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First week of college and Katsuki wants to throw hands already. It takes all of his mental strength not to blow up in this purple-haired guy's face. They share most of their classes together, since apparently they're all studying journalism. And for their research class they've immediately been assigned into random groups. Their assignment is to try and find out as much as possible about their topic with the research tools they have on hand. Their professor wants to assess their general research skills. Katsuki's just out of luck that he's stuck with the dead-looking asshole and a blond, overly excited puppy. They're currently sitting in the library trying to start their research. It's not going so well and Katsuki wants to scream but he's learned some self-preservation, so he concentrates on the damn topic and tries to ignore the smooth voice to his right.
"I'm going to bullshit my way through this. It's a stupid topic, we'll be wasting our precious time. Time I could spend on more important things." The guy mutters and Katsuki bites the inside of his cheek while he continues to be the only one doing any work.
"But how? I know nothing about it." Puppy Eyes groans and Eyebags shrugs his shoulders. Katsuki is so fucking done with these extras. He's glad he's not holding a pen, or he would have snapped it in half already.
"Sounds like a 'you problem' ." Eyebags replies with nonchalance or boredom, Katsuki can't really tell but he's at his limit and he finally snaps.
"Of-fucking-course you know nothing about it, dumbass, that's why we're supposed to research it! We're supposed to show how far we can work on this topic with the tools we have on hand. You two numbskulls would know if you had paid attention."
He can hear the purple-haired emo let out a deep sigh and it boils Katsuki's blood.
"You're taking this first assignment way too fucking seriously–" The guy huffs before he has the audacity to lean into Katsuki's space to take a look at his laptop.
"Piss off! Go do your own research!" He yells but the guy stays, unperturbed by his outburst.
"Isn't this a group assignment?" Eyebags almost whispers into his ear and Katsuki feels the hairs on his neck stand up.
"Fuck off! This won't be a group project, if you two don't pull your own fucking weight!" He shouts and Eyebags rolls his eyes as he finally leaves Katsuki's personal space.
"You know there's no need to yell, right? We're right here ." Eyebags' deep voice rumbles and Katsuki clenches his jaw as he holds the other's gaze. He counts to ten in his head to calm himself down.
"Sorry, uh, Bakugou, was it?" Puppy Eyes chimes in and Katsuki looks over to be met by a truly apologetic look and he has to stay strong in order not to let this asshole wrap him around his finger. Puppy Eyes stretches over the table and his shirt rides up just enough to expose his lower back. Katsuki bites his tongue and concentrates on his screen. Fuck them for being hot, it's the only thing those two have going for them.
"Yeah, your sorry isn't worth anything if you don't actually try and work on this shitty assignment." Katsuki grumbles and then Eyebags sighs again, scrolling through his phone mindlessly.
Katsuki feels so angry with the guy, he is about to yell at him again when Eyebags looks up and shoves his phone display at his face. Katsuki sputters at the action.
"Alright. This is what I found with a simple google search. I could be doing more but the fact you decided to be some sort of temper tantrum princess -" Katsuki gasps at the nickname "-and start on this project without even talking to us, is the reason why I'm not 'pulling my weight'!" Eyebags underlines his last words with air quotes and Katsuki slams his laptop shut as his anger boils over.
"Oh get off your fucking high horse!" He grits out, "You weren't serious about this shit in class, why the fuck would outside be any different? You're clearly proving my point!"
They glare at one another and Eyebags opens his mouth to say something when Puppy Eyes interrupts.
"You two are way too angry at one minor group assignment. We can probably research this in two afternoons with some nice drinks and some really tasty pastries! There's this cute bakery down the street that is open until eight p.m. so we have plenty of time to work on this stuff there."
Puppy Eyes smiles at them while he's crossing his arms like he's won some fucking tournament. Katsuki narrows his eyes.
"Oh and Shinsou is right, you did kind of do your own thing without talking to us first." Puppy Eyes adds and Katsuki wants to punch something or someone; he's not picky.
"I could go for a coffee." Eyebags hums in conclusion to the interruption and Katsuki doesn't want to leave the college library but somehow both of the extras pack their things and move along. And then they're waiting for him, courtesy of Puppy Eyes.
Katsuki goes through an inner fight before his rational side wins over his emotional one and begrudgingly puts his stuff into his bag and drags himself toward the other two.
