Archive of Our Own ^beta

It wasn’t even any of their idea. No, it came from Monoma, of all people. Aoyama was the first to endorse it, followed by Sero and Kaminari. Ashido was quite excited about the concept, too, and once nearly all of class 1-A was on board, Monoma casually shrugged the responsibility of organizing the entire ordeal onto their shoulders.

It was sheer luck that Aizawa had been summoned away for a mission when it became clear that the party would be taking place inside 1-A’s dorm building. They’d have all night to have fun and blast music without their teacher yelling at them to keep it down.

Yaoyorozu paid for most of the expenses, getting the pumpkins and decorations and colourful LED-lights and supplies for non-alcoholic punch. She truly was a saint, working hard with Uraraka and Asui to set everything up while everyone else worked on their costumes. It wouldn’t be a Halloween party without costumes, after all.

Everyone had been invited, from class 1-B to The Big 3. All that class 1-A hoped for was to keep things under wraps without anyone snitching. Monoma was the biggest cause for concern, but given that it all was his idea, he hardly had a leg to stand on in the matter. Everyone would just point the finger at him if need be.

And so the night arrives. Midoriya gets dressed in his room, pulling on the brand new All Might costume he got from the store. It has shaded muscles to make up for what he’s lacking, and Midoriya even styled his hair to be slicked back with two front pieces sticking up. Just like his hero. Sure, it might not be that original, but it’s what he’s comfortable in. It’s what he wants to wear, and surely no one can blame him for that.

The night is young, and as Midoriya steps out of his room and makes it to the living quarters, he sees that almost no one is there yet. He’s never been to a real party, so when he sees the clock strike nine in the evening on the wall, he wonders if it’s considered normal or impolite to show up late. Some movies have people make a stylish party entrance even hours late, don’t they?

Aoyama is already in the kitchen, tastefully sipping the punch. His hair appears to have been dyed orange — Midoriya feels bad for hoping the look isn’t permanent — while a red lightning bolt decorates his face. He’s wearing a striped jumpsuit and big, red boots.

“Oh, Aoyama!” Midoriya greets politely, and the boy looks up at him from his drink. “Nice costume! Um… who are you supposed to be?”

“Obviously I’m David Bowie,” Ayoama says, nearly offended. “You don’t know him?”

“Oh, I think I’ve heard of him… Maybe.”

Aoyama laughs and Midoriya can’t quite tell if it’s meant to be mocking or not. He still smiles, and waits for the compliment to be returned. It isn’t, so he turns to the other people in the room.

Kaminari and Ojiro sit on one of the couches, deep in conversation while Kaminari pets the other boy’s tail. They’re both wearing loose, yellow jumpsuits with gas masks resting on their heads. Kaminari has a beard drawn on, and Midoriya wonders which girl’s makeup bag he got access to.

“Hey, guys!” Midoriya greets with a grin. The boys turn to him and look him up and down. “...What?”

“Isn’t that kinda predictable?” Kaminari asks. “I mean, it’s cool and all, but… it’s Halloween.”

“It’s unique!” the green-haired boy insists. Right as he’s about to ask about the other boys’ costumes, someone comes down the stairs behind them. All of them turn to look as Bakugou enters the first floor, and Midoriya freezes the second their eyes meet.

Bakugou’s blond hair is slicked back with two spikes at the front. He’s wearing a blue costume with yellow and red accents. He’s All Might.

“Oh, hell no,” Bakugou mutters and immediately marches over, to which Midoriya looks around for somewhere to hide. He cannot find a safe place, so he’s left to stand there wide-eyed as the blond gets extremely close in his personal space and spits, “Go change, nerd.”

“U— Um,” Midoriya breathes in deeply, “I think it’s cool that we match, Kacchan.”

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Kaminari chimes in, perhaps just to save him.

“Really adorable,” Aoyama joins in from the kitchen.

However, right as Bakugou is getting used to the fact that yes, maybe it’s alright after all, the front doors swing open and some people from class 1-B come in. Most notably, Monoma, who immediately bursts into laughter upon seeing the two All Mights.

“Hah! I didn’t know we were doing couple’s costumes!” he cackles from the bottom of his heart while Midoriya feels himself sink into the floor. The bratty blond is dressed as a classic devil with his hair slicked back, red horns, suit and tail on and a pitch fork in hand.

“Let them be, Monoma,” Kendo warns from beside him, clad in a Mad Hatter costume, from what Midoriya makes of it. However, he’s getting side-tracked by Monoma’s never-ending laughter.

“...I’ll go change,” Midoriya whispers.

“Are you sure this isn’t too much?” Yaoyorozu asks inside Ashido’s room, where pretty much all of the girls have gathered to get dressed for the party.

“I told you you look perfect!” Uraraka insists as she takes in the taller girl in her Marie Antoinette costume, with the short, puffy dress and her dark hair done up with flowers and feathers. She looks unreal.

“Yes, but Uraraka, we told you that you could dress in one of our spare costumes if you wanted to,” Asui points out, to which the brunette girl looks down at her simple UA cheerleading costume with a frown. She even put her hair up in pigtails and crafted two pom-poms from the leftover fabric of Yaoyorozu’s costume.

“It’s fine,” she reassures the girls. “I feel more comfortable in this, anyway.” It’s a lie. It reveals rather much, even with the tiny shorts underneath the skirt.

“Well, if you’re sure,” Asui says, and goes back to finishing her makeup for her doll costume. She was drawing doll joints for her knees and elbows, but now she moves on to making lines from the corners of her mouth to her chin, like a dummy puppet.

“The only thing I’m sure of is that tonight’s gonna be awesome!” Ashido chimes in as she pulls on her platform heels. A classic witch costume, with wide bat sleeves and holes in the spiky hat for her horns. The tightness of her dress really brings out her curves, but Uraraka makes a point not to stare.

Hagakure pulls up the top of her bunny leotard. If a teacher were to walk in on their little party, Uraraka was sure the girl would get into the most trouble, but then again, she could reason that nothing inappropriate could be seen. Hagakure adjusts her bunny ears and remarks, “Sure would’ve been even more fun if we got some alcohol…”

“Well, that’s something my parents’ credit cards won’t grant us,” Yaoyorozu chuckles awkwardly. She smooths out the hem of her dress and says, “I’m glad this will just be a normal, tame party. We don’t need anything bigger, do we?”

“You brought what?” Jirou asks by the front door as people have started pooling in. She made the point of getting ready early to set up the sound system and put some tunes on for the guests, but now she has apparently found herself as the bouncer, dressed up as Veronica Sawyer, no less.

She had asked Kaminari to dress up as Veronica and JD from Heathers the moment the topic of a Halloween party came up, yet the bastard surprised her when she came to the living quarters by just sitting there, wearing a Breaking Bad costume with Ojiro instead. Now Kaminari and Sero — the latter dressed as a mummy, so original — are adjusting the LED lights to different neon colours. So, in short, Jirou is glad to have something else to think about for a moment.

Hado — dressed as Hatsune Miku, which suits her rather well — shrugs with a grin as a reluctant Togata and an even-more reluctant Amajiki stand behind her, arms full of booze and liquor. “I thought we’d cheer up the place a little bit! We never get to party with everything else going on!”

“...This is so illegal,” Jirou sighs.

“I thought so too, but hey, I’m sure we all know our limits,” Togata grins, clad in a Ghostbusters suit with Amajiki.

Jirou is still not convinced. “Do you have any idea how much trouble we’ll be in if the teachers find—”

“Is there a problem?” someone asks, stepping inside from behind the line forming behind The Big 3. Shinsou is wearing a black suit with a red tie, his hair down and some red colour around his eyes. He might’ve added some white to his face, too.

“Jirou isn’t letting us have fun,” Hado complains playfully before looking Shinsou up and down. “And who might you be?”

“He’s obviously Gerard Way,” Jirou sighs. “Just… come in quickly, before a teacher comes out and sees you.”

“Yay!” Hado beams and guides her friends in. Jirou sighs, and Shinsou gives her a sympathetic look before following the top three students to the kitchen counter. She looks after them as Hado opens a bottle of something clear and pours a generous amount into the bowl full of red punch.

Great.

“Did you see Hagakure? Man, I can barely behave myself,” Mineta chuckles in the corner of the living room. He’s wearing a purple suit with a green vest and a green wig. The red grin painted on his face makes him look like the scariest creature at the party so far.

“Yeah, um,” Midoriya tugs on the sheet he hastily cut two holes into to become a ghost that could possibly disappear whenever needed, “she did look pretty.”

“No!” Mineta interjects. “She looked hot. Get your words right.”

“Right. Sorry.”

