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“Hey Bakugou! You wanna grab lunch at a new ramen place that opened recently? Since classes were shorter?” The redhead exclaimed as he approached the blonde’s desk with the brightest smile on his face. Classes had been cut short today for the teachers' conference like every other month, so they were free to go off school grounds for lunch and after-class activities. It really did have its perks now that the league of villains has been defeated and they could enjoy their second year with quite a bit more freedom before they had to be at the dorms.
He was leaning against the blonde’s desk, having to look a bit down to see the others face, since his growth spurt had kicked in over summer break, while Bakugou’s... hadn’t. It was kind of funny to be able to look down to him from time to time since he used to ride it high that he was an inch taller than him. Now he stood almost a head taller than the blonde.
“Sorry, Red, can’t today. I already have plans.” He answered -with maybe a touch of actually feeling sorry seeping through- not looking at Kirishima, since he was still busy packing up his schoolbag. Kirishima chuckled at his response. Bakugou’s “plans” were often just checking up on possible new costume upgrades, doing the homework for the next month, or, the recent case, annoying the poor kids from the support course where he had given his gauntlets to for repairs and adjustments. He normally doesn’t want company with those kinds of things, maybe to not seem like a complete nerd, and Kirishima doesn’t really mind. It was a bummer, sure, but they could grab food another time. Besides, that also meant that Bakugou would cook lunch for the two of them which wasn’t a bad replacement.
“Didn’t you check on your gauntlets two days ago? I’m sure they know what they’re doing Bakugou. I mean, you did insist that Hatsume didn’t get her hands on them, so there isn’t really any danger that the one responsible makes them explode in your hands.” The redhead’s laugh hallowed a bit in the empty classroom, though Bakugou didn’t laugh with him. Not really anything new.
“’m not going to the support course, he almost finished them last time. They already look fucking rad! Can’t wait to show ‘em to you” He smirked at Kirishima, swinging his bag over his shoulder and finally looking at him. There was a hint of blush on his face and his grin faltered for a moment when their eyes locked, but only for a moment so that Kirishima was sure he only imagined it. “I’m going out today. Won’t be home before late, so you have to eat lunch and dinner without me. I might be back to help you with homework, but you should still start without me. I promise to look over them tomorrow.”
He was already starting towards the door, leaving an a bit perplexed Kirishima behind. Bakugou and actual plans after school wasn’t completely unusual. He did it quite often actually with the squad, or only with Kirishima, sometimes with his parents, but him going out alone was something new. All the questions started bubbling up in the taller boy’s head like boiling water:
Where was he going? Why is he going without him? Why doesn’t he explain it more like he always would? But the one that repeated over and over again and left a bitter taste in his mouth was if he really was going - wherever he went - alone .
Who are you going with, Bakugou?
He quickly shook the thoughts out of his head and finally caught up with Bakugou, who had already disappeared behind the classroom’s door, pushing down all the questions he had. The blonde didn’t like to be pestered about his private life that much. When he wanted someone to know he would tell them himself, as he always does. So, if he didn’t share this with Kirishima, his best friend who he practically told everything and vice versa, then it probably wasn’t that important to begin with.
“Really? Where are you going? Something with your parents?” He asked with a smile he internally beat himself up for, for being not as sincere as he wanted it to be. There was literally no reason for him to feel this way. If anything, he should be happy that Bakugou finally started to relax more and has friends besides the redhead. “Nah, was invited to something, it’s nothing important, really.” The blonde shrugged, his face set in a neutral, relaxed expression.
Kirishima really liked that face. It meant that he felt comfortable around you and can let his guard down. It used to be only around Eijiro, but over the past year, he opened up more and more towards the Baku-squad and they all were like a small family now, comfortable and barely any secrets between them. But there were still things Bakugou would only share with the redhead. But it seemed like this wasn’t something he wanted to share in more detail. But that was okay, he would eventually. Probably.
But then again, him leaving for this long was rather unusual and it made Kirishima’s stomach churn in an unpleasant way. Though he was quickly ripped out of his racing head by a loud curse from the blonde. “Fuck! I’m going to be late! See ya later, Shitty hair!” He shot back at the redhead as he ran down the stairs in a hurry, not turning around again. Kirishima stayed behind, watching his best friend leave and letting his way too loud thoughts flood his mind.
Why was this suddenly such a big deal for Kirishima? He did plenty of stuff without Bakugou, right? So why couldn’t he do the same? Right, Bakugou didn’t need him around all the time, didn’t have to tell him where he went if he didn’t want to. That’s not how friends work after all. They don’t stick to each other like glue and don’t do anything apart. Not even best friends.
Yeah...
The rest of the day was slow, stretching every hour, every minute like gum. Lunch was too mild, almost tasteless and way too quiet. Maybe Kirishima was just used to more spice because of Bakugou, in his food and his table conversations. Next time he’ll just have to putt more salt and pepper in. Now that he thought about it, he can’t really remember the last day he didn’t eat with Bakugou and listened to him rant about the day. The rest wasn’t much better. He sat in the common room most of the day, tunning in and out of his friends' conversations, letting his mind drift every now and then to other thoughts of his own that he was scared to share with the rest, afraid they would all call him stupid for overthinking this. Why was he overthinking it in the first place anyway?
Kaminari, Mina and Jirou were watching some show on the television, though they weren’t really paying any attention to it and talked energetically with each other, but the redhead wasn’t listening to any of the noise in the room, sitting curled together on the far end of the couch. He was suddenly brought back to the present when Mina called out to him with his name, startling him. “Hey Kiri, you know where Baku is? Haven’t seen him since class ended.” He didn’t answer right away, only looking at her dumbly until his brain finally registered that she was actually addressing him. “Oh, yeah, he told me he had plans for the whole day, but didn’t tell me where he went.” He answered with a forced smile, hoping to drop the subject again as soon as possible.
“WHAT? Bakugou? Plans? Alone? ” Kaminari and Mina shrieked in unison, wide golden eyes staring at him in disbelieve, before mischievous grins were shared between them which made Kirishima feel even worse, with his stomach clenching and his throat drying out. “ Uhhhhuhuhuu! Do you guys know what this means ?!” The pink girl giggled with her voice pitched unnaturally high. Everyone but the redhead - and maybe Jirou who looked a bit unconvinced - seemed to know what it meant, since they all suddenly had that joyous gleam in their eyes. He already knew what it meant. He might not be the smartest, but it didn’t take much to put two and two together. He just didn’t want it to be true, he didn’t want his fear to be confirmed, so he pushed the truth far, far down into a dark whole, forcing himself to not think about it, to assure him that it wasn’t like that, that he would know if it were like that.
