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It was February the 13th and for Kirishima Eijirou, life was good. Perfect even. He was a third year at his dream school and on the brink of becoming a hero. He was definitely not freaking out.
Definitely.
He stared at his switch. He could just play Animal Crossing a little bit before bed. Not that he needed the distraction. He was totes fine. Totes. There was certainly no need to do anything else. After all, he’d already showered. And wrapped up the chocolate. And ironed his uniform. (And then his second one because he'd accidentally scorched the collar of the first.) And practiced the words he was going to…
Yeah. He’d just play a little—
There was a familiar knock before the door opened.
“I need your help,” Bakugou said, in lieu of a greeting. The not-greeting was pretty standard.
The word help on the other hand—
Kiri wasn’t sure if he should be worried or flattered, but this wasn’t the time to analyze. Bakugou needed help! He put on his most reassuring smile and patted the spot next to him on the bed. “Sure, man! What’s up?”
Bakugou paused for a second before sitting. Even then, he seemed hesitant, biting his lip and staring down at his hands. “I need your help,” he repeated.
“Okay. With what?”
“With—” Bakugou paused, his face all tense and painful-looking “—with confessing.”
“Oh,” Kiri said.
Oh, his heart echoed.
“Like, love-type confessing? Or like—”
Bakugou snorted. “Yes, Shitty Hair. The stupid love kind.”
Right. Of course.
Of course, if Bakugou needed help confessing, then that meant the confessee…
Well, it meant it wasn’t him.
Which.
It was fine. It was absolutely fine.
And even if it wasn’t, Bakugou was talking again. Bakugou, who he loved. Bakugou, who needed his help.
“The thing is,” he was saying. “I don’t really like Valentines’ Day. Never have. But the person I—well—I’m pretty sure they do. I don’t want’em to feel left out.”
“Maybe just explain what you’re feeling, then,” Kiri offered, not looking heartbroken in the slightest. Nope. Not at all. “Is there a reason you don’t like Valentines’ Day?”
Bakugou shrugged. “It just feels too commercial, ya know? When I see people post things on socials about their boyfriends or girlfriends or whatever, it just looks…fake. Obligatory. If I wanna do something or say something to someone, I want them to know I’m doing it because I mean it, not because of some stupid holiday. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah. Totally. That’s really manly, Bakugou!” And it was. It really was.
Keep smiling, Kiri, you can do this.
“Really?” Bakugou looked relieved. “So…you think if I skip the whole chocolate and flowers thing, they won’t be upset?”
“No way, man. Not if you explain it.”
“Okay,” Bakugou paused and took a breath. “Well. I just did.”
“Yeah, I know!” Kiri put on his brightest smile for him.
But Bakugou just looked back at him with a serious expression. “I'm saying I just did.”
“Yeah, I know?”
“Ugh,” Bakugou was pulling at his hair now. “This is never gonna work. I’m so bad with words.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Kiri said, putting his hands on Bakugou’s shoulders. “Even if talking fails, your actions always shine through. I mean, that’s how I’ve always known you cared.”
“You think?”
“Definitely.”
“Actions, huh,” Bakugou said. And then hugged him.
He was being hugged. By the man of his dreams. Who was almost definitely about to confess to someone else.
“Hugs are an action, right?” Bakugou said, his words muffled against Kiri’s shoulder.
“They're a wonderful action, Bakugou.”
“Alright. Well. I’m hugging you.”
“Yeah. I know,” Kiri said.
Bakugou pulled away. “I hugged you.”
“Yeah,” Kiri repeated. “I know.”
“Oh, for fucks sake, do I really need to spell it out? Please tell me you understand.”
“Of course I do!” Kiri tried his best to look earnest. As bad as he felt for himself, he almost felt worse for Bakugou. Since when had the guy needed this much reassurance?
“Then…is this your way of accepting?” Bakugou asked, his voice small and soft. “Do you accept me?”
“Bakugou! You’re my favorite person in the whole world. Of course I accept you.”
“Really?”
“Really,” he said. “You and your hugs are always acceptable to me.”