He looks over at the party in full swing, with Shiozaki looking around in shock in her nun costume and vampire Todoroki hanging out by the wall and steampunk Hatsume doing shots with cheerleader Uraraka—

Wait, Uraraka?

“Man, this punch tastes kinda weird, doesn’t it?” Mineta asks, cup in hand.

“Yeah, sorry, I’ll be right back.” Midoriya quickly travels across the room to the couches to make it to Uraraka, but he’s interrupted by a tight grip on his arm.

“Midoriya!” Iida exclaims over the music. Midoriya jumps. “There’s alcohol at this party and we need to stop it.” He’s dressed as Frankenstein’s monster, with bolts glued on and everything.

“Oh, yeah. I think the Big 3 brought it.”

“And you’re… fine with this?”

“No! I’m not! But I think we just have to adapt, Iida,” Midoriya admits. “What’s — hah — what’s a party without alcohol, anyway?”

Iida furrows his brows as he looks down at him. “Fun,” he says before letting go of Midoriya’s arm and walking away.

Well, that’s some damage control he’ll have to do later, but right now Midoriya is worried about something else entirely. He basically leaps over a couch to make it to Uraraka and Hatsume.

“Oh, Deku, hey!” Uraraka greets with a grin over the music. “Do you want to join us?”

Midoriya looks down at the empty shot glasses with wide eyes. “...What’s in them?”

“Don’t worry!” Hatsume grins. “It’s just strawberry liqueur!”

“It’s so yummy, Deku, try it!” Uraraka says before seemingly realizing Midoriya’s unease. Her shoulders fall. “I mean… only if you want to. Cute costume, by the way!”

Midoriya looks over his shoulder to the kitchen counter, where Kirishima dressed as Crimson Riot is trying to offer Bakugou dressed as All Might a glass of punch. It appears not to be going too well.

“Yeah, I didn’t have much time to prepare.” He had weeks, but he lies and turns back to Uraraka. “Yours is nice too.”

“O— Oh, thanks!”

“Bleh, if you’re gonna be all cutesy, I’m gonna find someone else to get drunk with,” Hatsume says and gets up from the couch. “Deku, you look like a Hattifattener.”

“What’s that?” Midoriya asks, but she is already gone. Uraraka giggles and hands him the bottle of red liqueur.

“Do you want to try? It’s making me feel all fuzzy inside.”

He knows he shouldn’t. He’s supposed to be a hero, and heroes don’t get drunk. However, Uraraka looks quite cute with her cheeks all red and the cheerleading outfit decorating her body.

“...Just one, okay?” he says.

“Wasted already?” Tokoyami asks when Jirou stumbles up the stairs, stepping over the hands and shoulders of people hanging out on the steps. The boy’s wearing a black trench coat along with a colourful cardboard cup of… slushie? “...I heard someone brought alcohol.”

“Nope, just coming to look for some CDs. My phone died so the music did too, and people are complaining.”

“Right. I was wondering why it sounded so quiet down there,” Tokoyami nods. He then looks her up and down, eyes widening in surprise. “Are you supposed to be Veronica Sawyer?”

“Uh, yeah?” Jirou smooths out her gray skirt before realizing. “Wait. You’re JD?”

Tokoyami nods. “I didn’t really know how elaborate I could dress given my… appearance.”

“No, it totally suits you!”

“Thanks.”

“Man, now I’m glad Kaminari didn’t match with me. We couldn’t have two gun-safety hazards walking around,” she chuckles. “But I have to go find those CDs, so be right back. Go help yourself to some spiked punch, if you want.”

“That I shall. The costume suits you too, by the way,” Tokoyami says, and so their ways part as Jirou makes it to her room to dig out a bunch of CDs that qualify as party music. Nothing too heavy, but nothing too sad, either.

As she rummages through her belongings, she can’t help but dwell in the feeling of warmth in her cheeks. The costume suits her.

The music turns back on with a rock-heavy soundtrack, and everyone cheers. Monoma’s halfway through his first cup of punch, yet he’s already feeling it. Of course someone would spike it, because they clearly live in some sort of an American teen movie where boundaries and manners don’t exist.

He doesn’t mind, however. He even brought his own flask to spike it himself, but someone got there before him. Now the kitchen counters are littered with different liquors and beer bottles and ciders, and everyone is enjoying their time at the party.

It’s time to change that, isn’t it?

He steps forward from leaning against the wall and exclaims, “Who wants to play some Truth or Dare?”

What usually would be met with hesitance is now met with excited cheers as everyone’s slowly growing drunk. Monoma grins, ready to step forward to form a circle with the others when someone grabs his wrist from beside him.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Shinsou asks in his all-emo getup. He looks rather endearing with his hair down. “We don’t want to trash the dorms.”

“Who cares? It’s class 1-A’s problem, not mine,” Monoma grins before interlacing their fingers to pull Shinsou into the forming circle by the couches. Reluctantly, he walks along and sits down next to him.

“How do we decide who goes first?” Ashido asks from opposite the two boys. She’s sitting between Asui and Hagakure while Uraraka, Midoriya, Bakugou, Kirishima, Kaminari, Ojiro, Todoroki, Tetsutetsu, Togata, Hado and Amajiki sit in the circle as well. A big crowd, which should make everything even more fun.

“I have an empty beer bottle,” Togata offers and places it in the middle of the coffee table. Others clear off chips, candy and shot glasses from the surface to make enough space for the bottle to spin. “I can spin first to decide who goes first.”

“I’m already feeling nauseous,” Amajiki whispers, but Togata goes ahead and spins the bottle anyway. It goes around in circles before landing on Ashido herself. She grins and claps before spinning it again to decide who she gets to cast a question or a dare on.

Bakugou grunts in disdain when it lands on him.

“Bakugou! Truth or dare!” Ashido asks.

“Dare, whatever, I’m not a coward.”

Ashido grins then, to the point where the pink of her skin starts looking awfully red under the neon lights. “Oh, alright. And what if I dared you to strip and spend the rest of the night in your undies?”

“That’d pretty much ruin my entire costume.”

“Well, you already ruined Deku’s,” Ojiro points out calmly, and Midoriya appears to sink farther into the sofa at the mention of him. “It’s only fair, no? Now no one can be All Might.”

“He is not here,” Monoma says dramatically before laughing. No one else bats an eye.

“Oh, wait, I’ve got an even better idea!” Ashido exclaims. “Switch costumes with Hagakure!”

“What!?” the two teens ask in unison.

“He’s gonna stretch it out!” Hagakure whines in her bunny costume.

“Why the hell would I want to be a playboy bunny?” Bakugou huffs.

Ashido points out, “It’s not about whether you want it or not. It’s a dare. You have to do it.”

Hagakure sighs, and the white cuffs she has on her wrists signal she’s rubbing her face. “Fine. I guess it could be cute on him.”

“I’m not cute,” Bakugou claims.

“You could be,” Kirishima points out, which earns a prolonged silence and stares. Flustered, he continues, “I mean… what’s more manly than owning it?”

Finally, Bakugou relents. “Fine. I’ll do it. But just because I’m already supposed to be sleeping right now and I can blame it on sleep deprivation.”

“It’s like nine in the evening,” Shinsou points out when Bakugou and Hagakure have already started making their way out of the room to one of the bathrooms.

“He has a strict routine,” Kirishima chuckles. Monoma grins at the way the redhead looks longingly after his partner in crime. This ought to be interesting.

“I think he could pull off the costume,” Todoroki points out after having been quiet for most of the evening. “Hagakure too, I’m sure.”

After a short wait, the two teens emerge back out of the bathroom. Hagakure in an All Might costume that hangs loose on most of her body, and Bakugou in a playboy bunny costume that, well… is not loose anywhere. In fact, in the chest department, it appears rather tight, but his arms are crossed over his chest in disdain. His hair is messed up by the bunny ears.

“Isn’t that a sight to see!?” Hado giggles.

“I feel humiliated. Ashido, watch your back,” Bakugou warns as he hops over the couch to sit back down. Kirishima has a hard time keeping his eyes away, it seems, as the blond boy grabs the bottle and spins it.

Midoriya shrieks the moment the bottle lands on him.

“Please take it easy on me—” he starts, but Bakugou already has his mind made up.

“Take three shots, Deku”.

“Three!?” Amajiki gasps.

“Dude’s gonna be messed up!” Kaminari laughs.

Midoriya awkwardly looks around the room from under his ghost costume. “...Do I have to?”

“Rules are rules!” Ashido declares and grabs three of the used shot glasses on the coffee table and fills them with the nearest bottle available. It’s clear. Not good.

“I already took like two,” Midoriya sighs, but obediently raises the edge of his costume to grab each of the glasses in turn and down them. He whines and gags a lot during it, which makes Monoma laugh.