The bakery is pretty cute, if someone were to care about it. Katsuki doesn't. All he wants is one of those sandwiches and a black coffee. Eyebags, or Shinsou, makes a face at his order before he has the audacity to get the same fucking thing.
"Copy-cat." Katsuki huffs under his breath and Shinsou looks over to stick out his tongue at him.
"I'd like a vanilla latte with a pump of hazelnut and a slice of strawberry cheesecake."
Katsuki tries hard not to roll his eyes at Puppy Eyes', or as he learns, Kaminari's order. The fact Eyebags is also struggling not to break his poker face makes Katsuki feel at least somewhat better.
They take up a corner table in the far back and while they eat, Kaminari starts to go on a tangent about why the bakery is his favourite spot for breakfast. Katsuki only half listens.
"So, what's our game plan?" Shinsou asks once Kaminari is done with his rant. Katsuki takes a sip of his coffee while he watches Kaminari look thoroughly confused between them. Shinsou raises his brow, clarifying: "For the assignment."
Katsuki always thinks comics or tv shows overact the whole lightbulb moment. But then Kaminari makes that exact face and Katsuki is almost certain a lightbulb may actually appear over his head.
"Got it. How 'bout we collect our resources and tools and then each of us uses one or two and we put everything together and then we compare our results?"
It surprises Katsuki how much sense Kaminari's jumble of words make and he hums agreeingly. It's a solid strategy after all.
"Sounds good. I'm calling dibs on the basic google search." Shinsou mutters. He swirls his coffee around, not looking at them for confirmation. Not that Katsuki cares. Using the basic google engine is probably the biggest nuisance. He'd rather use the website of their library and he says as much.
Kaminari is fine with that and chooses to use the academic research tool he'd gotten access to by friends a grade above.
They work in silence, all of them listening to their own music and using their respective tools to make progress on their assignment.
A solid two hours and a few coffees later, Katsuki feels like his head will explode. He saves his sources and closes his laptop with a deep sigh.
Kaminari is still seemingly engrossed in his research while Shinsou seems to have stopped entirely. He's leaning back against the couch cushion, eyes closed and cat-ear headphones over his messy purple hair. Katsuki can see the dark roots growing out. Still, for some reason the purple suits Shinsou and maybe, relaxed and not throwing insults or being a right little shit, he looks kind of nice. And maybe Katsuki's gay is showing. He curses quietly and gulps down the rest of his coffee to distract himself.
He is not that desperate, even if it's been a while since he's not only been with someone but also has gotten laid. He will stay strong and not go for the first cute guy he sees. Especially if that cute guy is an asshole. Not that people wouldn't sort Katsuki himself into this category. He is self aware.
He collects their empty cups and plates and brings them over to the tray cart. As he turns around he gets a great view of their table from afar and blinks a little like he can't believe his eyes. Kaminari is chewing on his necklace while he's typing away and skipping through his music and fuck if Katsuki doesn't think that's the cutest shit he's seen in a while. And then he wants to slap himself. He cannot be this desperate that he's feeling attracted to both of these losers.
He decides that punching himself may cause a scene he doesn't want or need and therefore opts for the next best thing. It takes him five long strides until he's in the restroom of the small bakery and he splashes some water in his face. His reflection looks tired. He frowns at his image, pointing his finger and hisses quietly: "Get your shit together."
He leaves the bathroom to find Shinsou back with the living. He watches Kaminari intently before taking notice of Katsuki's approach.
"You're back. You took your sweet time." Shinsou comments sarcastically and Katsuki is reminded why he doesn't like Shinsou.
"Fuck off. As if your sleepy ass even noticed my absence." He shoots back but Shinsou is nothing if not prepared. He smirks.
"I did notice the stench of sweat leaving the table."
Katsuki's scowl deepens and just as he is about to retort something nasty, Kaminari slams his laptop shut and obnoxiously exhales a: "Fuck me!"
Katsuki and Shinsou both stare at Kaminari who has popped his in-ears out and laid his head on the table.
"I can't. This is too much. It's killing me. I think I'm not cut out for this shit." Kaminari rambles and Katsuki's eyes trail over to Shinsou, who meets his gaze. They share a look of mutual understanding and Katsuki doesn't know why they seem capable of communicating without words.
"Alright. I think all of us did enough research for the day. We should head home, get some rest and then see when we can meet up to continue this." Shinsou suggests, patting Kaminari's back comfortingly. Katsuki hasn't expected Shinsou to be capable of being nice. Or maybe Shinsou's niceness just doesn't extend to Katsuki.