Of course, Mina took Kirishima’s silence as an unspoken question, an opening to exclaim her mind-blowing discovery.
“Our little Bakubaby has a date !”
And with that everything felt like it was sinking inside of him, collapsing in on itself and breaking into tiny pieces. He just wanted to run. He wanted to lock himself into his room and make everything just go away. He wanted the voices and thoughts and the pain to just go away. He felt sick, as if his stomach was rejecting everything he ate.
“You sure about that Mina? I mean it is Bakugou we’re talking about. I didn’t even know he was talking to anyone else outside of our class and then he is supposed to be dating someone? I’m not really sure...” Jirou jumped into the conversation after there was a short moment between the excited chatter between Mina and Kaminari.
“But it’s BAKUGOU we’re talking about! It must mean something !”
The more they talked the less he could hear. Everything around him was suddenly deafening, his ears felt like they were about to burst from the pressure, his eardrums ripping from the overpowering ringing. His eyes started burning and stinging and he couldn’t stand being in this room any longer. He stumbled up from where he was laying, smiling at his friends without his eyes. “I think we shouldn’t stick our noses into Bakugou’s love life. He’ll tell us if he’s ready, we shouldn’t just assume. Anyway, I’m going, need to get started on my homework or he’s gonna be pissed. See ya later.”
He didn’t wait for them to answer, quickly making his way to the elevator and punching the button for the doors to close. The ride to his room felt exaggeratingly long and he couldn’t stop himself from fidgeting with his hands. His breathing was quick but he couldn’t get any oxygen into his burning lungs. His throat felt dry, but there was no spit left in his mouth for him to swallow down into his stomach that turned like a washing machine, ready to throw up.
Who wouldn’t be feeling weird if their best friend didn’t tell one about a crush or date? That’s what was bothering him after all, wasn’t it? Bakugou would have told him, wouldn’t he?
In the end he wasn’t able to concentrate at all on his homework that evening. He had spent his time working out in his room, reading the Manga Bakugou had left last time he was here or simply staring at his ceiling while lying on his bed. It was already past ten when he checked his muscle clock on the wall, but there was no sound from the other room. It wasn’t like Bakugou to go to bed this late, or even be away for so long. Not even he was able to get him to hang out with him this late most of the times.
Kirishima was mindlessly swiping on his phone when he suddenly heard noises coming from the hallway, steps that led to the room next door. His phone read 10:59pm. The door opened and closed quickly and quietly and the night was silent again, as if it had never been disturbed in the first place. After a few more minutes he finally turned off the light on his bedside table and turned towards his wall, his covers pulled up to his nose and eyes scrunched together. It was late and he should probably go to bed already.
There was nothing there that acquired him to wait this late at night after all.
He was barely able to sleep that night, thoughts bugging his mind for hours until he just gave up on it completely. He had the whole weekend to catch up on some rest, anyway. Since he couldn't sleep anyway, he decided to use the time and get ahead of his day, going on his morning jog and have an actual breakfast. Maybe it would help him clear his head.
When he came back around half past six no one was in the kitchen, not that he had expected anyone to be up already. It was way to early and he would normally not be up before 10 himself. But what can you do if the universe says you aren't getting any sleep tonight. Nothing that’s what.
He was standing at the stove, carefully stirring his eggs to not burn them and having an eye on the sizzling bacon. Bakugou normally made food for them, since Kirishima was a disaster in the kitchen, but over the time they had been friends and he had watched the blonde work, he had picked up on one or two things and can make simple dishes, like eggs and noodles or rice. Even stir fry if he concentrates.
The motion was already second nature to him, having made scrambled eggs plenty of times by now, so his mind drifted to other things, like what he was going to do today, his and Bakugou’s sparing and study session and the weekly movie night.
Though he must have been deeper in his head than he thought, because when he turned his head a bit to the side he startled and shrugged together when he saw a face only inches away from his, a familiar frown edged into it and burning red eyes staring at him intently. He decided to ignore the squeal that left his mouth and hoped the other would do the same. Of course, Bakugou wouldn’t be Bakugou if he did. “The hell was that sound shitty hair? Your manly scream?” the blonde mocked with a smirk on his face.
The redhead turned his crimson face away from him, his lip jutted out dramatically in a small pout. “Shut up! It’s your fault for sneaking up on me like that.” Though Bakugou just shrugged with his face still set in a small grin. “Whatever. You making enough for the both of us?” He asked, but was already taking out two plates. And yeah, he had made enough for the both of them, probably since he never made breakfast only for himself, even when he was at home he would cook for his moms as well.
He quickly distributed the food evenly before they both took their plates and a glass of water and sat down at the table and dug into their breakfast. It tasted a lot better than the food from yesterday and they both didn’t talk until the first half of their plates was gone. He hadn’t noticed how hungry he was until the first piece of egg touched his tongue. Seems like he hadn’t eaten as much as he thought yesterday.
Bakugou was the first to speak, the rest of the food in his mouth swallowed before he opened it. He wouldn’t admit it, but he had awfully good manners. His parents sure raised him well. “So watcha doing up this early? Normally I would have to beat your lazy ass out of your bed at ten.” He asked, his eyes on his breakfast as he picked up more with his chopsticks. And for a moment Kirishima had actually forgotten why he was already awake. Something about being unable to sleep... Oh... right... there was something. He stuffed more food into his mouth to occupy himself with something . “Oh, you know, had trouble sleeping and thought I would use the extra time.” His eyes brightened when he remembered that it was Saturday and swallowed, smiling at the blonde brightly.” That reminds me, what do you want to do for our sparring session today? We haven’t done training without quirks for a while.” Eijiro exclaimed excitedly. Saturdays were always something he looked forward to the most in a week, since him and Bakugou would spend most of the day in the gym or one of the training grounds.
But the reaction he got from the blonde was definitely not what he expected. There was confusion, realisation and finally something that almost looked like regret, but Kirishima couldn’t quite tell for once. He had never seen that face before. “Shit, today is Saturday, I totally forgot, I wanted to tell you. I can’t today nor the next days. There is ... something I promised to do and it’ll take a while. We’ll do it some other time. Thanks for the food, Shitty hair, I’ll see you later. And get your homework ready at around 7 so I can have a look at it.” He stood up, taking his and Kirishima’s empty plates with him and placing them in the dishwasher, before heading for the door, where he quickly threw on his shoes and hurried out.
