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The first thing Kaminari sees when he walks through the front door is Kirishima pacing back and forth in the living room. His hands are tangled in his hair and his eyes are bloodshot—obviously from how much he'd been crying.
He didn't even realize Kaminari had walked through the door until the blond walked over to place his hand on his friend's shoulder, to which he flinched. "Kiri?"
The second Kirishima's eyes met Kaminari's, he crumbled. He collapsed onto the couch and buried his face in his hands. "Kirishima, hey. It's alright, you're alright. I need you to breathe for me; you're hyperventilating. I don't want you to pass out."
Kirishima looked up at Kaminari with such a pained expression that Kaminari could feel it deep in his bones. Kirishima tried to get his breathing back on track, but whatever happened was clouding his mind completely — it was all he could think about.
"Here," Kaminari grabs Kirishima's hand and places it on his chest, "follow my breathing. In and out; good, just like that, Kiri."
After a few minutes of getting Kirishima stable, he finally calmed down to the point where he could talk. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
"It's stupid," Kirishima laughs bitterly. Kaminari shakes his head, "I guarantee that whatever's bugging you, it's not stupid. Now spill, you know I won't judge you."
Kirishima wipes his tears, "Bakugou and I got into an argument — a big one. I g-got jealous over something dumb, and I took it out on him. He won't answer my texts or calls — Denki, he hates me," Kirishima stops. Kaminari runs a hand through Kirishima's hair, "nuh-uh, none of that. Bakugou doesn't hate you, he loves you more than anything. Bakugou can be reckless, you know that better than anyone."
Kirishima nods.
"He's probably taking time to himself so that he doesn't escalate whatever's going on."
Kirishima ducks his head, "Denki, he was pissed — he was hurt. I could see it on his face; I can still see it," he cries.
Kaminari frowns and pulls his friend in for a hug, "I don't know the entirety of the situation, so I don't think it's right for me to have a say on who's in the right or wrong. But what I can say is that you need to talk to him. You two have been together since our first year, we're graduating soon."
"I love him so much."
"I know you do. And I would hate it for both of you if something like this destroyed your relationship. You two never argue; you have a healthy relationship. But no couple is perfect, they all argue. But communication is key, so talk to him. Hear him out first, and get an idea of what he's feeling. And then you talk, you tell him where you were coming from. Be honest about it, okay?"
Kirishima nods, "Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me, you're my best friend. And you know that if things go south, you can come and vent to me, or Mina, or Sero about it, right?"
"I know."
"Good," Kaminari smiles. He runs his thumbs over Kirishima's cheeks to wipe his tears away, "I have to go study for the test this Wednesday, come get me if you need me, alright?"
"I will."
Later that night, Bakugou comes home from the gym covered in sweat. He uses that as an outlet for his anger — because anyone that's fallen victim to his rage knows it's not fun.
He makes his way up to his room, and when he opens the door, he's met with Kirishima sitting on his bed. Bakugou sighs, he's been crying. He doesn't say anything, he only walks in to drop his gym bag down on the floor. He goes to his dresser and pulls out a pair of sweatpants, "Let me shower, then we'll talk," he says without looking at Kirishima.
Kirishima's heart burns. When Bakugou closes the bathroom door, Kirishima feels his heart start to race. He knows Kaminari would help calm him down, but he was strong. He could do it on his own. His relationship was on the line here, and he didn't want to dig himself into a deeper hole than what he was already in.
Thankfully, Bakugou doesn't take very long showers. So when he hears the door unlock after about ten minutes, a wave of anxiety washes over him.
Bakugou opens the door and leans against the doorway with his arms crossed over each other. He's staring at Kirishima with an expression the other can't seem to read. He hates it.
Kirishima stands up and walks over to Bakugou. "I'm so sorry, Katsuki. I really am."
Bakugou nods. Kirishima wants to cry again. "I was so fucking stupid for yelling at you like that. It was uncalled for. I invalidated your feelings, and I don't know if I'll be able to forgive myself for it. And I wouldn't imagine you'd be able to either. And I completely understand if you don't, but—"
"Ei, you're rambling."