Shinsou eyes him. “Like you could do any better,” he points out.

“I wouldn’t make those noises, that’s for sure,” Monoma chuckles, but his companion does not seem impressed. In fact, it appears he’s scheming something. Maybe Monoma shouldn’t have run his mouth.

“Okay, done,” Midoriya sighs, placing down the final shot glass. Asui, Uraraka, Hagakure and Ashido cheer while Todoroki and Kirishima seem more worried than anything. The freckled boy then grabs the bottle to spin it again.

It lands on Togata, who grins. “Give me your best, Deku.”

“Um… I don’t know… Tell me your most embarrassing story?”

“Oh, that’s a good one, let me see.” Togata leans back, a hand on his chin as he ponders. It takes a while, but eventually he hops back upright and says, “Right! One time, I tried to surprise Tamaki here by passing through the wall while he was sleeping.”

Amajiki’s eyes fly wide. “No, Mirio, don’t—”

“Turns out what he was doing was far from sleeping, haha.”

The others’ eyes fly wide while Amajiki melts into his seat.

“...Don’t tell me,” Kirishima starts.

“He was jacking it!? In the dorms!?” Bakugou exclaims, and many people look over to their game group. Amajiki might be on the verge of fainting.

Shinsou starts, “That doesn’t really seem like your most embarrassing story—”

“Was he using his tentacles as help?” Todoroki interrupts with a total poker face. Even Monoma is impressed, but the others seem more shocked than anything. Ashido breaks out into laughter while Tetsutetsu’s eyes remain wide.

“Why would I—” Amajiki starts to yell, but quickly quiets down. He’s so red it’s a surprise his blood isn’t seeping through his skin at this point.

“I think that’s a story for another time,” Togata chuckles before winking and spinning the bottle. “Okay, before it lands, I want to dare the person to makeout with the person on their right. Tongue and everything.”

That quiets down the group fast. Monoma chugs down the rest of his drink while observing the others. Ashido probably wouldn’t mind playfully kissing Asui or Hagakure. She seems like one of those party girls who kisses everyone while drunk, though Monoma could be very wrong. He doesn’t miss the way Uraraka eyes Midoriya, nor the way Kirishima eyes Bakugou. Midoriya seems nervous about the fact that Bakugou is to his right, though.

As for Monoma? Shinsou might be sitting to his right, but that will just never happen. Shinsou would refuse, because even if Monoma likes Shinsou, platonically, of course, he’s not sure if the feeling is reciprocated. It’s hard to read Shinsou, especially with his cute mop of a hairstyle covering his side profile. He doesn’t know why not seeing the boy’s side profile makes him frown. Maybe because Shinsou has a very nice nose.

Eventually, though, the bottle slows down and comes to a halt while pointing at Kaminari. And who’s sitting on his right if not his good ol’ couple’s costume buddy, Ojiro?

“Aw, Ojiro, come here,” Kaminari chuckles, already leaning to his side. “Smoochy smooch, am I right?”

“Just how drunk are you…” Ojiro looks away even though the red flush on his cheeks cannot be ignored even under the flashing lights.

“I’ve only had one glass and like two shots, come on, now! It’s a dare!”

“I can’t believe this,” Jirou scoffs from where she’s leaning against the wall, and she squeezes her plastic cup so hard the punch nearly shoots out. As she sees Kaminari’s tongue grossly stick out of his mouth right before his mouth connects with Ojiro’s, hands on cheeks and neck and the back of a head and everything, she marches off, grabbing a bottle of something from the kitchen counter in the process.

She pushes open the dormitory front door — all the guests are inside by now, it seems — and stomps over to the porch steps to sit down in the darkness and mope. God, she’s so stupid, isn’t she!

Jirou’s eagerly gulping down the rest of her punch that burns at the back of her throat when someone surprises her.

“Needed some fresh air?” Tokoyami asks from behind her, and she nearly jumps. “Sorry, sorry. Can I sit?”

“Yeah,” Jirou sighs and watches as Tokoyami pulls his trench coat tighter around him. It is quite chilly here, with her short skirt and everything. “How long have you been outside?”

“I left when they started playing Truth or Dare. Dark Shadow doesn’t really like loud spaces, though I do wish I had gotten something to drink before leaving to calm down.”

“Oh. Here, I have a whole bottle of… shochu.” She chuckles a bit once she reads the alcohol contents on the bottle. That’s going to burn, alright.

“Were you planning on getting drunk all by yourself, then?” Tokoyami asks as he takes the bottle from her and opens it. He takes a sip with his beak and all and grimaces. “That’s disgusting.”

“Apparently everything tastes like water once you’re drunk enough. Pass the bottle.” Jirou takes a big gulp herself and pretty much imitates Tokoyami’s exact expression. “Okay. Yeah. Wow. But no, I wasn’t planning on it. At least not until two minutes ago.”

“What happened two minutes ago?”

She sighs, hands on her bare knees. Tokoyami is trustworthy enough to share her life story with, she supposes.

“Okay, so, imagine this. You have this flirty bond with a guy, a guy who’s usually really nice and considerate if a bit silly, nice and considerate to the point where he agrees to wear matching costumes with you on Halloween,” she looks up at the starry sky and holds back from tearing up — she doesn’t want to ruin her makeup, “but then you come downstairs and he’s matching with his friend instead. And you’re like okay, maybe he forgot. Maybe it means nothing. But then that bastard plays Truth or Dare and starts making out with said friend, and now you feel like a stupid fool.”

Tokoyami listens intently, but right when she’s done, he says, “You’re not stupid.”

“I mean, if he’s into guys or whatever, I’d be fine with it. I’m bi too, but like… at least turn me down before swapping spit with a mutual friend, you know?” Jirou groans and takes another gulp. “Stupid Halloween. I should’ve stayed in my room just listening to music.”

“I think it’s Kaminari who’s the fool,” Tokoyami points out. “He really should have talked to you about the costumes. I understand why you’re hurt.”

Jirou lowers the bottle and passes it back to Tokoyami before smiling a bit. “Well, at least I got another JD by my side now. For better and for worse.”

“Probably for the worse, if you’ve seen the movie or the musical.”

“As long as you won’t blow up the school, I’m fine with this,” Jirou chuckles and throws a casual arm around Tokoyami’s shoulders. When he freezes, she quickly asks, “Is this fine?”

“Yeah. Just… didn’t expect it.”

Jirou nods and slowly rests her head on Tokoyami’s shoulder. “It’s just Veronica and JD against the world, isn’t it? Screw the Heathers and Denkis of the world.”

Tokoyami chuckles. Like he actually, swear to god, chuckles and laughs at her comment. Jirou feels rather prideful about that one.

And so they pass the bottle back and forth while looking at the stars in the dark night sky.

“This is stupid,” Bakugou declares the moment the bottle deciding his partner for seven minutes in heaven lands on Todoroki. “I’m not playing anymore.” 

“Pussyyyy,” Monoma laughs. “What, you can’t handle seven minutes alone with him without ripping his stupid Dracula-clothes off? Pathetic.”

“Shut the fuck up,” the other blond growls despite standing up and grabbing stupid Todoroki’s wrist across the coffee table.

Kirishima blinks in surprise from the couch. “You’re doing it?”

“I can handle seven minutes. It’s this idiot who has to worry about me biting his head off,” Bakugou claims, nodding towards Todoroki, who’s weirdly letting him hold his wrist.

“Kinky,” Monoma whistles, and Bakugou briefly sees Shinsou placing a hand on the other blond boy’s shoulder to shut him up before Bakugou drags Todoroki to the storage closet near the bathrooms.

“You better start the timer now!” he yells before slamming the door shut behind them, and then they’re covered in darkness and stuck in the tight space between full shelves.

“...That was intense,” Todoroki whispers once it has become quiet save for the booming, muffled music outside the door. “You could have said no.”

“Well I tried, didn’t I?” Bakugou scoffs. He tries to cross his arms but they rub against Todoroki’s stomach in the process, so he just doesn’t. “I’m not gonna let that dumb 1-B kid tell me that I’m a coward. So. Here I am, I guess.”

“In a bunny costume,” Todoroki notes.

“Yeah, thanks a lot for reminding me. You better keep your fuckin’ hands to yourself.”

Then it’s quiet. It’s so quiet that now Bakugou is getting annoyed that Todoroki isn’t talking. He sighs, he scoffs and he huffs but the guy still doesn’t take the hint.

Finally, he groans and Todoroki opens his mouth.

“Are you having trouble breathing?”

“No, dumbass. I’m trying to get you to say something.”

“Oh… Why didn’t you say so?” Todoroki asks.

Bakugou scoffs again. “You just never get the hint, do ya? We need to pass the time somehow.”