Bakugou snorted. “You’re such a dork,” he said, pushing Kiri off the bed before turning shy again. “So. You like hugs. But…how do you feel about kissing?”
Well. That was an unexpected question. Still, he wasn’t about to leave his bro hanging, especially after he’d been so open and vulnerable.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly, climbing back up to sit next to Bakugou. “I’ve actually never done it before.”
“Do you want to?”
“Well, yeah, of course! But…I’m pretty sure that’s not gonna happen for a while.”
“I mean. It wouldn’t have to be a while.”
“Well. sure,” Kirishima smiled. It was kinda sweet that Bakugou thought Kiri’d be able to score a random kiss off someone. “But, I don’t know. I don’t wanna just give up my first one like that, you know?”
“Oh,” Bakugou frowned. “Would that be moving too fast?”
“No. I mean, it’s not that. I just want it to be when the time is right.”
“Okay,” Bakugou said, his hands fidgeting in his lap. “So…what would that look like? What would make the time be right?”
Bakugou sure was inquisitive tonight! It was kind of adorable, so long as he didn’t think about the fact that his friend was likely only asking to get insight for the pursuit of someone else.
Still. Bakugou had come to him. Had trusted him. He could take a little comfort in that.
“You mean, like, what would make the perfect first kiss?”
“Yes, Shitty Hair. The fuck else would I be asking?”
“Aw, man. We’re back to Shitty Hair now? I thought we were having a moment!”
Bakugou laughed. “We were, idiot. But you'll always be Shitty Hair.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kiri smiled. “Hmm. That’s a tough one. If I had to pick though, I think I’d choose sparring.”
“Sparring?”
“Yeah! I mean, just picture it. You’re one on one, the adrenaline’s high, and suddenly one of you pins the other. So you just, like, look at eachother. And the tension’s so—well—you know! So you just go for it!”
Bakugou blushed. “Okay. Okay, yeah, that does sound nice. Really fucking specific, but nice.”
“I mean, you asked.”
“‘Course I asked! You’re the one making a big deal out of it needing to be just right.”
“Hey,” Kiri laughed. “You can’t blame a guy for dreaming!”
Bakugou shook his head, but looked at Kiri fondly all the same. “Yeah, guess not.” He looked back down at his hands. “So. Hypothetically. What if it was a no-quirks fight? Somewhere not on the school grounds. Maybe somewhere more private?”
“Yeah! That’d be amazing,” Kiri smiled.
And it would be.
Only it wouldn’t be with him.
He tried to keep smiling, tried to push it all down, but the feelings were were suddenly overwhelming. Taking over his throat and his eyes and threatening to spill over.
“Hey,” he choked. “I’m—uh—I’m actually not feeling very good all of a sudden. Think I might have ate something.” He coughed. “Maybe I just need to sleep it off.”
But instead of leaving, Bakugou looked at him with the softest expression he’d ever seen. “Is there anything I can do? Something I can get for you?”
“Nah,” Kiri said. “I’m just gonna lay down. See you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, okay,” Bakugou said, and stood. “But tell me if there’s anything you need, got it?”
Kiri saluted.
“Dork,” Bakugou snorted.
“Meanie,” Kiri grumbled, crawling under the covers.
“Yeah, yeah,” Bakugou said, pausing in the doorway. “Hey Kiri? How—uh—how’d you feel about going hiking with me after school tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Kiri smiled, hoping his heart would be able to take it. “I’d love to.”
“There’s this meadow that—well—I think it’d be a perfect spot to spar.”
“Sounds great.”
“But we’re not going because it's Valentine’s Day.”
“Of course not.”
Yeah. Of course not.
“Okay. Well. Night, Shitty Hair.”
“Night, Bakugou.”
He was just about out the door when he stopped and turned, “You know you can call me by my first name, right?”
Kiri managed a tired smile. “Only if you call me by mine.”
“Alright,” Bakugou said, his face soft again. His voice even softer. “Night, Eijirou.”
“Night, Katsuki.”
After the door closed, after he’d heard Bakugou’s footsteps in the hallway and the sound of his own door opening and shutting—only then did Kiri relax and take a shuddering breath, the tears in his eyes finally bursting free.