Only now did Kirishima notice that Bakugou was fully dressed with tight fitting joggers and a fitted white shirt and a duffle bag around his shoulders he knew all to well. It held his indoor gym shoes, a fresh towel and shampoo. It was his work out bag and clothes he wore when they did yoga or gymnastics for their flexibility.
Knowing that left a sharp sting in his chest. It wasn’t like Bakugou to just forget and pass by their plans. He was always so strict with these kinds of things and would give Kirishima an ear full if he dared to be only five minutes late.
The redhead didn’t know what caused his heart to ache like that. If it was knowing Bakugou passed on their plans, that he completely forgot to tell him, or that he was going training without him. Maybe with someone else.
It shouldn’t matter. He was happy Bakugou found other people to hang with, he really was. It was just hard to lose the time you used to have with your best friend. That didn’t mean they weren’t still best friends, right?
He wasn’t there around seven.
Sleep became a struggle for him. He wouldn’t even feel tired before 11pm, even though he was barely able to keep his eyes open during classes. He was tired and slower than ever, his performance obviously slacking during training. There were bags under his eyes that he would cover up with make up.
He thought about going to recovery girl and letting her check on him. Not getting enough sleep won’t help him become a better hero after all and she was a nurse, so she should be able to help with that, right?
He would sometimes find himself spacing out and letting his eyes drift to the side to a certain blonde head of hair that was illuminated by the golden rays of sunshine. It was so beautiful to look at. His eyes would stay for a while and his thoughts would drift to other things, like quiet moments in the blonde’s room or the fiery burn of lingering touches, passionate, deep eyes in which he would drown. It was kind of weird, but nothing usual. It just occurred more often than it had before. It used to be only a glance or a second of paying attention to different thoughts, but now it was a daily occurrence that made his head fuzzy and hurt and his chest ache.
It was a weird kind of pain. Stinging and squeezing and burning, but somehow grounding. Reminding him what was reality and what a dream.
He would sometimes catch Jirou’s worried look from the corner of his eyes and that would snap him out of his head and back to class. He couldn’t read what that look meant.
“Thanks for doing the study group together guys, five brains are better than one after all.” “No worries Kiri, I think I speak for all of us if I say we were all starting to give up on studying.” Mina laughed, patting him on the back. The group was sitting in Sero’s room, since it was the most spacious of all and put their brain cells together to solve their math homework. Bakugou had been... absent the past 12 days. He had skipped on their study sessions and dinners, constantly coming home barely on time.
Bakugou had told him that he wouldn’t have much time the next few days, but he never explained why, or at least told him where he was going every day till late. It made Kirishima notice how much time they actually spent together every day. From going on a morning jog to going to school together, to lunch and hero training and back to the dorms where they would get ready for studying or sparing or simply hanging out in the common room, or one of their own. Sometimes they would even go somewhere off campus, like their houses or the arcade.
But now they were barely doing anything together anymore. Since Bakugou came back late all the time he was too tired in the morning to go jogging and lunchtime he would often go to the support course to check on his gauntlets. They would still team up during hero class and it would almost feel like old times, until they reach the dorms and he wouldn’t even stay for lunch, rather hurried to his room to get changed and grab his stuff to disappear again. But the redhead didn’t let it bother him too much. The blonde seemed... happy. So if whatever it was Bakugou was doing made him smile, then Kirishima would be happy, too. That’s what friends do after all. Be happy for each other no matter what.
And it’s not like Bakugou had forgotten about him. When he would make bentos for his afternoon and evening activity he would always make enough for a third with extra meat that he would put in the fridge with Kirishima’s name on it. If he didn’t want to be friends anymore, he wouldn’t do that. So it didn’t even matter who the second box was for.
“Oh yeah, guys! I made a great discovery yesterday!” Kaminari suddenly chirped up, looking with wide eyes over the small round. Everyone looked at him in anticipation. “Yesterday I asked Kacchan if I could copy a few of his notes and when I went through them, I saw that he had angrily erased something in the corner of his notebook. Sooo, I tried to decipher it and it read something very interesting.” He smiled mischievously, stopping for dramatics. It was Mina that urged him on to finally spit it out and Kirishima just didn’t want to him to say anything at all.
“It said ‘I really like your stupid cherry hair’. Awfully cute for someone like Bakugou, isn’t it?” He grinned giddily next to Mina, who was wearing the exact same expression. “Oh my god, really? That’s so adorable! Who would have guessed Bakugou could be romantic!” She sounded way to delighted for something they had agreed on not to stick their noses in. “Hey, what colour do you think me meant by cherry hair? Because first you would think of red, right?” She asked the circle and the mention of the colour red made Kirishimas stomach churn. He didn’t like this topic. “Yeah, obviously?!” Kaminari looked like Mina had said something really stupid right now. Like that the earth was a triangle or something. “Well, people also call pink hair cherry hair, if it’s the shade of cherry blossoms.” She elaborated and Kaminari gasped at her at the new revelation. “Oh my god, you’re right!”
They quickly fell into a discussion of who they knew with red or pink hair and wrote down a few names on a piece of paper. Kirishima drowned out the delighted chatter around him, focusing on his math homework. He didn’t want to figure out Bakugou’s love life. That wasn’t his business after all.
They’d been working for about two more hours after everyone had calmed down and are finally finished with their last exercise when Kaminari threw his hands in the air with am exaggerated sigh. “I am beat, guys. The only thing that will keep me alive today is if we all cuddle up and watch the lion King together.” His eyes were big and wet and pleading like a puppy’s and no one had the strength to decline him his wish, even though squad-movie night was Saturday, not today. They had earned it, so they started to get everything ready. Kaminari went to pick up Shinsou from his room, because he definitely has not a crush on him, Sero and Mina collected pillows and started the DVD player and Jirou and Kirishima were on snack duty.
They went down to the kitchen, making simple small talk as the they waited for the popcorn to finish. Eijiro was scrambling through the cupboards while Jirou told him about Kaminari’s brain jam today at training, when he finally found what he was looking for and whooped in delight. He knew he had some spicy wasabi chips hidden somewhere. He didn’t notice that Jirou had stopped talking and was looking at him at first with confusion, before realization hit her and her lips were graced with a bittersweet expression.