He called me Ei.
"I forgive you, okay? But, you acted out of fuckin' emotion. That's where you went wrong," Bakugou runs a hand through Kirishima's hair. It brings him back to when Kaminari was comforting him earlier. "But I fucked up too. I ran away instead of talking things out with you like we usually do, that's where I messed up. So neither one of us are in the right. Don't pin this all on yourself like I know you're doing."
Kirishima nods. He hesitantly wraps his arms around Bakugou's waist, and when his boyfriend showed no sign of discomfort, he hugged him tighter. "I love you, and I hate when we fight. It makes me feel sick."
"Yeah, me too. It takes me back to how fuckin' stupid we were when we got together."
Kirishima looks at Bakugou with the sweetest eyes, and the blond pushes him away teasingly, "I love you too, dumbass."
two.
"You're acting like a selfish fuckin' brat, Eijirou."
"Selfish? Selfish! After everything I've done for you, after everything I've given you — I'm fucking selfish, Katsuki?"
"Ei, you're not — you're not listening to what I'm saying," Bakugou grips his arm, stopping him from leaving Bakugou's bedroom.
"I've listened to enough, Katsuki!"
"Eijirou shut the fuck up and listen to me!"
Kirishima scoffs, pulling his arm away from his boyfriend and storming down the hallway, Bakugou following. "Eijirou!"
The elevator opens, and the sound of Kirishima and Bakugou rings through the common room.
"You're running away from your fuckin' problems again! Talk to me, god dammit!"
Kirishima ignores him as he heads for the front door. At this point, pretty much the entire dorm is well aware that they're arguing. Mina's brows furrowed, she's never seen that kind of look on Kirishima's face.
"Eijirou!"
Kirishima slams the door in Bakugou's face.
No one says a word.
"Bakugou?"
He turns around — tears threatening to drip. Kaminari stands up from his spot next to Sero and ushers Bakugou back upstairs. To everyone's surprise, Bakugou complies.
When Mina's sure they're gone, she asks, "does anyone know what that's about?"
No one knows.
Kaminari pulls Bakugou into his bedroom, and Bakugou slams the door shut, causing Kaminari to flinch. "Do you want to talk about it, or do you want space?"
Bakugou slams his fist against the wall as he covers his face with the palm of his hand. "I don't fuckin' know, Sparky. I just want him to talk to me."
Bakugou pulls away from the wall and goes to sit on his bed. "We were having a peaceful fuckin' discussion, didn't like what I said so he made a god damn issue about it, so I called him selfish."
Kaminari sits next to Bakugou, "Can I touch you?"
Bakugou scoffs, "I don't fuckin' care."
Kaminari runs his hand over Bakugou's back — Kaminari's a little taken back when Bakugou sinks into the touch. "He's gonna go and do something fuckin' stupid and get his ass in trouble. He left his phone, so I can't call or text him."
Kaminari nods, "I trust Kirishima enough to not pull something crazy. He's irrational, yeah, but he wouldn't put his future on the line. He probably went for a walk, or to the gym. He just needs some space."
"Tch."
They sit and silence until Kaminari speaks up. "Can I ask you something, Bakugou? And you don't have to answer if you don't want to."
Bakugou shrugs, refusing to look Kaminari in the eye. He knows he's fighting off tears. "You and Kirishima are having relationship problems, aren't you?"
"Not like it fuckin' matters."
"Bakugou, what's going on between the two of you?"
Bakugou doesn't answer right away. Instead, he wipes his tears away. "It's complicated — and I don't think it's right to talk about it if dimwit's not here."
Kaminari nods, "That's understandable. I won't push an answer out of you guys, but if you're struggling with your relationship, talking to someone about it helps."
"Yeah, I fuckin' know."
Kaminari swallows the lump in his throat, "Just promise me that you guys will get help. You two are too cute to end things."