He laid in bed like that for maybe ten minutes. Ten minutes that felt like ten hours. He kept thinking about the chocolate he’d wrapped. The chocolate that was currently sitting under his bed. About how he no longer had anyone to give it to. And—
No. Stop it, Kiri.
It wouldn’t do any good to think like that. Or to give in to self-pity. Bakugou didn’t love him that way, but he’d been more open and loving that night than ever. They were still friends. Best friends. He’d think about that and be thankful for what he did have.
And anyway, now that he thought about it, the chocolate wouldn’t have to go to waste.
He sat back up, grabbed his phone and shot off a message to Todoroki.
[Kirishima] Hey, man. You still trying to make chocolate for midoriya tomorrow?
About thirty seconds later a reply came through. No words, just an image of a pan. And something black and smoking.
He laughed and wrote back.
[Kirishima] I might be able to help you out. Turns out I don’t need mine anymore.
[Roki] Thanks, Kirishima. But it turns out I don’t need any either.
Wait, what?
[Kirishima] What happened?
[Roki] Bakugou and Izuku are dating.
It hit him like a ton of bricks. It shouldn’t have. It really shouldn’t. He knew Bakugou liked someone. Knew he was planning on confessing. But he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. And with—
Nope. He was gonna stop that line of thinking right there. Midoriya was a sweetheart. There wasn’t a mean bone in the guy’s body. So if he made Bakugou happy, he wasn’t going to hold it against him.
Against either of them.
And yet, he couldn’t stop the flood of questions. He started and stopped typing about five different messages before he just gave up and called.
“Hi, Kirishima,” Todoroki said.
“Hey. You okay? What happened?”
“I was on my way to talk to Izuku when I heard Bakugou in his room.”
“Oh, man. That sucks. You heard him confessing, then?”
“No. I heard him shouting. He said ‘Stop crying, nerd. You can’t confess while you’re crying. Do it better, dammit!’”
“Oh.” Kiri said. “So, they aren’t dating?”
“No, they are. Izuku stopped crying and confessed again.”
“Aw, man. That must have been hard to hear. So Bakugou said yes after that?”
“No. He said Midoriya still looked like he was gonna cry and it made his face ugly and that he had to try again.”
“Hold up. Are you sure they’re actually together?”
“Yes, because then I heard shuffling and it sounded like they were fighting each other.”
“Okay…”
“And then Bakugou said ‘There. Now that you’re pissed off instead of all weepy, ask again.’ So Midoriya did. And Bakugou said, ‘There, that’ll do.’ And then they came out the door and went to the kitchen to make chocolate.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Kiri sighed. He was just gonna have to get over it. This was the way things were now. He could mope or he could move on. “Well. Do you want my chocolate then?”
“Kirishima. Are you asking me to be your valentine?”
“No,” Kiri admitted. “I just kinda don’t want it in my room anymore.”
Todoroki sighed. “I do kinda feel like eating chocolate.”
“Want some company?”
“No. But I think I need some.”
“I think I do, too. Meet you in the common room in ten?”
“Yeah, okay. See you there.”
🍬 🍬 🍬
He could hear Bakugou and Izuku arguing in the kitchen from the common room. But that was okay. That was good. He needed to hear it. He needed to get used to it.
He headed over to Todoroki who was sitting on one of the couches, hands in his lap.
“Hey,” Kiri said, handing him the box. “Wanna watch a movie or—?”
“The fuck?”
He turned around to find Bakugou glaring daggers at them. More specifically, at the box that Todoroki was already opening, grabbing one of the chocolates and stuffing it in his mouth.
“Something wrong, man?”
“I thought you were sick.”
“Oh,” Kiri said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah. I guess I got better!”
Bakugou huffed. “Did you seriously just give chocolate to Icy Hot?”
“Um. Yeah?”
“Valentine’s chocolate?”
“Um. Yeah? Why? Does it matter?”
“Does it matter?” Bakugou spluttered, his face a weird mix of confusion and frustration. It was kind of adorable. Especially in his orange apron. “Of course if fucking matters! I don’t want you giving chocolate to other guys!”