“Kiri?” She said carefully “Yeah?” the redhead answered sweetly with a dumbfound smile. “Bakugou isn’t here yet. You won’t need those.” He looked down at the bag in his hands, progressing what he had just subconsciously done and yeah, she was right. He didn’t need these. Bakugou wasn’t here after all. “Oh... uhm yeah, yeah you’re right. I feel like my head isn’t really in the game today, hehe.” He chuckled dryly, putting the chips back from where he had gotten them. He really had his head screwed on wrong these past days. It stung a little in his chest.
“It’s truly a miracle Bakugou hasn’t caught up on you yet. Honestly, I don’t understand how you can take all of this like that. I’d probably be crying in a corner somewhere” She sighed, a hand rubbing his shoulders comfortingly. But Kirishima didn’t know what she meant. What was he so obvious about? Why would she be crying if it were her? “What do you mean, obvious and Bakugou catching on? What are you talking about?” And his clueless expression made her halt, eyes big in realisation. “Kiri... did you not realise it yet?” But that only confused him more. The careful, pitying tone unsettling. “Realize what?!”
“That you have a crush on Bakugou.”
The bag fell from his hands as he stared at her wide-eyed, his mouth agape and pointy teeth on show. His expression was... scared, a wobbly, disbelieving smile tugging at his lips. “Wh-what? No way! I don’t... I don’t have a crush on Bakugou, that’s ridiculous! Sure, I’m gay, but we’re best friends. Just friends! I think I would know if I were in love with him, that’s crazy! Where’d you get that idea anyway?” He chuckled hollowly and high pitched as if she had made the funniest joke, turning his gaze away from her in an attempt to hide. His eyes were stinging for an unknown reason so he kept blinking to get rid of it, to get rid of everything until he just closed them, letting liquid pool at his lashes.
A hand found its way to his shoulder rubbing and squeezing soothingly. “Kiri, it’s not healthy to burry those kinds of feelings, trust me, I would know. I think you’ve known it already, just didn’t want to realize it. Being in love with your friend is hard and it feels wrong at first, but you can’t choose who you like, so you’ll have to accept it, or you’ll just get hurt more.” And she was right. Of course, he knew somewhere deep down that how he acted around Bakugou, how his body reacted and how he thought about him wasn’t how someone would portray their best friend. That those lingering glances in class and skipping heartbeats during movie nights when the blonde would fall asleep on his shoulder weren't particularly normal reactions, but did it even matter that he knew how he felt? Bakugou didn't like him back like that after all. So why not surpass them and hope for this ache to go away on its own.
“It doesn’t matter, now does it. Everyone with eyes can see that Bakugou had been a lot happier lately. You just have to put one and one together to know he is probably dating someone right now. So why should I go through the pain of knowing I can't have him, if I could just mop over some lost time with my best friend and be happy for him. Because I am . I am happy for him.” Small fingers suddenly brushed under his eyes and only now did he realise that he was crying. God damn crying and that in front of someone.
He quickly turned away from Jirou, covering his eyes with his arm and bruising away the rest of his tears. He was so pathetic. But of course, Jirou was not having it, turning him towards her again. For how small she was and how buff and two heads taller he was, she was surprisingly strong.
“Hey..., it’s manly to cry and have feelings, right? So don’t deny them. Just let it out, no one is here to judge you.”
So he did.
The elevator door dinged, announcing his arrival at his floor. He decided that maybe turning in early would be better. He had told Jirou that he would just go to bed and that she should tell the others that he just didn’t feel so good or something. Calming himself down trying and to catch up on sleep was important too after all. And like this he could just shut off his brain for a bit. And maybe Jirou was right. Letting everything out and accepting how he felt felt... good... weirdly enough. It hurt. Badly really, like dull knives being shoved into his heart, but his head didn’t hurt anymore, so that was good, right?
Kirishima was now standing in front of his door, when he noticed something at his side. Under Bakugou’s door was a sliver of light poking through and hushed voices were whispering and giggling in the quiet of the night.
‘Huh... Bakugou must have come back already. Weird that he’s watching a movie all alone without telling any of us.’ Oh well, he would just quickly go and say hi and good night. It wouldn’t bother the blonde anyway. But when he stepped closer to the door, he noticed that the voices weren’t coming from a film, but rather from Bakugou himself and someone else he didn’t recognise, having a conversation.
He knew he shouldn’t, but his body moved on his own, closer to the door, to the voices behind it. They got clearer and clearer and Kirishima could make out the voice of another boy, a voice he might have heard before, but couldn’t place it. But Bakugou’s he could place perfectly fine, his annoyed grumbles and that weird noise he makes when he tries to subdue a laugh or chuckle. He wasn’t really good at it and Kirishima loved it.
“Fuckin’ hold still, asshole. How am I supposed to measure it if you keep fucking squirming.” He half-heartedly snapped at the other. “Then hurry up! I have to go soon or I’ll get caught and in trouble. So just admit that I am bigger than you and let me leave.” The other exclaimed delightedly. There was silence for a second, before shouts of laughter and annoyance sound loudly through the hall. “ShhSh! Shut up you idiot, you’ll get us caught!” “Oh come on! You’re just upset that you aren’t as big as me! Gues I am on top after all.” He sounded smug and very pleased with himself, kind of like Bakugou when he would achieve something great.
“Fuck you! I fucking hate you!” Bakugou answered, his voice now more shushed again. The other boy simply chuckled at him and it sounded like he punched him in the shoulder going by the grunt the blonde let out. “No you don’t, you love me and you know it, because I know it. Besides, you should be nice to me or I’ll never repair anything else for you anymore. Or do you have any complaints about your gauntlets?”
Bakugou’s voice suddenly sounded closer, snapping Kirishima out of his haze and making him retreat a bit, keeping an eye and ear on the door and the voices behind it. “Just get dressed and go! I’ll see you tomorrow.” He groaned, but there was a hint of amusement hidden. The door knob turned and Kirishima bolted for his room, carefully opening and half closing the door quickly. His heart was razing and stomach twisting uncomfortably. He shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t be listening in on them.
The light from Bakugou’s room lightened up the hallway as two figures stepped out, but the redhead couldn’t make their faces out properly. He knew the blond was Bakugou, by his hairstyle and slouch in his relaxed posture, but the one with pink hair, pulled into a small bun wasn’t anyone he thought he knew. He was shorter than Bakugou, generally a bit smaller, but... buffer if you could call it that. His arms seemed bigger, but that could also just be the hoody he wore.
