Work Text:
Kirishima had been acting weird for a while. Bakugou almost didn’t notice it for many reasons, the main one being that work had been rather busy. Between hero work and starting their agency together they had both been so busy, that it was hard to find time to spend together that wasn’t related to work or just curling up against each other at night before drifting into sleep.
So, no, Bakugou didn’t notice it right away when Kirishima started coming home a bit later than usual. He didn’t notice when suddenly his boyfriend was coming home hours after his shift was over because he hadn’t been keeping track as well as he used to of both their schedules. The realization didn’t come until he found himself walking into an empty apartment on a Friday evening, and suddenly everything seemed wrong.
Friday’s were the nights they always spent together, to the point that they would text each other if the other wasn’t on the couch by seven pm. Bakugou had arrived at seven fifteen and there was no sign of his boyfriend anywhere. He pulled out his phone right away, dialing Kirishima’s number as he paced the room.
“Hey Kats,” Kirishima answered, and Bakugou could hear his smile through the phone.
“Where the fuck are you?” Bakugou demanded.
“What?” Kirishima questioned before letting out a small gasp, ``Oh, I’m so sorry, Katsuki, I’ll be home in a few. I lost track of time.”
“You haven’t answered my question, Red, where are you?” Bakugou asked, his voice carrying a hint of worry.
“I’m almost home, sweetheart, I’m a couple of minutes away,” Kirishima told him.
That made Bakugou panic because in all the time he had known Kirishima, the redhead had never hidden anything from him, but now he was avoiding his question. Bakugou opened his mouth to argue, to yell, but all that came out was a small, “Okay.”
Bakugou hung up the phone, letting himself fall onto the sofa. Had he done something wrong? Was Kirishima hiding something from him? Bakugou stared at the ceiling until he heard the front door opening.
“Hey Kats,” Kirishima said with a bright smile, walking over to kiss his boyfriend’s lips.
Bakugou couldn’t spot anything out of the ordinary, but there was now a fear in the pit of his stomach that was growing with every second.
*
Bakugou tried many times to get Kirishima to talk to him about what was going on, but Kirishima would just shrug off his growing concerns. “It’s just a lot of work right now,” Kirishima told him before kissing Bakugou’s cheek. “I promise, I’ll try to get home early today.”
“I have the day off… can’t you call in?” Bakugou said with a glare and definitely not a pout as he grabbed hold of Kirishima’s arm.
Kirishima grinned, “I love it when you're clingy, Kats, but I can’t today. I’ll see you tonight, alright?”
“Alright,” Bakugou said with a sigh, before leaning up to kiss his boyfriend ever so slowly as if scared that it may be the last.
“I love you,” Kirishima told him once they pulled apart before closing in for one more kiss.
“I love you more,” Bakugou told him.
“Not possible,” Kirishima grinned as he made his way out the door.
Bakugou stood there, not moving a muscle for a couple of minutes, unsure what he should do or even if his nagging thoughts held even one shred of truth in them because a big part of him feared the worst.
Bakugou walked to his room, grabbing a hoodie and a facemask, trying not to think too much about what he was about to do. He trusted Kirishima. He trusted him more than anyone else in the whole fucking world. He would do anything for the redhead. So the thoughts that were hunting him at the moment made no sense, but there was only one way he could prove to himself that there was nothing to worry about.
**
Bakugou started trailing Kirishima.
It was fucked up. He could not deny how fucked up it was of him to be following his boyfriend around at a distance to make sure he was actually going to work and make sure he wasn’t lying to him about anything. There was no other word for it other than insane. He trusted Kirishima, so why the fuck was he doing this?
Still, Bakugou didn’t stop. He followed Kirishima through his entire day at work, where nothing out of the ordinary happened. The whole thing seemed like a waste of time and like an invasion of privacy. The guilt was building up, but a part of Bakugou couldn’t shake the feeling of something being off, and he just… he needed to make sure nothing was wrong.
Then it happened.
Bakugou watched as Kirishima left work, waving goodbye to his coworkers, but took a right instead of a left. He was heading in the opposite direction of their home. Bakugou felt the air leave his lungs as if he had just gotten punched, but didn’t waste any time as he started following Kirishima from above. It was easy enough not to lose him, the red hair easily spotted anywhere.
Kirishima headed towards a department store, which was even more of a red flag if Bakugou had ever seen one. He somehow managed to find an alley to climb down the rooftops without notice and found his way back to trailing Kirishima without missing a beat.
Bakugou took out his phone, maybe there was a rational explanation for all of this? He called Kirishima and watched as the redhead picked up his phone.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he heard against his ear as he saw Kirishima stop some distance away so that he could talk on the phone. A smile on his face as he did so.
“Hey, love,” Bakugou replied, “is your shift over? I wanted to see about ordering some food.”
“Sorry, Kats,” Kirishima told him and it made Bakugou’s blood turn cold. “I have to stay a bit after in order to do some paperwork… but I should be home in an hour.”
“Oh, alright then,” Bakugou answered, the grip on his phone tightening. “I’ll see about ordering some chicken or something then.”
“Thanks, babe, I’ll see you soon, love you,” Kirishima said.
“Love you too,” Bakugou replied, his mouth dry as he saw Kirishima hang up the phone and continue walking deeper into the department store.
Bakugou was angry, he felt hurt and betrayed and he had half a mind to walk up to Kirishima right then and then to demand an explanation. The only thing stopping him was the thought that Kirishima would just lie once more and he would never know what was actually going on. So Bakugou shoved his fist into his pockets and followed Kirishima.
***
Kirishima hated lying to Bakugou.