“Okay, uh… what should we do, then? Should we talk?”

“Well we for sure ain’t making out or anything.”

Todoroki chuckles softly. Their knees, forced to touch, sway a bit as he laughs. “Yeah, Kaminari and Ojiro sure put on a show.”

“It’s disgusting, really,” Bakugou huffs. Todoroki goes oddly quiet. “...What?”

“You think two boys kissing is disgusting?”

Bakugou leans back and hits the shelves behind his back as he processes the question in shock. “What, I— It’s got nothing to do with that, idiot! Just in general, people slobbering in front of other people—”

“I think it’s cute,” Todoroki shrugs. “Sure, maybe they took it a bit too far, but I think it’s nice when you can see couples that like each other that much.”

“You don’t need to make out to show it.”

“But it’s fun. You’ve never kissed anyone?”

This guy is going to be the death of Bakugou. What kind of questions does he think he’s allowed to ask him?

“Like you have either,” Bakugou scoffs, finally crossing his arms even if it means rubbing against Todoroki even more. When Todoroki does not respond, the blond’s eyes fly wide. “What? With who, punk?”

He can tell Todoroki is blushing even without seeing it. The warmth of his body and his silence say enough, and it’s nauseating.

“I went on a couple of dates with Yaoyorozu,” the boy admits. “She was nice, of course, and we kissed a few times before we decided not to become anything more serious.”

Bakugou scoffs, ignoring the insistent and invasive warmth on his own cheeks. Really, he feels hot all over. “If she was so nice and you think kissing is so fun, why didn’t ya become official?”

“Bakugou.”

“What? Don’t talk to me like I’m dumb or somethin’!”

“...She literally came out as a lesbian a week after we stopped going out. To our entire class.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes, but the heat isn’t letting up. He’s going to burn alive at this rate. “Like I’m supposed to remember lame stuff like that! She might as well be half-crocodile and I still wouldn’t remember that!”

“Well… maybe you should try more. Apply yourself,” Todoroki points out. “Maybe you’d get a kiss or two in the process of being nice, too.”

Bakugou looks away in the darkness, not that it helps anything, and says, “I don’t want kisses. Imagine all the bacteria and junk you swap during it. It’s nasty.”

“If you say so.” Todoroki finally seems to take the hint and quiet the hell down. However, the silence doesn’t last very long. “...But if you had to kiss someone—”

“Shut up already.”

“No, but, if you had to choose between kissing, marrying and killing, let’s say, Kaminari, Midoriya and Iida, who would you choose for each one?”

“Is this your idea of a damn game?” the blond sighs, but he does have to give some credit to the boy for coming up with something to pass the time. “And why’d you only give me guy options, anyway?”

Todoroki shrugs. “They’re the first ones who came to mind.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes and leans back against the shelves. “I guess I’d… kiss Deku, marry Iida and kill Kaminari.”

“Harsh.”

“You’re the one who gave me the options!” Bakugou growls, pushing Todoroki back by his chest. He’s very warm, too. “What about you? Kiss, marry, kill: the same three guys.”

“I’d kiss Iida, marry Midoriya and kill Kaminari.”

“Now why the hell would you marry stupid Deku?”

“...He’s kind. I think I could use some kindness in my life.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s switch it up a bit. Fuck, marry, kill: Uraraka, the birdhead and the sparkling one,” Bakugou challenges.

“Do you mean Tokoyami and Aoyama?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“...I guess I’d fuck Aoyama, marry Uraraka and kill Tokoyami. They’re all nice, though,” Todoroki says.

Bakugou furrows his brows. “Why the fuck would you fuck Aoyama?”

“I think he’d like some exciting things. It would be an interesting experience,” the other boy shrugs. “What about you? Fuck, marry, kill: Uraraka, Tokoyami and me.”

“You!?”

“Yeah.”

Bakugou lets out an annoyed exhale. Of course the stupid half-fire half-ice would know how to make things awkward. “Marry Uraraka, obviously. Kill Tokoyami, because I ain’t doing shit with someone with a birdhead. And… fuck you, I guess,” he admits with a flush all over his face. It’s not helping that his legs are bare because of the stupid costume and Todoroki’s own ones are rubbing against him.

“Oh? I didn’t expect that,” Todoroki says. “I thought you’d kill me.”

“Well, I gave my reasoning, so.”

“I think I’d fuck you too,” the other boy says, and if Bakugou had been drinking something, this is the moment when he’d choke and spit it all out. “If you asked me to choose between Uraraka, Tokoyami and you, that is.”

“...What’s wrong with you?” Bakugou scoffs. “Are you tryna get into my pants or what?”

“No. What I’m saying is, I wouldn’t mind it.”

That shuts Bakugou up. There’s nothing left to say. His cheeks are burning and he’s feverish to the point of thinking he might’ve had more to drink than he actually did. They wait in silence for the seven minutes to run out.

Shinsou bites into the lemon like an apple and barely winces as the juices gush out of the corners of his mouth. Uraraka’s eyes are wide and so are Midoriya’s while Togata and Kaminari laugh. Tetsutetsu looks at the boy in awe as Shinsou sucks the insides of the lemon dry.

“You really did it, huh,” Monoma chuckles lazily, maybe on his third glass of punch and leaning against the couch with his arms spread over the backrest. “Your girlfriends must be happy.”

Shinsou places the lemon on the table and wipes his mouth with the back of his palm. “I don’t do those,” he says, lips now a glistening red as his makeup wore off during the whole lemon thing.

“What, girlfriends?” Monoma challenges with a grin. Shinsou then turns and looks at him with the slightest of smirks and those glossy, plump lips, and the blond looks away just in time for Kirishima’s phone to start beeping. Monoma exclaims in relief, “Oh, seven minutes are up!”

“Who’s going to get them?” Asui asks, but Kirishima’s already hopping over the back of the couch to go open the storage closet door.

Hado calls after him, “Let us know whose pants are down!”

“No one’s, I hope…” Amajiki is still rather upset about the whole embarrassing story ordeal, which feels a bit stupid because they’re all teenagers. Surely they all do it every now and again, even if they don’t get caught.

Well, except for maybe Bakugou, since he has a stick so far up his ass that he doesn’t need to do any extra work to get off.

“Fuckin’ finally,” Bakugou’s voice echoes through the music-filled room, and soon he appears back in the common area with Kirishima and Todoroki. Monoma laughs at the sight of him still in that bunny costume. “I’m not playing anymore. This game is stupid.”

“What? But we’ve barely gotten started!” Kirishima starts, but Bakugou just shakes his head and marches into the kitchen to retrieve a cup of punch. He grabs a bottle of something clear and pours some more into his own plastic cup.

“Yeah, maybe now’s a good time to get up to something else,” Ashido points out. “I feel like dancing, what about all of you?”

So the group all scatters everywhere, until new people get on the couch, chatting and stuff, with only Monoma and Shinsou left from the original game group.

“Too bad I didn’t get to dare you to take five shots,” Shinsou says once it’s been quiet for a few seconds. “Would’ve been nice to see your reaction.”

Monoma chuckles and asks, “Why not dare me now?”

“Because you’ll be so fucked you won’t be able to stand.”

“Nah. How about this: we both take two?”

Shinsou eyes one of the bottles on the coffee table. Something clear. It seems almost all there is left is the clear stuff, even if Monoma knows there’s much, much more in the kitchen. Then Shinsou leans forward to pour both of them two shots.

Monoma watches as he carefully pours before sliding two of them to the blond’s side. They look at each other, and without any further words, they lean forward and down two of them. And yeah, Monoma now understands why Midoriya made such wussy reactions. It’s shit.

However, he holds back from reacting and just swallows both shots in a cool, casual way. Then he leans back on the couch in sync with Shinsou. They breathe the party air in for a few seconds. The clock on the wall shows that it’s nearly midnight already.

“So… Gerard Way,” Monoma says over the music with a slight laugh, his arms crossed.

“He makes good music,” Shinsou points out, lips still red even though he sipped more alcohol to cool the lemon burn. “You should listen sometime. Much more original than you coming as the devil’s advocate.”

“I’m not an advocate, I am the devil.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Shinsou chuckles, eyeing him up and down. Monoma feels awfully naked under the LED lights all of a sudden. Finally, Shinsou’s eyes travel back up to the blond’s and he grins. “Wanna listen?”

“What?”

“To the music? I have my phone, we just need to find a quiet place.”

The back of Monoma’s neck is already sweating. This might be bad. He doesn’t know why, but he’s already inebriated enough to know that this might be bad. So, what better way to prepare than to gulp down his entire glass of punch in one go?

Monoma slams his glass against the coffee table and wipes his mouth. He grins and says, “Yeah. Let’s see what this artist of yours is all about.”