“Everyone should be asleep already, but don’t make any noise, okay! Or else Aizawa-sensei wakes up.” Bakugou whispered – as much as the blonde could whisper – shooing the boy forward, who smiled smugly over his shoulder. “What? No goodbye kisses?” “GOD, just shut up, you prick!” Bakugou shot, almost too loudly, shoving the giggling boy further. “You’re so annoying!” Finally, he moved forward on his own, waving over his shoulder before he disappeared into the dark.
Bakugou returned to his room, closing the door behind him and leaving the hallway in black. Kirishima closed his too, leaning against it and trying to calm his heart down. His head hurt, the new information more than he could handle right now, nor wanted to handle.
All he could process right now was that “Bakugou probably has a boyfriend from the support-course who is small and cute but also strong and confident and they have been seeing each other for two weeks now, every day and are meeting today again and I don’t know what to do, because I couldn’t sleep and I feel like shit and I am pretty sure they measured dick length yesterday!” Kirishima bursted out in one breath, taking in a good amount of air when he finished and Jirou was next to him, handing him a can of iced tea and beef jerky. She tried, she really did, but she couldn’t hold back a snort that left her nose. Kirishima looked at her with shock and betrayal written all over his face, his eyes a bit puffy from unshed tears. Jirou tried to wave of her chuckle but it just morphed into a small laugh. “Sorry, sorry! I’m sorry, it’s not funny, but dick measuring? You can’t deny that sounds a bit ridiculous.”
And it did. He knew it sounded fucking ridiculous and with Bakugou involved even unbelievable and Kirishima couldn’t help a small snort of his own either. “It does sound kind of stupid, doesn’t it.” And they both giggled a bit in their secluded spot behind the school where no one knew were benches to eat lunch. Kirishima had come to her in the morning before school, asking her to spent lunch with him, since he needed someone to load all of his new information onto. And Jirou was a damn good listener.
“Well, have you tried talking to him about it? I mean you two are best friends, like, sickingly so. It’s like you are attached to the hip or something.” Kirishima sipped at his drink, stabbing at his bento box Bakugou had made for him. It made his heart flutter a bit thinking about it. He really could be sweet when he wanted to. “I thought about it, but... he should be the one coming to me, I think. I mean this is his private live and it’s not my place to snoop around, even if we are best friends. He’ll tell me at some point... I am sure of it.” Jirou didn’t really seem like she believed him, but that was okay. He didn’t believe himself either.
Then she suddenly jumped up, brushing off her skirt and picking up her finished lunch. She held out a hand to Kirishima. “Anyway, enough about Bakugou! We are going to the support workshop to check on my hero suit improvements.” Eijiro stayed put for a bit longer, looking at her hand before finally grabbing it and letting himself be pulled up. It was only for a short second, but for a moment he fantasized that it was someone else's hand.
The room was... messy. Very messy. There were gadgets and tools lying around everywhere. Blueprints and notes littering the walls and tables. There were three or four people in there, always rushing in and out of the room through some door in the back. They weren’t acknowledged at first, everyone just running past them with their arms full. There were all kinds of awesome things in this room, like jetpacks, strength enhancing gloves and speed boots.
“HEY! Sorry, did you wait long?” A voice suddenly popped up behind the pair, scaring the shit out of Kirishima and making him let out a high-pitched squeal, grabbing at Jirou who had shrugged together next to him. He turned around and his wide eyes landed on a boy who was over a head smaller than him, dressed in a black tank top and an overall with the top half tied around his waist, leaving his shoulders bare. His arms were strong, built with plenty of muscles from working out or maybe even sparing and plenty of scars painted the softly sun kissed skin. Or probably rather arm. His right one was a prosthesis. He must have stared longer than intended, because his arms crossed and he felt an elbow in his side. “I don’t mind people looking at my arm, but starring is rude dude.” that knocked him out of it and he snapped his eyes up to the other’s.
“Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to. I have just never seen a prosthesis before. It’s really cool-” He apologized but stopped when he finally saw the others eyes, his face, his hair. Cherry blossom pink hair, tied into a half bun on the back of his head. He had turquoise eyes, the right with white and the left with black sclera. His ears were pointed and adorned with piercings. His stomach suddenly felt awful and he would like to blame it on his lunch, but Bakugou had made it. The other boy’s eyes travelled up and down and back up again slowly which made the redhead swallow and a smug grin travelled on the smaller boy’s lips. “I know, I built it after all. But I’m sure that’s not why you’re here. I’m Hirota Yuri from the support course, what can I do for you?”
Kirishima suddenly felt very, very sick. “I think I need some air. I’ll wait for you outside.” He left the both of them behind, not stopping when he started walking. He turned corner after corner, until he finally stopped somewhere behind the school, sliding down the wall and hiding his face in between his knees. He was being so stupid. So, so stupid. So what if that boy was Bakugou’s boyfriend? So what if he was cute and competent and strong? So what if he gushed with confidence? He was a perfect match for Bakugou and he was happy for him.
Besides, Kirishima was the one that told him to check out the support course after all. And he did and he found someone he liked. He really had to rub that under Bakugou’s nose. That looking had never hurt anyone before.
He didn’t think it might end up hurting him.
“Hey, Kiri! Where were you after lunch? I didn’t find you anymore.” Jirou plopped down next to him on the couch in the common room. He barely acknowledged her, only giving her a weak smile, before returning his attention back to the TV. It was already late, around 10pm and he was just mindlessly sitting around. The others were out somewhere She wasn’t having it dough and spoke in a hushed whisper. “Okay, enough with the moping! So what if that boy from the support course is Bakugou’s secret boyfriend! No use crying about it now. Now , I need a partner for tomorrow since Momo can’t make it and the tickets will expire if no one goes, so you’ll have to be my back up.” She declared with her eyes fixed to her phone. He waited for a few seconds for further explanations, but when none came, he asked himself.
“Partner? For what and what tickets?” He looked at her a bit dumbly. “My dad got me two tickets for a dance lesson he won and I planned to go with Momo, but she can’t make it and I don’t want the tickets to go to waste. You can dance, right?” She answered simply, only giving him a side glance. “Yea-yeah I can dance. Like slow dance and stuff. My parents wanted me to learn it and I really like it but-”
“Perfect, then I’ll see you tomorrow in the early mornings.” She jumped up, skipping towards the elevators. He sighed, slumping further into the couch, when the weight next to him suddenly shifted again. “What were you two nerds talking about?”
