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“Bakugo’s staring at you again,” Todoroki supplies helpfully, slurping up more of his soba. The two of you are eating lunch at your usual table in the cafeteria. It takes a moment for you to process Todoroki’s statement, but when you do, you grimace. You turn to look over your shoulder and, sure enough, Bakugo is glaring at you from across the cafeteria. You exhale slowly.
“Damn, he must really hate me,” you eventually remark. You can feel the heat of his intense stare burning into your skin. You duck your head and continue eating, pretending not to notice him.
“Yes…” Todoroki breaks off, looking contemplative. There’s suddenly a flicker of knowledge on his face, as if he is just coming to a realization. He evidently realizes you’re staring and he shakes his head at you. “Let’s go.” The two of you finish up lunch and head back to the classroom.
After that, you don’t see too much of Shoto. Class is rather busy, and Aizawa has you all practice your signature moves in the training gym. You don’t reconvene with Todoroki until later in the day, when the two of you are seated at the dinner table in the common room. Thankfully, there’s no one around to hear you. Otherwise, you’re certain they’d be balking at what Todoroki says next.
“Bakugo asked if we were dating,” Todoroki states out of nowhere. You blink once, twice. It takes you several moments to comprehend what your friend just said. “The two of us.”
“Seriously?” you ask, eyes widening. There’s an ugly feeling settling in your chest but you try to pretend that it doesn’t exist. Bakugo would only ask if... “He’s got the hots for you, I guess.”
At that, Todoroki lets out the most strangled sound you’ve ever heard. It sounds like a groan, sigh, and snarl all at once. You raise an amused eyebrow and he blinks at you in disbelief.
“What?” you grimace, feeling incredibly self-conscious all of a sudden. Your friend shakes his head, a plethora of emotions dancing in his eyes. He looks to be amused, exasperated, and annoyed all at the same time.
“Never mind,” Todoroki shakes his head. You’re tempted to ask Todoroki what you’re missing, but he doesn’t seem to want to talk about it. You push the strange instance to the back of your mind, as your friends begin to file into the room and you all eat dinner.
It isn’t until a few days later that you start to realize what’s going on. When you finally come to the realization, you’re sparring with Bakugo. The two of you are pretty evenly matched, to your surprise. Unfortunately, the moment you start thinking that, he pulls a fast one on you and sweeps a leg underneath your feet. You fall to the ground and, before you can get back up, Bakugo is pinning you down to the ground. His hands are tight on your wrists and the sharp planes of his body dig into yours. For a moment, the only thing that can be heard is your heavy breathing.
“Nice one,” you remark breathlessly. Bakugo blinks down at you. To your confusion, he doesn't immediately move to get up. Instead, he only... stares. It’s incredibly unnerving. You’re certain this is the most interaction you’ve had with him. There’s nothing but silence, and it feels intensely awkward.
Quick as a flash, Bakugo jumps away from you and walks away. For a moment, you lie on the ground and stare up at the sky in disbelief. Todoroki enters your vision and looks down at you, before extending a hand. You take it gratefully and he helps you up. You swear you hear a low snarl the moment you take his hand, but you dismiss the thought.
“What was that?” Todoroki is quick to ask, once the two of you are standing again. You sigh and shake your head in disbelief.
“I don’t even know,” you admit, pinching the bridge of your nose. You feel Todoroki’s sarcastic smile before you see it. You quickly feel the need to take revenge. “And, hey, it’s bold of you to talk. What was going on with you and Midoriya over there, hm?”
This time, it’s Todoroki’s turn to be flustered. His cheeks flush pink and you see the briefest flicker of flames on his skin. Todoroki shakes his head, muttering something about smiles and sunshine.
“We’re a mess, aren’t we?” you acquiesce, crossing your arms over your chest. Todoroki nods in agreement. The two of you stand there for a while, lost in thought, before Aizawa yells at you. You look back at Todoroki and sigh. “Well, I don’t have a sparring partner anymore, so—” you try to say, only to be immediately interrupted.
“What’d you say, dumbass?” You turn around, only to find Bakugo glaring at you. “I’m right here.” You blink in amazement. You swear he walked away a few minutes ago.
“Oh, shit,” you remark. You turn to Todoroki. His lips quirk up at the corners, which is the equivalent to a shit-eating grin for him. You roll your eyes and shoo him away. “Well, you can go back to your boyfriend, Shoto.”
Todoroki promptly bursts into flames. Midoriya can be seen running over to him, gesturing in panic. Your friend shakes his head and takes a deep breath, calming his Quirk down. Todoroki’s glare is deadly, and he stares at you with a malicious gleam in his eyes. You hardly have to wonder what that means before you find out.
“Okay,” Todoroki says, a fake smile on his face. Dread coils in your chest at the mischief that lingers in his expression. You don’t get the chance to regret what you just said before he swiftly exacts revenge. “I’ll leave you to your boyfriend, too, then.”
This time, Bakugo’s the one to explode. His palms spark and there’s a furious expression on his face. Upon closer inspection, however, his cheeks look to be flushed. You let out a loud sigh and look up to the sky, contemplating your life choices. Thankfully, you don’t have to do that for very long, because Aizawa is soon announcing the start of the second round of sparring.
It only takes you a few moments of sparring to notice that Bakugo almost seems discombobulated. If you were anyone else, you’d say he seems flustered. You value your life, however, so you don’t bother to make that association. Moments later, however, you do find yourself pinning him to the ground in a way quite reminiscent of how he threw you. Bakugo is writhing and thrashing viciously, but you manage to keep your hold. Aizawa calls for the end of the exercise and you let out a satisfied sigh, leaning back to give Bakugo room to get up.
You’re not expecting to be yanked forward into Bakugo, and you’re sure as hell not expecting him to kiss you either. His hands are digging into your shirt collar—you swear you smell smoke—and you find yourself reciprocating. You bring your hands up to caress his cheeks and his hands snake down your skin—
Suddenly, there’s a hand on the back of your shirt that yanks you up and into a standing position. You look behind you, only to balk at the sight of Aizawa’s murderous glare. For a long moment, you stare at him in silence. Eventually, he speaks.
“Two page essay on public displays of affection, due tomorrow morning,” Aizawa orders. It takes you a moment to process that statement. Once you do, you turn to look at Bakugo, who has an irritated expression on his face. The two of you both groan in unison.
Secretly, though, you think it was worth it.