“Should we really leave the party, Uraraka?” Midoriya asks unsurely as his hand is in the girl’s warm grip. She’s leading him up the cramped stairs to her room, both of them stumbling in a drunken haze. “I mean, what if— What if someone misses us?”

“Then they can shoot us a text. I want to give you a cute makeover,” Uraraka smiles back at him, and Midoriya makes sure to keep his eyes on her head instead of the underneath of her skirt as she travels up the stairs before him.

God, sometimes he really does feel like a creep. Isn’t alcohol supposed to decrease anxiety?

They finally make it to the floor with Uraraka’s room, and she lets him inside. Instead of turning on the big light, she lights up a trail of fairy lights over her bed. A gift from one of the girls, probably Yaoyorozu.

“Come on, take a seat while I find my makeup!” Uraraka gestures towards the bed, and Midoriya blinks in surprise.

“Wha— Your bed?”

“Yeah. Rather that than the floor, right?” she giggles, blissfully unaware of the implications.

Midoriya shyly takes a seat on the edge of her bed while she rummages through her things to find her makeup. They both took full cups of punch with them, and he now awkwardly throws his ghost sheet off before sipping on his own drink. The buzz in his head is more prominent than ever and he hardly even notices the burn anymore.

“So, um, what are you going to transform me into, exactly?”

“Something Halloween-y. I’m thinking clown or skeleton,” she replies, and finally comes back and hops down on the bed in the dimness of the room. Their knees touch as she digs out a black eyeliner pencil from her toiletry bag. It doesn’t seem too full. “I wanted to be something cute, but… I couldn’t really afford any fitting clothes.”

“I like you the way you are!” Midoriya blurts out. “I mean, you don’t need anything fancy to look cu— Cute.”

Uraraka smiles softly, cheeks red. “You think so? Thanks, Deku. Now, hold still.”

Her hand comes to hold his face, thumb on his cheek and everything, and Midoriya is sure he dies right then and there. She’s so soft, so warm, and when she starts drawing a line under his eye, the boy can hardly care about the roughness of the pencil because she’s touching him and looking at him so intently and he is nearly forgetting how to breathe!

“I’ll be quick,” Uraraka mumbles before gnawing on her bottom lip in concentration. It’s so cute. Midoriya fears his nose might start gushing blood like in cartoons. Truly, she’s so close, brows furrowed and eyes narrowed.

Midoriya doesn’t know what he wants to do, but he knows that he wants it badly.

“Uraraka…” His voice is strained as she moves on to drawing something above his eyebrow.

Her eyes flit back down to meet his. “Yeah?” She’s rather calm and composed right now, but it’s his first time seeing her drunk so he didn’t know what to expect anyway. She looks so pretty, though, with her high ponytails and button nose and smiling lips.

“Do you, um,” what is he doing, really, what is he doing — stop, Midoriya, stop, “do you like me?”

Her eyes widen and her hand stills. “...What?”

Midoriya realizes what he just asked and quickly hops back on the bed, easily far enough for his back to hit the wall in a painful thud. “No, I meant— I meant, like— Like, as a friend!” he stutters and sputters, but Uraraka’s eyes are as big as disco balls and her hand is still frozen mid-air. “Really, it wasn’t like— It wasn’t romantic or anything, I promise, I just, I just wanted to ask, not that I’d mind if you did like me like that, it’s just—”

“Deku,” Uraraka interrupts, a hand now on her mouth. “Sorry, I’m gonna be sick—”

She scrambles up from the bed and runs into the bathroom. Midoriya is about to go check on her when he hears the sounds of liquids and chunks coming out. He figures a girl would find it embarrassing if he walked in on them during something like that.

So he stays on the bed, fiddling with his fingers.

Good job, Midoriya, making a girl throw up when asking about her feelings. Great job, even. What a great future hero Midoriya will be when he can’t even talk to a girl without making her feel sick!

“Um, should I go?” he asks from the side of the bedroom once the sound of vomiting has stopped.

“No, I— Wait a minute.” Something flushes, then the faucet runs, and then Uraraka emerges from the bathroom. Her mascara is a bit smeared right under her eyes as she leans against the doorframe with a frown.

“...I do like you, Deku,” she admits quietly.

His eyes widen then. “...You do? Then why’d you—”

“I had like seven shots back there,” she chuckles. “I guess they took a while to hit, but… I like you. Romantically.”

“I like you too!” Midoriya immediately reveals, bouncing up from the bed. “Not just because I’ve had something to drink! I’ve liked you for a while now!”

Uraraka hides her hands behind her back shyly, cheeks flushed as she looks away. Midoriya hesitantly walks over to her. She’s radiating heat, but he still grabs her hands and holds them gently despite his scarred hands.

“Can I, um… Can I kiss you?” he asks quietly, under the fairy lights.

However, Uraraka’s eyes fly wide and she immediately covers her mouth. She adamantly shakes her head and yelps, “No, sorry, puke breath! Gross!”

“Right, sorry,” Midoriya chuckles despite the fact that the last thing he would do right now is care about her bad breath, because she’s the most beautiful girl alive right now. “Should we just… get back to you doing my makeup?”

Uraraka nods. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

“That one’s the Cygnus. It means ‘the swan,’” Tokoyami says as he points at the barely visible constellation in the dark night sky. Jirou nods as she rests her head on his lap, lying down across the porch steps as the party booms indoors.

“It’s pretty. I didn’t know you knew about this stuff.”

“I’m out at night a lot, so I tend to see the stars, and at some point you just get curious about them,” Tokoyami explains with a shrug.

Jirou smiles up at him. “That’s so cool. I like when people like… dedicate themselves to something, like me with music and… I guess Midoriya with his whole quirk-study thing. You know?”

“Yeah, it’s cool to get invested in something.”

Tokoyami raises the bottle to his beak and gulps down the rest of it. Jirou fears that if she sits up at this point, her head will start spinning even more and she’ll throw up. Right now, however, she’s safe right here in Tokoyami’s lap.

“I also like music. Probably not to the same degree that you do, but you know,” he says. “As you can see, I am somewhat of a musical fan, too.”

“Yeah? Wanna do a singalong?” Jirou suggests with a grin.

Tokoyami chuckles. “Let’s leave it for some other time.”

Right then, as they’re both gazing at each other and smiling, the front door flies open behind them and two people in bright jumpsuits rush out from indoors.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have taken that last shot,” Kaminari’s voice declares, and Jirou immediately sits up. She sees stars, both literally and figuratively, before seeing the boy himself running to the edge of the fence on the porch and leaning over it.

“Denki?” she asks.

“He had a bit too much to drink,” Ojiro chuckles, standing behind Kaminari and patting his back as he gags into the bushes, though nothing sounds to actually be coming out.

“Yeah, I’m sure he did,” Jirou claims while crossing her arms. Tokoyami awkwardly pats her on the shoulder. “Enough to forget about our plans for the night.”

“Huh?” Kaminari straightens up and looks over at the only girl outside right now. “What do you mean?”

“We were supposed to match our costumes tonight, for your information.”

He blinks. Then he blinks again, processing the information, before finally realizing. “Oh, shoot, I totally forgot! I’m sorry!” he says. “You know my electricity, buzzing my brain and all, hah.”

“You were supposed to match?” Ojiro asks.

“We were, but now I’m glad we didn’t,” Jirou claims. “I’m glad you two had a night of fun at least, with you making out and all.”

“Oh, that was just a dare—” Ojiro starts, but wasted Kaminari chuckles and throws an arm around his shoulders.

“He tasted really good, though. Kinda like alcohol but also popcorn.”

Now she feels like throwing up. Anger sizzles in her stomach like acid, and she really, really, doesn’t want to ruin her makeup.

“I can’t believe you,” Jirou scoffs.

Tokoyami then whispers to her, “Maybe we should just leave them alone. They’ve had too much to drink.”

“Yeah, gladly.”

Jirou grabs Tokoyami’s hand and stands up, pulling him past the two other guys all the way indoors, and then all the way up the stairs until they’re in front of Jirou’s room door. She crosses her arms and looks at him as the music booms somewhere far away, perhaps in a different world entirely.

“Tokoyami.”

“Yes?”

“If we go inside now, I’m just warning you that I might just spend the rest of the night cursing Denki out until you get sick of me unless we figure out something else to do,” she says.

He nods before thinking for a moment, a hand to stroke his beak and all. “I’m sure we can figure out something else to do. Like listening to music, or meditating, or just hanging out.”

Jirou sighs. “You really wanna put up with me right now? Aren’t I kind of a mess?”

“Sure, but I don’t exactly have my life figured out either. I can feel the alcohol hitting harder every second, so I guess when we’re totally wasted, we can be a mess together.”