Kiri cocked his head. “Really? Why?”
“Because I’m your boyfriend?!”
Wait. What?
But before Kiri could even begin to compute, Todoroki jumped into the conversation.
“No you’re not,” he said, still munching on a chocolate. “You’re Izuku’s boyfriend. Kiri’s only giving me the chocolate because he’s sad and because I'm sad and we came here to be sad together.”
“The fuck? Kiri, did you seriously not—”
But before he could finish, Midoriya came out, wearing his own apron, hands on his hips and looking at Todoroki.
“Sho,” he said, “Did you seriously just say Kacchan was my boyfriend?”
Todoroki nodded. “I did, because it’s true. There’s no use hiding it, Izuku. I heard you confessing.”
Bakugou looked like he wasn’t sure if he was going to laugh or explode.
Midoriya looked tired.
Kiri was—
“Did you just say you’re my boyfriend?”
Todoroki crossed his arms. “Don’t engage in their cover story, Kirishima. It will only encourage them.”
Bakugou growled. “Seriously? Like hell would I ever go out with Deku.”
“Thank you, Kacchan,” Midoriya said, massaging his temple now. “Your encouragement is always a blessing. Sho, I’m not his boyfriend. He was helping me practice.”
“Practice what?” Todoroki looked unmoved. “Heartbreaking?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Bakugou said. “The nerd’s in love with you. I’m in love with Kirishima.”
Kirishima choked.
“I admire your dedication to this ruse, but—”
“It’s not a ruse,” Midoriya said, getting on his knees in front of Todoroki. “I love you.”
Todoroki choked.
“So you’re really my boyfriend?” Kirishima asked.
“Ei. I literally just confessed to you like fifteen minutes ago. In your room.”
“That was a confession?”
“You—” Bakugou was pulling at his hair now. “You said to use my actions. So I hugged you and then said hugs are an action."
"Oh."
“Yeah, oh! Is that why you were so weird about me wanting to kiss you?”
“Wait, you wanted to kiss me?”
“Oh my god,” Bakugou groaned.
“Oh my god,” Midoriya echoed. Kiri’d kind of forgotten the other two were still here, but there they were. Staring at him.
Midoriya turned back to Todoroki. “In case it needs to be clarified, I just confessed to you.”
Todoroki huffed. “I know,” he said, gesturing to Kiri. “I’m not that stupid.”
“Hey!” Kiri started to protest, but suddenly found his hand had been taken by Bakugou, who was forcefully dragging him toward the elevators.
“What the heck, man? Where are we—?”
“Your room.”
“But why?”
“I wanna spar.”
“Wait, what? Come on, we can’t do that. It’s too small. We’ll end up breaking—”
But Bakugou just pulled him close—impossibly close—so that he could feel the heat of the next words on his face.
“Kirishima. I want to spar with you. I’m going to pin you. And then we’re going to look into each other's eyes. And then—”
Kirishima’s eyes widened. “Oh, right! Sparring. Of course, dude!” He looked over at Midoriya and Todoroki. “Um. Have a good night guys!”
They watched him go. And then watched Bakugou and Kirishima not quite manage to wait until the elevator doors closed before they launched themselves at each other.
“Kirishima’s a good guy,” Todoroki said. “But he is kind of an idiot.”
Midoriya snorted. “He is a good guy. I’m glad Kacchan has him. They’re good for eachother.”
"They're not actually going to spar, are they?"
Midoriya laughed. "No. I don't think so."
Todoroki looked thoughtful. “I think they’re still going to manage to break something.”
“Yeah. Probably.”
Todoroki was quiet for a beat. Thinking. “Okay. Let’s go do the same thing.”
“I—” Midoriya choked. “I mean—yeah, okay! Let’s go!”
They left the common room hand-in-hand, Kiri’s box and the chocolate on the kitchen counter forgotten. Tomorrow Aizawa would lecture the class for not picking up after themselves. Tomorrow Kiri and Bakugou would miss out on the class festivities, in detention for reckless endangerment of school property. But that was okay.
Who needed chocolate or valentines to get their guy anyway?