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The fridge smacked shut, the glass on the inside rattling together in alarm. The quiet dorms seemed to pause- anyone still awake wondering silently what idiot had just been so loud so late at night.
The official rules were that no student would leave their room after curfew, but the actual enforced rule was that once it was lights out you lowered your voice and kept them off. You could go anywhere in the shared living space but not to each other's rooms. It was common to hear students, alone or in groups met up outside each other's doors, tread lightly down each hallway to the kitchen, whispering sharply.
So when Kirishima found himself alone in front of the open fridge, he hadn’t meant to make any noise. He had taken every precaution against it in fact, gently sliding his fingers between the door to unstick it without the obvious “fridge opening” sound. When it began humming suddenly he nearly jumped, putting Minas jar of maraschino cherries back on the shelf like it was a personal warning.
He had been craving something sweet. Nothing abnormal per say, but atypical. Normally his midnight cravings were for protein, a slice of lunch meat or a cold leftover meatball were some of his previous offenses. He hadn’t realized that he had been on easy mode. People didn’t care too much if a piece of jerky went missing from the cupboard, but sweets? That same day he could remember the dorms overflowing with sugar. Sato made cookies, there was odd foreign candy that people seemed to enjoy hating (Kirishima had tried a particularly unpopular jellybean. It tasted like toothpaste) as well as fun-sized candy bars to wash it all down. But now it seemed there was a scarcity.
It was dark. It could just be that he was tired and wasn’t looking hard enough. It wouldn’t be the first time after training he missed something right in front of his face.
Finally, he eyed a small bottle sitting innocently on the inner shelf. Shaped like a teddy bear, with a bright yellow nozzle on top of its head. American honey.
It had clearly been used before, messily. The nozzle was stuck shut and a single sticky trail fell down the bears back. But it was something he knew. With some effort he unstuck the cap, and held the bear by the neck over his open mouth. It dripped onto his tongue lazily, he turned his head, scraping the excess off the roof of his mouth.
It didn’t hit him immediately. He smacked his mouth, enjoying the flavor.
Suddenly a shooting pain stung through one side of his mouth. He flinched hard, the hand holding the fridge door ajar rushing up to clutch his face.
The fridge, or course, immedly slammed shut. Kirishima froze, the throbbing pain getting joined by silent guilt.
As everyone did when there was a sudden noise, he just kind of stood there, staring at the closed fridge like he could apologize. Suddenly a figure stumbled out into the common area, and he almost swung out in alarm. Thankly he didn’t, that really would have woken people up.
The dim green light from the oven's clock let him make out the approaching figure. He relaxed immediately. It was just you. A friend.
“Oh I’m sorry, did I wake you?” He whispered, clutching his face.
You exhaled heavily, not out of annoyance thankfully. “Nah it’s fine, I was up. My dorm is right there so I heard you scrounging around.”
The imagery made Kirishima imagine a racoon. He smiled, the ache in his mouth thumped like an irregular heartbeat. “I got some honey and I think it hit my gums wrong. Too cold.”
You grimaced in solidarity as you leaned against the doorframe. You too had known the cruel hell of cold stuff on teeth. But your expression changed after a moment, to his confusion.
“Wait it still hurts?”
He nodded. His hair was down and it fell into his eyes.
You made an odd sound that only you seemed to make. He noticed things about a lot of people, but you did the most noticeable stuff, to him at least.
“Do you mind if I look?”
He swallowed before he even answered. “Yeah, totally!” Very relaxed. Very chill.
You closed the distance, leaving Kirishima to lean casually onto the counter behind him and open his mouth. You shook your phone with intent and the flashlight buzzed on.
“ Ah! ” He laughed. Besides being blind for a moment he could see you better now. He liked seeing you dressed comfortably. The uniform was nice and it was cool to see what you wore in your free time, but something about you wearing breathable, loose fabric was a win. To him at least. He valued his friends' comfort. You especially.
He didn’t have any more time to think on it though, because you had your thumb on his bottom lip. You gently pulled, and he obediently opened his mouth wider. He was suddenly very aware of the inside of his mouth, wondering silently if you were judging him for his honey-breath.
It became very apparent very quickly that he shouldn’t have leaned back. He was effectively pinned between the counter and you, legs trembling from the strenuous workout earlier that day and his hands doing the same when he realized just how close your faces were. One hand held onto his chin, the other shining the flashlight into his open mouth. His held tight to the countertop behind him, so hard they might have cracked if he hadn’t put all of his focus into being calm.
He always had to do that with you, he realized suddenly. He had to act cool around you. He put all this extra effort into making sure he was the same positive, helpful friend because if he didn’t try he knew he would act foolishly. Why hadn’t he ever considered that he didn’t feel that way about the rest of his friends? Why did that revelation have to happen now ?
He exhaled through his mouth, but you didn’t seem to mind. You were staring with interest and his teeth. He was partly curious what had you so enthralled, but mostly just happy you were so distracted you didn’t notice his red face.
His lip twitched into a smile without disturbing your resting fingers. “You like my teeth?”
“Oh they’re my favorite part of you.” You responded. He had to stop himself from biting down, settling for averting his eyes and tightening his hands. “Is it a genetic thing or is it related to your quirk? I’ve always meant to ask.”
You thought about him. The idea slammed into him like a truck. He craned his neck to feign checking the clock, but really he couldn’t bear to look at you another second without combusting.
“Quirk thing. I lost my baby teeth and they grew in before the rest of my quirk revealed itself, so that was pretty exciting! I felt so manly, having fangs as a six year old. Like a werewolf.”
Werewolf. Werewolf . Why had he said that? He was beginning to ramble. Luckily you laughed along with him, providing just an ounce of relief.
“Well I can’t tell if it’s food or just a weird shadow, but I think you have a cavity.”
He jolted up. “I do??”
There was genuine surprise in his voice. He absentmindedly pushed his hand to his cheek as you nodded. “ I think so . Don’t quote me on it. But it would explain why the honey hurt- go look for yourself, it’s all crammed between the two teeth in the back.”
Kirishima nodded and began to step away, you shooing him in the direction of the boys bathroom. When he had his back turned to you he finally seemed to breath, shakily. He felt the giddiness and his racing heart slow, and he felt much more tired than before.
A cavity he could fix. Recovery girl would most certainly heal a little bruised tooth, so he wasn’t worried. But now he had a much different problem.
You.