She smiles softly and drops her arms to once again hold his hand. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but she doesn’t feel the least bit of hesitation at the moment. “You’re kind of cute. I don’t know how I haven’t noticed that before.”

Tokoyami’s eyes go wide. “Me…? Cute?” he asks.

“Yeah, totally. Come on, let’s go inside now.”

Monoma sits with Shinsou at the end of the hallway on the top floor. Their legs are crossed, knees touching, and Monoma is holding his breath as the other boy puts on a heavy and fast rock song. They listen without speaking in the darkness of the hallway, with the only light coming from Shinsou’s phone and dimly lighting up his handsome face. He smells like alcohol and perfume, and it’s even more intoxicating than drinking is.

Shinsou nods along to the song, but Monoma nearly forgets to listen as he’s far too focused on the small smile playing on the other boy’s face as he gets invested in the melody. It’s a nice melody, really — not romantic or anything, but it still strangely makes Monoma want to kiss the boy opposite him.

Wait. What is he thinking? He doesn’t even like guys, does he?

However, Shinsou looks so kissable at the moment. He’s getting so into the song that his eyes are falling shut and he’s swaying back and forth. It’s damn near adorable, and Monoma has way too many drinks in his system to care about any possible changes to his sexuality.

Shinsou starts humming along to the song, something about a guy in prison, and his low voice fills the hallway. The party is somewhere far, far away, with the two of them being the only people who have ever mattered, and finally, Monoma can no longer take it.

He places a hand on Shinsou’s chin, his thumb gently touching the boy’s lower lip. His red lip. His eyes, flashing wide open the moment Monoma has touched him.

The blond quickly tugs his hand back to himself and sits up straight, like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. “Sorry, I— You had something there,” he says, wiping his hand on his red slacks. “I got it. Don’t worry.”

“Did I, now?” Shinsou asks. Monoma nods eagerly with a dumb smile, but the other just chuckles. “If you’re going to do something, go through with it.”

Monoma blinks in surprise. He chuckles nervously and asks, “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, if you’re trying to kiss me, then do it before I change my mind.”

“...How drunk exactly are you?”

Shinsou shrugs. “Drunk enough to find you cute. Are you going to do it or not?”

Monoma crosses his arms in thought, teasing. “I don’t know if I still want to kiss you, with you implying that you only find me cute when you’re drunk and all. I mean what kind of an example would that show our future children regarding—”

He’s rudely interrupted by Shinsou grabbing the lapels of his suit jacket and pulling him in to smash their lips together. Monoma gasps right as the song changes to a soft and slow ballad from the same band, a song they’re now kissing to like they owned the tune.

Shinsou lets go just enough for them to rest their foreheads together. He grins and asks, “Is that enough to shut you up?”

Monoma hums with a devious smirk playing on his lips. “I might need some more to shut up for good.” He leans back in and slips his hands to Shinsou’s neck to pull him closer, lips pressed together until they’re not, until they are opening against each other, moving in sync like they were trying to devour the other.

Monoma sighs into the kiss, practically climbing into Shinsou’s lap to get closer and enthusiastically slipping his tongue in just in time to feel Shinsou doing the same. The background song turns into the greatest love song in existence as he breathes Shinsou in, as he tastes Shinsou, as he melts into one with him, one hand hiding in his hair while the boy’s own hands pull Monoma closer by his jacket.

One hell of a Halloween party, Monoma must admit. Really, he’s a genius for suggesting it.

His head buzzes like a damn microwave as he makes out with Shinsou to the point of losing his breath, to the point of feeling Shinsou’s heartbeat in his fingertips, and most of all, to the point of wanting more.

When they part, a string of saliva stretches between their lips before breaking. Monoma catches his breath, eyes half-lidded and forehead pressed to Shinsou’s as he asks, “Which of these rooms will give us the most privacy, do you think?”

Shinsou chuckles. “You move fast.”

“Do you want to?”

“...I do, but maybe not in someone else’s bedroom.”

Monoma rolls his eyes. “They’d deserve it.”

Shinsou laughs even harder as he slips his phone into his pocket and stands up, offering Monoma his hand. “Come on, let’s not make any sworn enemies tonight. Your room is in the neighbouring building, isn't it?”

With a huff, the blond grabs his hand and pulls himself up. “Fine. Let’s go. At least we won’t get caught if this party gets raided.”

“Tamaki?” Togata opens the storage room door only to see Amajiki sitting down on the ground, knees pulled to his chest in the sliver of flashing lights that reach the inside of the room. “I was wondering where you disappeared.”

“Didn’t exactly feel like partying after all that,” Amajiki mumbles, and Togata frowns.

“Because of that story I told? Tamaki, it’s normal. Nothing to feel ashamed about,” he chuckles and slips in to sit next to the boy, who scoots to make him some room despite it all. The door stays ajar, with some light and music travelling in through it. The small storage area stinks of alcohol, but he’ll survive.

“I feel so humiliated I might die.”

“If you really feel that way, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Togata says with a frown. He still throws an arm around Amajiki’s shoulders, though, pulling him close. “It is kinda funny, though; the story. I almost saw your willy.”

“Don’t call it that!” Amajiki hisses and drops his forehead against his knees.

“Let’s think on the bright side. At least you weren’t using your tentacles like Todoroki asked.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“I’m just trying to cheer you up. You’re my best friend, after all,” Togata smiles and rubs comforting circles into his friend’s shoulder. “And if anything, I think the experience made us closer. Now you’ve got nothing to hide from me anymore, haha.”

“Yeah, I wish that was the case,” Amajiki mumbles into his knees.

“...What do you mean?”

The boy turns his head so his unsure eyes can be seen from under his hair. His lip wobbles as he says, “If you knew everything about me, you wouldn’t want to be friends anymore.”

“That’s not true and you know it!” Togata insists. “Come on, try me. I’ll bet you like three shots that my opinion of you won’t change a bit.”

The other boy stays quiet for a while, and Togata wonders what exactly he is building up the courage for. He’s kind of cute when he’s deep in thought, like he goes into another dimension for a while.

Finally, Amajiki asks, “...And if I said I have used my tentacles to help in the past?”

The blond immediately chuckles light-heartedly. “Can’t blame you. I’d probably do the same.”

“And if I said once, when we were getting drunk in Nejire’s dorm room, you made me laugh so hard I pissed myself and had to leave?”

Togata grins. “Come on, happens to the best of us. If anything, that makes me more confident about my comedy skills.” He pats Amajiki on the shoulder once more. “Are you convinced yet? I love you so much there’s nothing that could change it.”

“...And if I said I have loved you for most of my life now?” Amajiki slips out before quickly looking away. The sharp tips of his ears are red.

Togata hesitates, hand halting from continuing the soothing circles. “I love you too. I just said it.”

“You know what I mean.”

Some people run past the storage room and hit the door in the process, slamming it shut and enveloping the two boys in complete darkness. Something tugs at the strings of Togata’s heart, in a burning sort of way.

He had his suspicions, but it never came up in conversation. It was not worth ruining their long friendship over if the other didn’t feel the same way, or something like that. Even if Togata, to his core, believed nothing could ruin it.

He won’t let anything ruin it.

“Yeah, I do,” he admits while softly petting Amajiki’s head, “but that doesn’t change my response.”

The other boy grows stiff under his touch. He straightens up and looks at Togata with uncertainty in his eyes and a quiver in his lips, even if the blond can barely see. “...What?”

“I thought it was obvious. You’ve been by my side for so long that I doubt there’s anyone else I could feel the same way about,” Togata chuckles. His hand slowly trails across the other boy’s back until it’s on his cheek, softly touching the smooth skin. “You know?”

Amajiki looks at him for an intensely long time before chuckling weakly. “Fuck, I didn’t expect this,” he mumbles. “Now I feel stupid for keeping it in for so long.”

“You should have just told me from the start! Imagine how much time we’ve wasted on just being friends!”

“Ugh,” Amajiki sighs and tries to drop his head back down, but Togata prevents him, instead turning his head to look him straight in the eyes in the dark depths of the storage room. “...What?”

“I think this is the part where we kiss,” Togata grins. “If you wanna.”

He doesn’t see the outline of Amajiki’s Adam’s apple as he gulps, but he hears the gulp itself. It’s strangely attractive, but then again, so are most parts about him.

“Y— Yeah. I want to.”

Togata smiles, and eagerly but carefully, starts leaning in. His eyes fall shut as Amajiki’s hands find their way to his cheeks, and the buildup seems to last forever. The way their noses eventually brush, flushed and warm, and the way they pull each other closer like they’ve never wanted something more. In a way, Togata is not sure if he has ever wanted something more than he wants this.