"Yeah, whatever."
Kirishima comes home that night with takeout for him and Bakugou. It's pretty late, so he wouldn't be surprised if Bakugou was already asleep. If he is, he'll leave it in the fridge.
Kirishima knocks on Bakugou's bedroom door, and almost instantly the door swings open, and a pair of arms wraps around him. "I love you, I love you, I love you. So much, so fuckin' much, Ei."
He can feel a wet spot forming on the collar of his shirt, but he can't bring himself to care. "Hey, it's okay, Kats. I brought you some food. Let's eat and talk about it, alright?"
Bakugou nods, he's hiding his face from Kirishima — he knows how much Bakugou hates being vulnerable. Bakugou sits on his bed, and Kirishima gives him his box of food. He, on the other hand, sits at Bakugou's desk to eat.
They sit in silence for a bit, aside from the sound of chewing.
Bakugou speaks up first. "We.. need to talk to him about it."
Kirishima places his fork down, "Do you want to?"
Bakugou sniffles, "It's fuckin' our relationship up, Ei. I don't care if he reacts badly, I just want us to get better."
Kirishima's heart burns, "Yeah, okay. We'll talk to him sometime tomorrow."
Bakugou nods. "I'm sorry, Eijirou."
Kirishima swallows his food. "It's okay, babe, I promise. I wasn't hearing you out, I'm sorry for that. We both fucked up, but we're recognizing that, and trying to get better. That's what matters, okay?"
Bakugou huffs, "okay."
+ one.
Kaminari was watching some true crime show on his laptop when he got a text from someone.
— kiriiiii
come to my room for something rq
it's nothing bad but it's kind of urgent
— me
yeah ok, i'm omw
Kaminari shuts his laptop and sets it on his desk as he walks out of his room. He wonders what's going on — questions are racing through his mind. He reaches Kirishima's room and knocks on the door.
Bakugou's the one who opens the door, and Kirishima's sitting nervously on his bed. Kaminari sees him fiddling with his fingers, which is a nervous habit he picked up last year.
He walks in and Bakugou shuts the door behind him. He pulls his desk chair over to his bed and motions for Kaminari to sit. Kaminari complies, and Bakugou sits on the bed next to Kirishima, his hand on the redhead's knee to try and soothe his nerves.
"What's going on?"
Kirishima looks at Bakugou — Bakugou nods. "You're the reason we've been having relationship problems."
Kaminari's taken aback by his straightforwardness. "Kats!"
Kaminari can't help the giggle that leaves his lips when Kirishima smacks Bakugou's arm. "He's — he's not necessarily wrong, Denks. We, uhm, we've been talking about this, and..."
"We both like you."
Kirishima sighs, "Yeah, that."
Oh, oh. "You—you like me?"
They nod simultaneously. Kirishima swallows, "We have for a while now, actually. And the reason we've been arguing so much lately is that we've been trying to sort out our feelings for you. It's been a little messy, as you know. But we've finally established the root of the problems."
Kaminari's heart is racing. They like him — Kirishima and Bakugou have feelings for him.
"If you need to take time to yourself to think or whatever, you can. We won't be mad. And don't feel bad if you don't like us back — because I know your ass would try and force feelings to make us happy. We don't want you if you don't wanna be with us."
Kirishima smiles awkwardly at how blunt Bakugou is.
Kaminari shakes his head, "I've actually... liked you both too," they both gawk at him with wide eyes. They're so cute.
Kaminari smiles, "Yeah, I think that's the reason I've been so drawn to helping and comforting the both of you."
"Wow—uhm," Kirishima's cheeks are pink. "So does this mean we can date now?" Kaminari asks, "I've been dying to kiss you guys for a while now."
"As long as you brushed your teeth."
Kaminari scoffs, "Yes I brushed my teeth today."
"Don't worry, he's like that with me too. He's a bit of a germaphobe, you get used to it, though."
"I am not!"
Kaminari giggles.
Boyfriends.
He can't wait to tell Mina all about this.