Kirishima’s breath suddenly stopped for a moment, the newcomer catching him off-guard. He sat up abruptly “Bakugou?! Hey dude... uhm nothing! Nothing, really just... plans for the weekend. How about you? Aren’t you going somewhere today?” It felt like forever since they had this close, just talking about normal things, sitting next to each other. It felt nice. Normal. As if nothing had changed at all over the past few days.
“No, we- I decided to stay at the dorms for the day, catch up with you dumbasses for once. Think I had enough space from you for a while. A full social battery or whatever.” And that actually... made a lot of sense. For Bakugou at least. Sure, that wasn’t the reason why he hadn’t been around, but it was still nice knowing he hadn’t like ditched them.
“Oh... do you- do you want me to go get them? Do something together? Don’t want you wasting your battery on me.” He chuckled and was about to get up, but a hand on his thigh stopped him. “Don’t worry about it. It’s different with you. Being around you is not... draining or anything. Just- stay and talk with me, I’m tired.” He slurred, falling more into the couch, his eyes already closing. “Yeah, you’ve been out late a lot lately...” He laughed lightly, but hesitated for a moment, afraid to ask, but still too curious. Jirou was right. He should be the one asking for once, because if the blonde didn’t want to answer he didn’t have to. But, now that he was tired, maybe he would be more open about it. “... How come? You’re normally a lot stricter with going to bed early.”
There were no sounds coming from Bakugou, except for steady breathing and the calm up and down movement of his chest and Kirishima thought that maybe he had already fallen asleep, but then he opened his mouth to answer. “It’s just... something important I want to do...” He didn’t elaborate more, so Kirishima dropped that part. Though, not completely. Rather lead it into another direction. A direction that he didn’t want to go to, but also didn’t want to stay in the dark about anymore. He just needed to know if it was true. “I... went to the support course today with Jirou... met someone cool... with a prosthetic arm. He looked really strong, too. Maybe I should ask him for his gym routine sometime.” He said nonchalantly, as if it weren’t really important. He didn’t actually expect an answer from the blonde.
“Yeah, Yuri’s pretty strong... good at what he does, too... but he should have been in the hero course... Could probably beat most people from our class... Hmmnn, no more questions, ‘m tired.” A fond smile found its way on Kirishima’s face. It always surprised Kirishima a bit to see the blonde this relaxed and civil when he was sleepy, but when he suddenly felt him slump completely against him, air brushing along his collarbone, he stiffened, sucking his breath in sharply. He could already feel his face heat up, his skin tingling where Bakugou was leaning against him.
When he looked to the side, he was stunned. Bakugou looked so beautiful, his blonde hair was like gold and his pale skin like porcelain in the light of the TV and he couldn’t stop his hand to move. Closer and closer until it was almost brushing his slightly rosy cheek. Katsuki nuzzled into his side a bit further and his hand shrugged back, waiting for any more movements from the blonde that would indicate he was awake, but there were none. His mouth was pursed into a small pout and it made him chuckle. His brows were relaxed, but his lips didn’t seem like they would too anytime soon. He really wanted to touch them, wanted to know if they were soft or rough from gnawing on them. He stopped before his fingers could touch them, but let them travel further up, brushing over his hair. Just barely. Almost not even touching, but the sensation was still there. So soft and fluffy. He would have expected it to prick more if he was being honest.
This would be the most cliché scene in some romance movie. The guy would fall for his best girl friend, who he had been friends with for a long time and it had always been them. Then he would start realising he liked her more than a friend, but she would be too oblivious to his feelings and starts dating the team captain of some sports club, always gushing about him to her best friend, who would quietly suffer for her, since her feelings were more important than his and he would do everything for her. She looked so happy after all. Until one day she would be heartbroken about something the team captain did and he would comfort her. And suddenly she would fall head over heels for him and feel so stupid she hadn’t noticed it sooner and they would be happily together.
But this wasn’t a cheesy movie about the guy getting the girl. This was a guy in love with a guy who had a boyfriend... probably. Besides, they were best friends and just because they both liked guys didn’t mean Bakugou fancied him as well.
Those movies were stupid anyway, with unrealistic relationships and expectations. Bakugou’s body suddenly felt like it was burning his own. His eyes thought they could try cool it, even though he didn’t want them to.
They did it anyway.
“I don’t think this is a good idea. What if I make a fool of myself. I haven’t danced in so long; I'll just embarrass the both of us!” Kirishima cried as he was pulled along by Jirou, towards some dance studio he had never heard of. “It’s a dance class , Kirishima! No one there can dance. It’s just supposed to be fun. Now come on, or we’re going to be late.” She pulled him towards herself and he noticed that they had arrived at their destination and his breath stayed away for a moment. It wasn’t extremely over the top or eye-catching, but there were little pride flags sticking on the glass door where ‘entrance’ was written on. He saw the smug look on Jirou’s face from the corner of his eyes as she pulled him along.
The room was big, with warm, pastel yellow walls and light parquet floor and there were all kinds of different people there. It made him feel a lot more at ease. All those characters laughing and joking and stumbling over their own feet before the class even began. It was nice to see that dancing together didn’t always have to be a small, delicate woman and a strong, tall man leading her. They both kind of looked like a cliché if it weren’t for them both being absolutely gay.
It did surprise him though that so many people were here. The whole hall was full.
“Alright loves, please form two lines and stand before your partner.” An enthusiastic curvy woman called through the classroom as she entered the room. A taller, slimmer woman stood behind her. “Welcome all of you back. As always, we are very happy to have you here again and of course we always love seeing new faces. We have a few new commers here again, so today I want everyone to show them how amazing and great this class is!” There were joyful cheers filling the space and music started.
The small woman put her hands on her partners hip and in her hand and threw her head over her shoulder, levelling everyone with fierceness in her eyes and a bright smile on her “Everyone in position aaaannnd one two three, one two three, one two three, one two three...”
-
“Wow! That was exhausting!” Kirishima laughed, downing the rest of his water, leaning against the outer wall of the building. The last feel people passed them, saying goodbye. The sun was already starting to set and the cool breeze felt nice against his sweaty skin. “I haven’t done this in wayyy too long. Thanks for taking me, I needed this!” He smiled at the smaller girl, the apples of her cheeks still a bit red. She smiled back at him. “No problem! I had a great time, too. And, next time you better stop selling yourself short! You were so good, the teacher even pulled you out for a demonstration.” “Yeah, sorry. Didn’t think I still know how to do it.”