Their lips brush, and that’s enough for the blond to dive in headfirst. He kisses Amajiki with a soft groan and with his thoughts screaming “Finally!” as their lips connect and open and close again.

It doesn’t last too long, just a soft little kiss, but that’s enough for now. They part, just a bit, and they both smile. Togata holds Amajiki’s hands over his cheeks because he never wants them to let go.

“If this is how things end up, I’m really glad I told that story about catching you masturbating earlier,” he chuckles, only to quickly be pushed away.

“You just had to ruin it!” Amajiki groans. Togata just chuckles and slides back next to him, ready to kiss him again.

Bakugou mopes alone, sitting on the kitchen counter as drunk teens pass by him to get more drinks. He didn’t want to get drunk, but he can’t ignore the way his brain is getting hotter by the second now. That last cup of punch might have been too much.

He grips the edge of the counter and stares off into the rest of the room. He did notice Midoriya and Uraraka disappear, as well as Kaminari and Ojiro, and now some of the Big 3. Still, the party remains in full bloom. The girls are dancing — though Kirishima appears to be there too — with Ashido and Hagakure trying to get Yaoyorozu and the redhead to throw it back or whatever that means, and Bakugou is still bitter about the way his bare thighs stick to the countertop.

Stupid bunny costume.

He’s been avoiding Todoroki like a plague ever since they left that storage room, but now the boy approaches the kitchen, talking with Aoyama about whatever. Bakugou doesn’t really care. Why would he? The guy he said he’d fuck and who said he’d fuck him too is literally a few meters away from him, what does it matter? Why does anything matter?

Christ, why won’t his head shut the fuck up?

“I’m kinda feeling like doing a body shot,” Aoyama notes with a grin. The lightning bolt on his face looks stupid under the flashing lights.

“What’s that?” Todoroki asks. Bakugou scoffs by himself.

“You don’t know? It’s when you pour something, like this tequila over here, into somebody’s belly button and drink it from there!”

“...That sounds unhygienic,” the icy-hot guy notes.

And gross! It sounds very fucking gross, too.

“Sooo, you don’t want to be the subject of my shot?” Aoyama asks, teasing. “I thought you knew how to have fun, and it wouldn’t hurt to air out those abs a bit.”

Todoroki is the last person in their class who knows how to have fun. Well, maybe after Iida. Bakugou scoffs, this time loud enough for the two boys to turn to look at him.

“Do you have a problem, bunny boy?” Aoyama asks.

“Don’t call me that. And yeah, I do, because your flirting is shit,” the better blond spits. “I don’t wanna be subjected to your stupid, shitty antics.”

“Then cover your ears,” the other boy says with his hands on his hips, but Todoroki blinks, stunned.

“You were flirting with me?”

“No, no, no. Bakugou here just doesn’t understand the concept of being comfortable enough with your friends to ask them to take body shots off each other,” Aoyama says, adamantly shaking his head.

“Yeah, because it’s fucking disgusting and I wouldn’t take one off of anyone.”

“I’d take one off you,” Todoroki tells him with a completely straight face.

Bakugou’s eyes widen as he spits, “What the fuck is wrong with you tonight? First you say you wanna fuck me, and now—”

“Wait, he said he wants to what you!?” Aoyama says with a sudden glint in his eyes. He grins and says, “Do tell more.”

“Fuck off, creep.”

“No, but Aoyama just said that it’s normal to want to take a body shot from your friends,” Todoroki explains.

“We’re not friends!” Bakugou cackles, and really, he isn’t sure how much longer he can last at this party with the way things are going. “None of you are my friends, and I’m sick of pretending like you are!”

Aoyama raises his hands in the air as a sign of surrender and grabs a drink before leaving the kitchen area. So, Bakugou’s left alone with Todoroki of all people. The music blasts some stupid junk that grinds his gears.

“...I don’t think that’s true, Bakugou,” Todoroki says. “I think we are friends. After all that we’ve been through and all.”

“I don’t care about that. It doesn’t matter, and I don’t somehow owe you my friendship just because we’ve fought together and shit,” he retaliates.

Instead of listening to Bakugou’s perfectly valid points, Todoroki’s eyes fall lower on Bakugou’s body. Is everyone a pervert these days or what?

“Your costume is very skin-tight. I could take a shot off you over it, since it dips inside your belly button,” Todoroki suggests, and Bakugou wraps his arms around his torso like he was a chick on the street getting catcalled.

“Jesus, if I let you do it, will you drop it!?” he huffs and hops down from the counter.

“You don’t have to let me do it if you don’t want it. Especially if you don’t think we’re friends. I was just stating that—”

“I already said I’d let you do it, so shut up!” Bakugou says and grabs a half-empty bottle of tequila as well as Todoroki’s wrist. He leads him to one of the couches and basically growls at the people on it to get them to clear up. Once the sofa is empty, he turns back to his dumb companion. “Ok. How do we do this?”

“I assume you just… lie down and let me pour the drink,” Todoroki shrugs. His cheeks are flushed, which is weird for a guy such as Todoroki.

“You better not try anything funny or I’ll knock your teeth out,” the blond warns before lying on his back on the couch, in his bunny costume and all.

Todoroki calmly uncaps the bottle and kneels down next to the couch. Bakugou shivers as he feels the boy touch his navel, testing the depth a bit. It’s really weird but also strangely intimate. He’s the first guy to touch his belly button and everything.

Finally, Todoroki pours some tequila into his navel. It’s a bit cold through the fabric, but nothing much.

“What’s going on here?” Kirishima asks, coming back from dancing with the girls, all flushed and sweaty. He stops when he sees Todoroki kneeling, though. “...What is going on?”

“Just ignore us,” Bakugou asks, partly pleading. He throws an arm over his eyes with a groan, and the heat and intoxication hit so badly that he thinks he could fall asleep right then and there.

“I’m taking a body shot off Bakugou,” Todoroki explains.

“Oh. Cool, I guess,” Kirishima says, but something is off in his tone. “Um, I think I’ll go back to dancing. Have fun.”

Once his steps have disappeared in exchange for a new song starting, Bakugou drops his arm and looks over at Todoroki beside him. “What are you waiting for?” the blond asks. “Just do it already, geez.”

Todoroki nods right before leaning down. His lips over his skin, even through the latex-y fabric, it feels weird. The slurping sound is even weirder, though, the way the coldness leaves his body and leaves behind it only warmth and heat. Bakugou wants to wiggle in place to get the incredible flush taking over his entire body to disappear, but he can’t, because Todoroki’s lips are still attached to his stomach.

“Aren’t you done yet?”

Todoroki’s lips finally leave with a small pop, and when he’s back, kneeling straight beside Bakugou, those lips are red and glistening from the drink, and his eyes are half-lidded. Bakugou feels a churning in his stomach. It’s not one he particularly likes, not that he likes the pounding of his heart either.

“...About damn time,” he scoffs and sits up, a few drops of tequila running down the front of the bunny costume and dripping down his thighs. “I need to go clean up.”

“Do you need any help?” Todoroki asks.

“Like you’d be of any help drying my thighs.”

The boy is quiet for a moment, as if considering something, before replying, “Yeah. You’re probably right. Thanks for letting me take the body shot, though.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Bakugou stands up and quickly rushes off into the nearest bathroom. He forces the two 1-B kids out of the room and locks the door behind him. He leans over the sink and catches his breath before looking up into the mirror.

He is so fucking red.

“What’s wrong with me,” he whispers with a deep exhale. God, he’s going to die if this keeps going on. What “this” is, he doesn’t know. He just knows that Todoroki keeps catching him off-guard like a weakling.

Is the bastard doing it on purpose? Unnerving him? Getting all close in his personal space and damn near flirting with him? Is that what’s going on?

Maybe he should find out, once he’s calm. Bakugou digs out his phone from inside the cups of the bunny leotard, and types a text for Todoroki to meet him in the downstairs bathroom in exactly ten minutes. Then he leans back against the sink and groans, rubbing his face rough and hard.

“Do you think I’m a bad friend?” Kaminari asks, head buried in his hands. His guts are still misarranged from drinking all that crap as they sit outside on the porch. “Like, should I have dressed up with her?”

“Well, it was kind of crappy not to even let her know about a change of plans,” Ojiro admits. “Even if I’m glad we got to match.”

The night is far, far along, and Kaminari’s head spins. He playfully pats Ojiro’s thigh and says, “I’d dress up with you any day of the year, buddy.”

Ojiro frowns. “You’re still calling me that even though your tongue has been in my mouth?”

Kaminari blinks. He appears to fall through his body every time he closes his eyes. “I mean… yeah? I don’t know, what should I call you, then?”

