get out of my school.
No, that wasn’t any good. He didn’t want to be outright rude, even if that would fix the solution. Why does this have to be so HARD.
This is embarrassing, but I like you. You’re not expected to return or say anything, I just
WHAT the HELL is WRONG WITH ME I can’t even WRITE a STUPID FUCKING SENTENCE.
He ripped out the sheet of paper, crumpling it up and flinging it at the trash can in the corner of the room, cursing when it missed and trudging over to pick it up and toss it into the basket.
Turning back to the paper, he picked up the pencil, spinning it on his fingers while running his free hand through his hair. It shouldn’t be this hard. The beginning on the first one wasn’t that bad, I could use that…
This is stupid, but I guess I have a crush on you. It’s freaking annoying since it means I can’t focus, but I guess I have to deal with it since Deku said it won’t go away. So, yeah, I like you, fine.
Bakugou slouched back in the chair, grumbling. “Might as well do.” Not like he’ll ever see it, anyway.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Bakugou froze.
“Bakugou? You in there? Cause I heard a loud noise, and my math homework isn’t gonna explain itself- though I could figure it out if you’re busy?”
Bakugou looked around, grabbing the paper from the desk and shoving it into his folder with his homework.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be over in a sec, shitty hair. Lemme grab my stuff.” He stood up, trudging across the room with his homework- and note- tucked under his arm, slamming the door open to a slightly startled but overall cheery face.
“Thanks, dude! And I’m sorry to bother you, but me and quadratic functions are… bad match-up.” Kirishima took the few steps forward it took to reach his dorm, opening the door and doing a twirly hand motion with a bow.
Bakugou half swiped a hand over Kirishima’s face, walked into the room, and sat down next to the table. “Shut up, and you better figure out ‘quadratic functions’ soon because I’m going to bed at 8:30 sharp, which means I’m leaving here at 8:00.”
Kirishima let out a short, breathy laugh, flashing his teeth, and plopped down opposite Bakugou where his homework was already laid out. “Sure man, and thanks again for doing this.”
Bakugou mumbled a quick “whatever,” looking down at his paper to hide his blush.
Twenty minutes later had Kirishima sprawled on the floor with his papers over his head, groaning about how “this is harddd” and “I don’t get ittt.”
“It’s not that hard,” Bakugou sighed. This was driving him crazy, they’d gone over the same equation multiple times, and Kirishima still couldn’t find it within himself to figure out x.
"But man, seriously, Bakugou," Kirishima sighed, sitting up slightly so his face was on the table, "you must be a god or something to be able to figure out all this so easily."
Bakugou could practically hear the crimson spreading up and over his face from his neck. "Shut up or I'll reduce your work to ashes."
Kirishima laughed, sitting up fully as giggles slipped through his mouth, a wide grin spreading across his face and wrinkling his nose slightly.
The setting sun filtered in colors of red orange yellow, casting shadows and bursts of light across the room.
It coated Kirishima in its rays, melting and displaying his vibrant eyes, his little scar, his eyebrows that were just so cute. Burning its colors onto the thin white tank top he was wearing, curving around his firm muscles and contrasting handsomely with his deep golden skin.
And his hair. Hair the color of thousand suns, one he called 'stupid' yet could get lost in, lost in a maze of vibrant thrills he wants to run his hand through even when it’s spiky and pointed, but right now it was loose, soft, framing Kirishima's face, a few free strands hanging over his eyes, swaying when he blew at them lightly.
Beautiful.
Bakugou took this in, and at that moment, there was one thought in his mind. I'm not the one who might be a god.
In his daze of being amazed by the sparkling gem before him, captivated by the slow swirls of the pencil led by strong wide hands, he didn’t notice what exactly Kirishima was writing.
“Bakugou.” He blinked, looking up before slowly turning his paper around. “I- I think I got it.”
Bakugou looked suspiciously at Kirishima, before taking the paper being held out to him. He scanned it over, double-checking it with his own before placing it on the table, folding his hands with his elbows propped next to the table to rest his chin on, and looked at Kirishima.
The redhead in question was shifting nervously, fiddling his fingers while looking back tentatively at Bakugou. “...Did I get it right?”
Bakugou puts his hand down and sighs, slowly shaking his head.
Kirishima deflates, his face falling, as Bakugou says, “You almost beat your fastest time to get an answer correct.”
The person in question’s head shoots back up, a defiant look in his eyes but an overall cheery disposition with a wide smile plastered on his face. “Don’t do that!” Kirishima scolds, reaching over and knocking Bakugou lightly on the shoulder. “I thought I’d actually gotten it wrong!”
Bakugou lets out a small huff of a laugh, and Kirishima’s face brightens even more, letting out a small chuckle too.
And in that moment, as their eyes meet, the air seems to lighten, and Bakugou feels like he got hit by Uraraka’s quirk- weightless, as if gravity no longer applied to him. Every sense is on high alert, but not because he feels unsafe or in danger. He can hear Kirishima’s breath, see the slow rise and fall of his chest while staring at the intensity of his eyes, feel the way their knees barely brush beneath the table, feel the heartbeat that’s grown louder, louder, till he’s sure it’s playing for the world to hear.
They sit there, staring at each other silently, but it’s not weird or uncomfortable. It’s familiar, as if it’s happened a thousand times before between the two of them, and in that moment, Bakugou feels indestructible, like he’s borrowed Kirishima’s skin, ready to face the world.
He could picture himself leaning forward, over the short space between them, a mere two feet, just two feet away, and Kirishima leaning over too, less than an inch away from each other, noses barely brushing, and staring into those eyes, ruby crimson eyes, whispering his thoughts, leaning closer, closer, impossibly closer, pushing that last step-
Ding!
Bakugou shakes his head, startled by the alert. What was I thinking? That was impossible. And even if it was possible, it wouldn’t- it couldn’t-
“So, uh, Kamibro texted, could I go down to the common rooms for a second since I got the question right..?” Kirishima asks, looking up from his phone.
Bakugou waves a hand at him, looking down to the side at the floor next to him. “Sure, yeah, whatever.” I guess that dunce face kind of saved me here. He needed to hide the paper anyways.
But where should I put it..? He looked around the room, trying to find a place where Kirishima would never look. Eventually, he settled on shoving it between the mattress and the bed frame. Hopefully he won’t find it there. He sat back down, finishing his homework in about two minutes. What on earth do I do now?
He sat there, and in the silence, he let his mind wander, drifting through random thoughts, but falling on one subject in the end. The one subject he’d been avoiding thinking about, but what could he do?
He lets his eyes fall closed, remembering the few minutes ago when he’d almost kissed Kirishima. If Kaminari hadn’t texted, I’d be dead meat right now. Because he knows, he knows he would have done it. And honestly, that scared him.
Because he could come up with as many excuses as he wanted; he didn’t have time for a relationship, he needed to focus on his hero work, that stuff was stupid, etc. He could avoid the real reason as much as he wanted, but it all boils down to one fact: he was scared. Scared that his feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated.
Because what if he told Kirishima, and he laughed in his face? What if he thought it was weird, and left Bakugou behind? I can’t lose him. I don’t want to lose my best friend like that.
Not again.