The both chuckled and Kirishima pushed himself off the wall to throw away his empty bottle. “We should head back, it’s getting late.” Jirou suggested, zipping up her jacket up to her chin. They were about to round the corner, when they heard the door open once more behind them. Kirishima expected to find the class instructors to close up. He definitely didn’t expect to see the pair coming out instead.
“Stop cowering behind me, scaredy cat! I’m sure he and Jirou have long gone... Actually, Why exactly are you hiding? I thought you were supposed to be some scary, not-afraid-of-anything soon-to-be hero? I’m honestly impressed you were able to not get seen by him all day.” Hirota laughed, pushing the blonde forward from behind him. “Shut up! I am not afraid of anything! I just haven’t fucking told him about all of this, okay!” He snapped back with a growl, looking around nervously. “You know, I don’t know if should be upset that you haven’t introduced me to any of your friends yet. I hope for you you’re not embarrassed of me because I’m not in the hero course, because I could beat you with my eyes closed.” He boxed him in the shoulder lightly with a smile visible on his face. Bakugou seemed to relax more as they moved forward, even with a small smile on his face, but it fell quickly when his eyes caught onto Kirishima’s. Hirota must have noticed too, because his eyes were on the other pair as well.
Kirishima could hear the silent curse that left Bakugou’s mouth, it was so quiet. “Fuck!”
It was quiet for a while, way too quiet and it started to tie around his throat, cutting of his breathing. So, he took it on himself to break it. “Hey Bakugou! Didn’t know you were here. I didn’t see you anywhere in there.” He tried to sound normal, as he usually does, with a smile on his face and his body relaxed. He was glad it was dark, or maybe the strain in his face would have been more visible. “Yeah I... didn’t tell you after all.” He didn’t really look at him, rather on the floor or somewhere next to him and it made the redhead feel even more out of place. Bakugou looked... uncomfortable.
Hirota was the one who broke the pause that had formed in their conversation. “Hey Jirou why don’t we chat a bit? Let them catch up?” He asked calmly, whispering something into Bakugou’s ear, before he made his way towards the other duo, leaving the blonde behind with his mouth slightly agape. “Y-yeah, sure.” Jirou was able to stammer before she was pulled along by the mechanic. Kirishima felt a small push on his back as the other two started walking ahead and he stepped towards Bakugou. He didn’t know what to feel anymore, his heart and brain working overtime to get his emotions in check and it exhausted him. So, he shut everything off and focused on the boy in front of him.
“Hey!” He greeted. “Hey.” Bakugou said back. It was awkward, them just standing around doing, not talking and moving their arms around, just to keep them occupied with something. “I wouldn’t have judged!” The redhead suddenly spurted out, probably too loudly, because Bakugou’s head snapped up with wide eyes, not capable for anything but nodding for a moment. “Y-yeah, I know.” Was what he got back from the blonde. Bakugou has always been rather brief, not able to keep a conversation going to save his life and even less now that his brain didn’t work properly anymore.
“Good. That’s… good.” Kirishima couldn’t blame him though. He couldn’t really talk right now either. He pointed his head towards where the others were going, indicating that maybe they should catch up a bit, to not lose them and Bakugou gave a curt nod. They walked in silence for a while, both sneaking little glances to the side when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Kirishima was the one to break the silence once again, his curiosity, but also hurt, too big for him to keep it in anymore.
“Why didn’t you tell me? We’re best friends, man. We tell each other things like that. Instead, you just left me wondering where you were going every day, skipping on all our study and sparring sessions without an explanation. That was not cool, bro!” So what if his tone sounded more aggravated towards the end. He was allowed to be upset.
Bakugou at least had the decency to look ashamed, his head hanging low. “Sorry... I just didn’t know how to tell you, without revealing everything... I’m sorry.” And suddenly Kirishima couldn’t help his anger to just disappear again. He couldn’t stay mad at Bakugou, he never could. Because whenever he would apologize, he knew he meant it. “It’s okay. I’m not mad... I’m... happy for you.” Bakugou looked at him a bit funny, as if he had said something weird, but the blonde shrugged it off. Kirishima knew he would say weird stuff sometimes, but he didn’t know what he said this time. So he tried to elaborate it more.
“You know. That you found someone you like being around and who does stuff like this with you. Well, at least this explains why you have been away for so long all the time and been so tired. Though, I didn’t know you liked dancing.” He tried to lighten the mood, maybe leading the conversation to something that didn’t make him feel like he wanted to hurl. Bakugou gladly took the change “it’s fine, I guess. I didn’t do it because of me though. Or not just because of me. Yuri got an invitation to an expo for support gear and stuff, because his dad is pretty big in the industry but can’t go and I got one, since I eon the sports festival, again, and there would be some kind of dance party at the end and he wanted to freshen up his skills or something and dragged me along for the first few classes. He didn’t really need it, if you ask me. But, uhm... turns out I am a shit dancer, so... we kind of continued to go to these classes. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to let someone else lead.” He grumbled, but there was no real bite or annoyance present in his voice.
“Oh? So Hirota leads?” Kirishima asked, a small smile forming on his face. “Sometimes. He doesn’t normally lead, but I kind of had to learn to follow. So yeah, most of the time he does.” Then again, maybe it wasn’t so surprising after all that Hirota would lead. Kirishima had already found out that he was the… bigger on in their relationship. The thought made his face flame up. Bakugou noticed. “You okay?”
“What? Oh-yeah, no I’m fine. I uhm just... uhh...” he was never good at lying, especially to Bakugou, so he decided to just tell him the truth instead of coming up with some stupid excuse. “I just... overheard something a few days ago... with you and Hirota... uhm, well you were in your room and it kind of sounded like you were...” Don’t be a coward, Eijiro. “Measuring... your... dicks...”
… There was no answer for a while, but at least Kirishima wasn’t the only one with a red face now. “The fuck, dipshit! The hell is wrong with you? We were talking about biceps, you idiot! Jesus... dick messehehihi” His voice broke into a disbelieving giggle, before they were both full on laughing together, leaning on each other for support. That made a lot more sense. “H-hey, how am I supposed to know! I’m not gonna judge what you do with your boyfriend!” Kirishima chuckled as he finally caught his breath enough go stoop wheezing and was able to stand straight again. His side was hurting from laughing so hard.