He lived in fear of Bakugou finding out that he was lying, but more than anything, he knew he had a good reason for it. He hung up the phone with a sigh, this was going to be the last time he would lie to Bakugou. He would go home and everything would be alright. This was just something he had to do after all, and if he wanted to surprise Bakugou… he had to lie.
Kirishima made his way to the top floor of the department building, raising the collar of his jacket just a bit. Being a pro hero meant that anyone could spot him, and the last thing he needed was for his surprise to be ruined by a picture a fan posted on social media. It didn’t take long for him to see the store he was heading to, and he felt the same nervous excitement he had felt on his first visit there.
“Mr. Kirishima,” a young woman about his age that worked as a greeter at the store called out to him, “Nice to see you again.”
“Thank you, Sakura,” Kirishima smiled at her.
“So… you finally made your decision,” she teased him with a smile.
“I think I have,” Kirishima answered sheepishly, raising an arm to scratch the back of his neck as he tried to hide his blush.
“I am sure he is going to love what you picked out for him,” Sakura assured him with a giggle.
“I do hope so, I’ve been looking forward to this for years now,” Kirishima admitted, shifting nervously from foot to foot.
“Does he suspect something?” Sakura asked with a grin, bouncing a little bit in place.
“I don’t think so,” Kirishima told her. “He’s been busy lately, so that helps quite a bit. If not he would already be on to me.”
“So, the sneaking around is almost over,” Sakura practically squealed.
“Yeah, soon I’ll be able to tell him what’s been going on,” Kirishima said with a sigh of relief.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN,” Bakugou’s voice interrupted.
Kirishima turned around to find his boyfriend standing a couple of feet away, face red in anger, and… were those tears? “Kats, what are you doing here?” Kirishima asked as he tried to take a step toward Bakugou.
“Watching you fucking cheat on me,” Bakugou spat out.
“What?” Kirishima said as he tried to process what Bakugou had said. “I’m not-”
“You fucking lied to me and told me you were at work so that you can come to see this fucking slut,” Bakugou demanded, pointing at Sakura who looked mortified as she hurried into the store to hide.
“Katsuki, sweethea-”
“Don’t you fucking sweetheart me!” Bakugou exclaimed, explosions going off in his hands, tears running down his face. “When were you going to tell me, Ei? When?”
“Could you just let me talk!” Kirishima begged.
“So that you can lie to me again?”
“I need to explain to you what’s going on!” Kirishima pleaded.
“I heard enough to know what is going on,” Bakugou insisted, using the back of his hand to rub at his face. “It’s easy to lie to me because I’m so busy huh? Working on getting our agency started? Trying to plan for our future? Guess that doesn’t fucking matter anymore!”
“Bakugou Katsuki, calm down,” Kirishima said, tone calm and leveled. “It’s not what you’re thinking, I swear.”
“Then what the fuck is it? Because all I see is you all shy and shit with some stupid ass extra!”
“Katsuki,” Kirishima whispers, “did you see what this store sells?”
Bakugou paused, red eyes narrowing as he looked at Kirishima with suspicion before glancing at the store they were standing in front of. His mouth dropped open before he closed it once more. “You… you’re going to marry her?” Bakugou said in a broken voice as his eyes filled up with tears.
“What? Katsuki, no!” Kirishima exclaimed, taking a couple of steps until he could wrap his arms around the blond.
“But… you were…”
“I’m trying to find a ring for you!” Kirishima exclaimed. “She works here and has helped me out while I shop for an engagement ring for you!”
Bakugou pushed away from Kirishima, eyes wide, “Wait, so… you aren’t cheating on me?”
“Of course not, sweetheart,” Kirishima assured him, a hand cupping Bakugou’s face. “You’re the love of my life, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Then why the fuck were you sneaking around?” Bakugou demanded, punching Kirishima’s arm in frustration.
“I was planning a big proposal during the inauguration of our agency, surprise you in front of everyone,” Kirishima explained with a small smile on his face. “Maybe it wasn’t the best plan.”
Bakugou’s eyes were wide as he looked at Kirishima, before whispering, “I can’t believe I was about to murder you.”
Kirishima let out a nervous laugh, “Babe… please tell me you’re joking.”
Bakugou bit his lower lip, “I was only considering it?”
“You’re lucky you’re so manly and handsome,” Kirishima said.
“I love you, Ei… sorry about all of this,” Bakugou mumbled the last part.
“It’s alright love,” Kirishima assured him as he kissed the blond’s forehead. “Do you want to go look at your ring?”
Bakugou perked up at that, “Yeah, let’s do it.”
Kirishima grinned as he reached down for Bakugou’s hand before pulling him along after him. “How did you even know I was here?” Kirishima asked suddenly.
“I-umm… I’ll tell you later.”
****
Kirishima didn’t propose at the inauguration of their agency. It was too far away for them once the secret was out. He got on one knee the following Friday before they sat down to watch a movie together. A nervous smile on his face, because even though he knew the answer, it was still nerve-wracking to ask such a big question to someone. “Bakugou Katsuki,” Kirishima started, holding up the black ring with gold edges towards his boyfriend. “You’re my best friend, my partner in every sense of the word. I’ve loved you for so long, I can’t remember what it was like to not have you in my life. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, of fucking course, I will,” Bakugou said, throwing himself around Kirishima, almost knocking his boyfriend- fiance- to the ground before kissing him. “I love you so much, Ei. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Bakugou told him as he cupped the redhead’s face in his hands.
Kirishima smiled, closing the distance between them once more for another kiss, “I will never let you go… even if you trail me instead of asking when you're suspicious of something.”
“I’m going to fucking punch you,” Bakugou threaten but he couldn’t hide his smile.
“Let’s go, Blasty,” Kirishima challenged.
“Shut it, shitty hair,” Bakugou responded before kissing his future husband once more.