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Everyone had noticed Kaminari had changed. He was still Denki, but…he was angrier during sparring. He never showed any affection to Shinso besides the bare minimum you would expect from people dating. Not that Shinso was any better but they expected that from him. It lasted a week.Then one day, he was completely different.
Kaminari had come into class quietly, with a deep scowl more fit for Bakugo. He didn’t speak to anyone during break, and didn’t even talk to Shinso, let alone be all over him like most of the time. When the usually kind and carefree boy snapped at Mina about her eyes, something everyone, including him, knew she was insecure about, during lunch, they left him alone for the rest of day. After that he simply laid his head down and stayed quiet the rest of the day. No one knew what to do so they just left him alone. Bakugo, however, couldn’t stand it, and deep down, he cared for the boy, felt things he didn’t for others, and went to confront the other blond.
Katsuki stomped up to Denki’s door, and started hitting it. “Open the fucking door, pikachu.” He wouldn’t stop until Kaminari came and opened the door.
“What’s up, man? I thought you went to bed like two hours ago?” Denki opened the door quickly, with a smile that became confused as he realized it was almost 10:30. “You usually aren’t up by now.” Katsuki just shoved past Denki into the room. ‘Rude. But that’s Katsuki.’ He thought to himself. “Well, come on in, I guess?” Katsuki glared at him and Denki quieted down. Unusual, since Denki took any chance to rile him up, no matter the time.
“What the hell is wrong with you, you’ve been fucking weird all week, and don’t think i’m gonna forget what you said to Pinky.” Katsuki barked as Denki opened his mouth. He may care about the boy more than others, but he cares about the other people in that group of his, too.
Denki closed his mouth quickly. He glanced away for a moment but looked back at the angry blond. ‘If I say anything, he won’t really care, will he?’ It hurt to think. He threw the thought away quickly. Denki looked away again before speaking “It really is nothing-” He started.
“Bullshit.” Katsuki cut in, stopping Denki. “You’ve been avoiding even hugging your boyfriend,” He spat the word with anger, “for the past week. And you’re fucking sloppy during spars. Rather than actually fight, you’re just trying to hit something. And that shit you pulled at lunch? It stops now. Whatever the hell it is.”
Denki sighed before dropping to sit on his bed. He looked tired. And sad. More than he had just a moment ago. It was heartbreaking for Katsuki, his previous anger forgotten for a moment, even if he said nothing, to see the usually happy, airheaded boy seem so…empty. Denki rubbed his hands over his face before dropping them and looking at the other boy with an empty smile. “I really do need to apologize to Mina, you have no idea how much I regret that. But I told you, it’s nothing.” Katsuki, for once, was quiet.
Denki continued, unable to stop once he starts. “Plus it’s not like it’s a big deal or anything, you know? And it’s stupid and it’s nothing and I don’t care about it anymore, so you shouldn’t either, like you would anyway.” At this point, Katsuki could see the tears slowly falling down Denki’s face, and it hurt. “A-and I should forget about it. It doesn’t m-matter anymore and I n-need to-to just forget I w-was stupid enough to believe it when h-he said it would never go any f-farther and t-that he was sorry…and then…then…” Denki had dissolved into quiet sobs by the end.
Katsuki stood quietly through it all, sifting through the information Denki gave him, before abruptly tensing up. There was a lot to unpack from what little the electric boy said, but one thing Katsuki could focus on was a familiar emotion. Anger. “What do you mean ‘he said it would never go any farther.’?” Denki stilled, before realizing what he said, and it seemed he hadn’t meant to.
“It-it’s nothing, really. Don’t worry about it, i-in fact forget I said anything at all-” Denki rushed out, before quieting down from the glare Katsuki shot at him. It was quiet in the dorm room for a while, besides the shaky breaths and sniffing from Denki. “A week ago,” Denki started softly, ‘At the very least, he won’t go running off and tell people I’m bad at being a boyfriend.’ He thought to himself. “A week ago, I was at the mall, you remember? A-and…I went to bathroom a-and when I finished…I saw Hito- Shinso at the cafe…b-but he was with Jiro.” His voice shook. From anger, or sadness, or both, maybe. “Which i-isn’t bad, but…they…they s-started kissing a-and they left and they w-were holding hands and s-she knows he and I were…s-so I told him I saw them a-and he said it was j-just once, and he wouldn’t do i-it again, made me p-promise to kiss him m-more so he wouldn’t, b-but then…t-then…”
Denki had slowly fallen to tears again. Katsuki was almost glad, because the pure, hot anger flowing through his body made it hard to hear anything but his own racing heartbeat. The sight of the tears falling and the empty look in Denki’s eyes was devastating to him, however. He knew that they weren’t done, implications of something even more. Something worse. Before Katsuki could do or say anything, Denki continued.