“It really depends on if you still like Jirou or not.”

Kaminari groans and buries his head in his hands again. “Man, this is so complicated. I’m wasted and I have to decide who I like? While I’m wasted? While I’m deciding who I like?”

“...Yeah, you’ve definitely drunk too much.”

“I think I haven’t drunk enough!” He looks up from his hands and grins at Ojiro. “I did like kissing you, though. I don’t know if I’d like kissing Jirou as much. She’d be like… more embarrassed about it, I guess.”

The door opens behind them and Kaminari looks over his shoulder to see Monoma and Shinsou slipping out of the door, hand in hand. They step past Kaminari and Ojiro without a word and disappear towards the dormitory of class 1-B. They’re awfully touchy all the way there.

“Oh, they’re definitely fucking,” Kaminari chuckles before remembering the task at hand. “Right, us. Us. I think that if you were to ask me if I like you or Jirou more…”

“Yeah?” Ojiro asks calmly. That’s what Kaminari likes about him. He’s always calm and collected, but still cool. Like the perfect mix of a composed guy and a guy who agrees to dress up as drug manufacturers with him.

“I think that… I’d say…”

“What the hell is going on here?”

Kaminari’s eyes snap up, and soon his spine snaps straight as well, because his eyes rest on Aizawa, standing a few meters away from the porch with his brows furrowed and his arms crossed. Ojiro goes still as well.

“O— Oh, hey, teach,” Kaminari greets with a grin. The lights coming from inside are still flashing behind them, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that they are fucked.

“Don’t try any of that with me, just explain why the entire student body appears to be dancing inside your dorms.”

“Oh, well, you see—”

“Are you drunk?” Aizawa asks. Kaminari giggles nervously.

“...He only had a few,” Ojiro steps in. “It wasn’t our idea. I mean, neither was this party.”

Aizawa sighs and rubs his eyes. “...You could’ve just lied. Would’ve left me less paperwork and emails to write to your parents.” He starts walking over to them, and the boys quickly slide away from each other to make enough space for Aizawa to walk up the porch steps. “Stay here. This party ends now.”

Kaminari gulps, but the gulping only makes him want to throw up more, and he leans over to hurl into the bushes nearby. Ojiro awkwardly pats his back.

“I think we might be fucked, Denki.”

No one notices his arrival first, given the heavy intoxication and flashing lights and music and the fact that he kind of looks like a scary creature even without a costume. Only when he turns the real lights on does everyone go still and look around.

“Party’s over, kids,” Aizawa announces to the entire floor full of frozen adolescents as he pulls the plug on the stereos. Iida stands up straight in the corner like a man caught committing a serious crime while the girls try to hide behind Kirishima’s back. Aoyama places the bottle of booze in his hand back on the kitchen table. It’s rather full of other bottles, too. “I advise everyone except for class 1-A to get the hell out of here before I instruct your homeroom teachers to come pick you up.”

That gets things moving. People start running around, gathering their things and rushing out of the front door at the speed of light, meanwhile Aizawa starts looking into different rooms to announce the end of the party for everyone. Mineta tries to run past him with a bottle of vodka, but Aizawa quickly sends him back to the living room.

In the first floor storage room, Aizawa finds Togata and Amajiki caught in an embrace up until the moment they notice him, because that’s when they immediately slide apart.

“I expected better from the top students,” Aizawa mutters. “I take it you have no idea who brought the alcohol?”

Amajiki’s eyes are huge as both he and Togata shake their heads.

“No, sir! Just decided to have some fun with other classes!” the blond one of the two assures him. For some reason, Aizawa finds his words hard to believe. “We better head to our dorms, haha.”

As the two boys get up and try to pass by Aizawa, he stops them.

“If you have any leads… let me know, will you?”

“Of course, sir!” Togata chuckles nervously before grabbing Amajiki’s hand and hurrying out of the room, and then, out of the front door along with the others.

Next, he travels across the hall to the bathroom while some girls turn off the flashing, headache-inducing LED lights and start clearing off plastic cups and shot glasses from every possible surface.

The bathroom is locked, so Aizawa knocks and says, “Whoever is in there better come out if they don’t want detention for the rest of the term.”

He doesn’t exactly know what is happening inside the toilet, but he hears a lot of shuffling and some groans from inside the room before the door opens and a hesitant Todoroki and Bakugou come out. For some reason, Bakugou is in a bunny costume that he now awkwardly adjusts. And for some reason, Todoroki is wiping his mouth.

“...Hey, sir,” Todoroki greets Aizawa with a blush the shade of a tomato. Bakugou’s not much better. “Nice mission?”

“Don’t try that with me. Help the others clean up now.”

“Got it.”

Aizawa then starts climbing up the stairs and checking bedrooms to know if anyone maybe wasn’t a part of this grand scheme. First he finds Sato asleep, apologizes for waking him and asks him to go to the living room before continuing on.

He opens Uraraka’s bedroom door to see her and Midoriya sleeping on top of the sheets, spooning. Midoriya has clown makeup on. As serene as they do look, Aizawa clears his throat until they wake up.

“What is i—” Uraraka freezes at the sight of their teacher. “Ah, sir!”

Midoriya basically bounces so high up that his head hits the ceiling, and he starts bowing and apologizing before he has even been accused of anything.

“Please forgive me, sir, I didn’t want to drink or even party, really, but I got convinced! Please don’t expel me, oh, please don’t expel me—”

“Just gather in the living room, please,” Aizawa says with a sigh. “Both of you.”

The kids nod and quickly rush out of the room and down the stairs, completely red from head to toe. Aizawa closes the bedroom door and checks the following rooms.

They’re mostly empty, except for Jirou’s room. Upon opening the door, he is greeted with the unlucky sight of Jirou sucking hickeys into Tokoyami’s neck under the heavy rock soundtrack coming from her speakers.

“Please cease your activities,” Aizawa says with a cough, and the kids once again jump and stare at him wide-eyed. “I don’t want to know what is happening, but I do want you in the living room. Now.”

“Got it, sir,” Tokoyami says with a gulp, and like a walk of shame, the two travel out of the room, heads bowed down while the boy tugs the collar of his trenchcoat up to cover his neck.

Aizawa sighs and goes on to check the rest of the rooms that prove themselves empty, except for the one having two upperclassmen making out. He forces them out and groans to himself.

Finally, he can go back downstairs to greet his drunken class. “Finally” is not really the right word, because in reality he’d rather do almost anything than give a bunch of teens a lecture on underage drinking.

He signed up for this job, however, so he must.

Nearly all of them are swaying from one foot to the other as he meets them downstairs.

Aizawa crosses his arms and asks, “Would anyone care to explain what exactly transpired here tonight?”

It’s quiet, to no one’s surprise. Everyone’s looking down, ashamed, but Aizawa must get to the bottom of this because he has to report it to the headmaster before one of the students blabs first.

“...Yaoyorozu, care to explain?” Aizawa finally asks, because she was looking especially ashamed.

“Oh, um, well… At first, we were just trying to have a tame party with no alcohol. But… someone brought it, and things got out of hand. Nothing was broken, though,” she explains sheepishly. “I apologize for any trouble we have caused.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t exactly expecting to come down from a six-hour mission to find a bunch of my students drinking, vomiting, kissing and practicing oral sex.”

The teens look around in surprise, but Mineta’s the first one to ask, “Wait, who was getting laid?”

The class quickly starts debating and defending themselves against the accusations, with Kirishima especially looking worried, but Aizawa swiftly shuts the conversation down. “That is not my point. The point is that you have betrayed my trust, and now you have to clean this mess up.”

“Yes, sir, of course!” Iida and Uraraka say practically in unison.

“...I trust I don’t have to lecture you on why exactly this is bad. Instead, we’ll have a training session tomorrow at eight in the morning.”

“Eight!?” Sero shrieks.

“Your hangover is none of my concern. Now, clean up and go the hell to sleep. And if anyone knows who brought the alcohol, please let me know.”

Iida is about to say something, but Jirou quickly clasps a hand over his mouth. “None of us know anything, sir!” She eyes the tall boy. “Right, Iida?”

“...Right. We don’t know anything, sir.”

Aizawa sighs. He doesn’t get paid enough for this. “Please, don’t let this happen again, or I will expel every one of you.”

“...Yes, sir,” all of the teens say in unison, before starting to clean up the common area in shame.

Aizawa doesn’t miss the glances some of them exchange, like secret new deals and contracts have been formed in the length of one party. That’s none of his business, though. And it will be none of his business when they find the culprit who decided to throw the party, and who brought the alcohol.

It will be none of his business when class arrives on Monday morning and most of his students appear to have formed new relationships, sharing secret looks and touches like they think he’s a damn fool.