“H-huh? What boyfriend?” The blonde asked, his lips still stretched in a smile. He looked really pretty like that, but that didn’t help Kirishima’s confusion in any way. “Hirota...? I thought you two were like... a couple. That's what we've been talking about, haven't we? You not telling me about your relationship? I mean I started figuring it out on my own because you’ve been spending almost every day together and lunch breaks. He stays at your room late at night and you go dancing together. And you call him by his first name!”
You could see the exact moment, when Bakugou caught up to his thought process and his mouth formed a silent ‘oh’. “Yeah, you see my point, don’t you?... But then your behaviour isn’t excusable. I am your best friend, Bakugou, and it was not cool of you to just ditch me. I would have understood if you were in love or some shit, but you aren’t.” Kirishima felt himself getting upset again. It wasn’t cool that Bakugou had ignored him because he thought he had a boyfriend, but knowing that there wasn’t anything between them made it even worse. If Bakugou didn’t want him as a friend anymore or his best friend he should have just said so, instead of being all mysterious.
The blonde groaned next to him, pressing his fists into his eyes, before looking at him with that face that said he had it. “I am in love or some shit, you idiot. That’s why Yuri and I started talking in the first place!” He almost screamed at him and in the glow of the streetlight his eyes were shining like stars. Kirishima didn’t follow anymore, didn’t understand what Bakugou was talking about. He had a boyfriend, then he hadn’t, but he was still in love. It was way too much to work through, so he just waited for Bakugou to do the work for once and talk to him. So he gave him a questioning look.
The blonde sighed. “When I went to the workshop, I had to stay there for a while, since Yur- Hirota had to take measurements and stuff. And of course, he started doing senseless small talk with me about things I didn’t ask about. I didn’t listen for the most part, but then the expo came up and the dance thing and he asked me if I was taking someone. And for some reason I looked interested and he told me about him being scared to ask someone out and I thought he was talking about you, because he was going on and on about some guy with sharp teeth and a bright smile who was called Kirishima and I got jealous. Then he bribed me to go to the dance classes with him and since I didn’t want to look stupid at the expo next to you, I practised with him almost daily. And we went sparing a few times, so that’s on me, but the rest I did because... I am in love or whatever.”
His whole face was burning red and he wasn’t looking at Kirishima anymore. Kirishima’s face on the other hand was completely blank, his brain still not rebooted to process the information. “Huh? I don’t... get it. What does all of this have to do with me? Does Hirota like me? But we barely know each other. And why where you jealous? I don’t understand.” He looked like a helpless puppy, his eyes flicking from one stressed red eye to another. Nothing made sense anymore.
“ God , Eijiro! You’re so dense sometimes.” The blonde laughed almost, exhausted from talking about his feelings for so long. He wasn’t used to being this open and vulnerable. Kirishima’s ears turned rosy and he couldn’t help but like the way his name sounded from Bakugou’s lips. “He wasn’t talking about Kirishima Eijiro. He wasn’t talking about you, but about Kirishima Asuka . And I thought that he meant you and I got pissed, because I wanted to ask you to go with me. And you already knew how to dance and I wanted to be romantic and ask you out then, but well, that’s fucking ruined now.
So, fucking listen up, Shitty hair. I’m kind of in love with you! And I want you to be my plus one for the expo.”
Kirishima’s cheeks suddenly felt very warm as he started to understand what Bakugou was talking about. What he was telling him and he kind of felt stupid, too. But mostly he just felt giddy and happy and overwhelmed and he didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he did the only logical thing that came to his mind and that was to crush Bakugou with a big hug, as small tears streaked down his face. “I’m kind of in love with you, too And I’d love to go with you.”
Bakugou’s hands hesitated for a moment, but then slung around his neck, holding him impossibly close. “Good. Now kiss me, you idiot.” And he did so gladly, cupping his cheek and tilting his head slightly, to let their lips finally touch. It was like fireworks in his stomach and his lips felt so soft as he had thought. It was wonderful. Absolutely perfect, how he had imagined it would be.
“OI LOVEBIRDS! Hurry up or we’ll be late!” Jirou suddenly shouted from further away, and Bakugou broke from the kiss to shout back at her. He got a tongue and a middle finger from Hirota as an answer. Kirishima couldn’t help but laugh. “I think you’re not a great influence on him.” He smiled at Katsuki and that earned him a punch in his arm. “Shut up, Shitty hair! But he’s right, let’s hurry a bit.” “Hey, I thought you liked my cherry hair!” Kirishima called to him as they ran towards the other two, who the redhead had kind of forgotten were also there. “Where did you - That stupid Pikachu!” Bakugou cursed, his blush now traveling over his neck and ears. Kirishima had to smile at that, grabbing Katsuki’s hand to kiss it. “You’re cute when you blush, Katsuki.” He chuckled and the blonde only retorted with a meek ‘shut up’.
They finally caught up to the others, who were both grinning at them. Hirota side stepped them to strangle Katsuki with a hug, praising him for getting his shit together.
The pleased, playful smirk on Hirota’s face reminded him of something though that had caught his attention before. “Oh yeah, Hirota-” “-Just call me Yuri. Everyone does.” He interrupted, his attention fully on Kirishima while he held a shouting Bakugou in a headlock. “Right, Yuri. I was wondering how you know my brother. Katsuki mentioned that you like him or something. I’m just curious cause he’s like four years older than us.”
His cheeks turned crimson in record time and the redhead feared his head was going to overheat. His eyes went wide and poor Katsuki’s head was suddenly attacked by knuckles. “Oi, I told you that in confidence, you little shit.” And Bakugou, even though he was struggling to get out of the hold, couldn’t stop his cackling. “That’s long ass story! I’ll tell you later, Eijiro!” And only a second after he said that he was sprinting away from Hirota, who was following him. “No, you won’t! Come back here.”
He definitely had a lot of energy.
The expression on Kirishima’s face was soft and loving as he watched his finally boyfriend get chased around. Jirou hooked her arm with his next to him. “Now, aren’t you glad you came here with me?” She smiled up at him with a hint of mischief in her eyes. Even for Kirishima it wasn’t hard to guess that she was more involved with this than he had originally thought. “We were really lucky Yuri still had tickets left.”
And yeah, they were lucky.