“Last night…” His voice was steady now, despite the tears still falling. “I went to his room. He was with Jiro, and they…” Denki closed his eyes and seemed to shrink into himself. “I wouldn’t give it up…so he found someone who would.” He finally seemed to run out of tears. And Katsuki broke.
Katsuki’s head was spinning. Shinso cheated. Shinso cheated on Kaminari. With Jiro. He crossed the room before he even realized. And before he could second-guess, pulled Kaminari up against him in a tight hug. Katsuki’s face was flushed completely red, yet didn’t let go, even as he lowered to sit next to the electric user.
Katsuki took a deep breath before starting to talk. “Listen to me. I’m only gonna say this once. That fucker can burn. You do not need to give jack shit if you don’t want to. Your feelings matter. And anyone stupid enough to think otherwise doesn’t deserve you. You are charming, cute, funny, brave, caring, and strong as fuck. You don’t need anyone who won’t treat you with the respect you deserve.” Katsuki pulled Kaminari up so they were standing face to face. “If someone does not give that to you, demand it.” He finishes.
It was quiet for a while. Slowly, Denki smiled. Small but there, but there was a question in his mind. One he didn’t know what answer he wanted was. “You know Bakugo,” He started quietly, “That makes it sound like you have a crush on me.”
Katsuki freezes, and his face is so red it starts crawling down to his chest, and looks away quickly. Denki kept smiling but his brows furrowed and his heart started racing. Then his eyes widened. ‘Oh. Oh my gosh. Really?’ He thought with no small amount of hope. “Bakugo?” He called softly. Katsuki just glanced at him, before looking away again. The blush on his face and neck starts reaching to the tips of his ears.
Closing his eyes, Katsuki started talking. “Yeah, I do. Like I said, you’re cute, funny, strong, and even more shit than that, and I really fucking like you. Have for a while, really.” He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. “I know you probably don’t want to hear that, especially after all that, though.” Though he was hiding it, Denki could see the way his shoulders shook.
Denki couldn’t help it. He started crying again. Started crying but it turned into laughing. He wrapped himself around the other boy, and wouldn’t let go. “Bakugo, you have no idea how long I have had a crush on you. I thought you were so out of my league, and I thought dating Shinso would help when he asked me out, but it turns out he was just a cheater.” Denki had never felt anything for Shinso other than friendship, but it still hurt to know that Shinso would still cheat.
Katsuki was quiet but hugged the electric boy tighter as he finished speaking. He was so incredibly happy when Denki said he felt the same. Quietly, he started to laugh too. Denki, however, quickly pulled his head away, keeping his arms around the other but looking at his face instead.
“Woah…” Denki breathed out. “You should laugh more.” He stated, rather bluntly, with stars in his eyes. However, he blushed when he realized what that sounded like. “You know, cause no one ever hears you laugh, and it’s really nice.” He looked down in embarrassment. ‘Great job, you made it weird.’ He looked up when he heard Katsuki laughing again, though he was trying to hide it this time.
“I said you were funny, didn’t I? I don’t lie.” Katsuki said, once he had gotten himself together. “Guess if you wanna hear me laugh, you gotta stay around me.” He said, but glanced away at the end. It was more than just a joke.
Denki caught it and his face turned a little pink. “Guess I do. Someone’s gotta make you laugh sometimes.” Denki smiled. He really wanted that.
Katsuki beamed. Or at least his version of it. He knew they had to talk about a lot of things. Get things figured out, but for now, that could wait. Right now they were happy together and Katsuki could stay right here forever. But he wanted to ask one more question. “Can I- you know, is it okay…if I kiss you?”
Denki turned from pink to tomato red in a second. He was touched that the taller boy asked. And he really wanted to kiss Bakugo Katsuki. “Yes! I mean- yeah, that- yeah, it’s okay.” Denki stuttered out.
Finally, they kissed for the first time. And it was everything Denki imagined and nothing at all at the same time. Katsuki’s lips were smooth, and he smelled like burnt sugar and his mouth was sweet and spicy and hot and it left Denki absolutely dizzy. Katsuki was in a very similar state, the sweetness, the saltiness from the tears before, the slight smell of ozone, and slight static against his lips left him feeling like he was in a lightning storm and he never wanted it to stop.
The need for air meant they eventually had to pull away, however. Heads bent together, and breath mixing, they stood together for a moment. Yes, there was a lot they needed to talk about. Things needed to be talked out, and Shinso needed to be dealt with, but for now, this was okay. Inside this room, until morning, they could just be happy.