"Come on, give me your numbers and I'll make us a group chat so we can exchange our stuff and work out another time to meet up." Shinsou unlocks his phone and waits expectantly for one of them to make a move. Katsuki sighs but takes Shinsou's phone anyway and adds his contact.
Kaminari watches it all with exhaustion but once Katsuki holds out the phone to him, Kaminari wakes back up and takes it. It finds its way back to Shinsou with two new contacts.
"Right. I'll add you two later once I'm back at my dorm. My data is pretty low right now." Shinsou hums and Katsuki only nods his head. He doesn't really care. And so they part ways with their numbers exchanged and some sort of progress made.
Katsuki just hopes he'll be able to survive college and not get any more stupid group assignments.
The group chat turns out to be a disaster, in Katsuki's honest opinion. Not because they don't manage to coordinate another afternoon work date - they do just fine - but because Kaminari apparently views them as his new college besties and is now spamming the group chat with memes, tiktoks or personal three a.m. rants (which Shinsou somehow always reacts to immediately).
At some point, without Katsuki noticing at first, Kaminari changes the name from 'research assignment' to 'hot hunks hangout' .
Katsuki has absolutely no idea how Kaminari got even inspired for this name. But any attempt at changing it back will very likely result in an even worse name and Katsuki simply doesn't have the energy for that, so he accepts it without further comment.
And since Kaminari is now convinced they're besties, Shinsou matches his energy by reacting to anything sent in the chat with either a skull, a hundred or a cat emoji. There's no in-between and Katsuki mutes the chat on day two.
They meet up again on Friday. This time, Shinsou invites them over to his shitty dorm room and Katsuki only agrees because it's a five minute walk from his last class.
He arrives perfectly on time and enters the building code Shinsou gave them. At least there's some security keeping non-students out of the dorms. He's glad his own building has an easy code to remember. He also notes that Shinsou's dorm is on the other side of campus.
Plenty of students roam the building and Katsuki power walks past them, no care for anyone he might accidentally run into. Some actually glare at him and Katsuki merely scowls their way.
He makes it to room number three hundred and fifteen. For a moment Katsuki contemplates knocking nicely but then there's a chance he might be able to annoy Shinsou and so he takes a deep breath and starts knocking very obnoxiously.
He keeps it up until the door swings open and Shinsou glares down at him, his eyebags a deep dark blue on his pale skin. How he looks this good dead tired, Katsuki doesn't want to ponder.
"Are you trying to punch my door in?" Shinsou hisses and Katsuki shrugs his shoulders like he hasn't just done this purely to be an asshole.
"Not my fault your door can't handle me." He scoffs and pushes past Shinsou.
"Yes, because my wooden door is at fault for you being overly extra in everything you do." Shinsou slams the door shut, which Katsuki thinks is worse than his knocking but it's not his room, so he doesn't care.
"I see Dunce Face is not here yet." He looks around the room and finds it as exciting as his own. There are two singular beds and each side of the room sports a desk and a wardrobe. There's a bathroom to their right and Katsuki is a little jealous to find it has a shower. His own dorm has communal showers but at least a toilet adjacent to each dorm room. Shinsou got lucky to be housed in one of the newer buildings.
"You mean Kaminari? Yeah, he texted he'd be running late."
Shinsou moves past Katsuki toward his bed and throws himself into the covers. The bed creaks ominously, like it's on his last leg.
"Fuck when did he text that?" Katsuki is absolutely not looking forward to hanging out with Shinsou by himself. And it's not because Shinsou annoys him, he can handle himself. It's more the fact that he finds Shinsou attractive to the point he can't deny it to himself anymore. Not that it would be different with Kaminari alone but at least Kaminari is oblivious to these things and Katsuki doesn't think he'll even consider a man finding him attractive.
"He texted like ten minutes ago into the group chat. You know, 'hot hunks hangout' ?"
Hearing Shinsou say the obnoxious name of their chat out loud does something to Katsuki's stomach and to his face. He feels it heat up and busies himself with checking the muted chat. There it is, an unread message by Puppy Eyes.
>Running late, need to pick up a package for my mom.
"So, who do you think he finds more attractive?" Shinsou asks and it takes a second for the words to fully register with Katsuki. Once they do, his head snaps up and he stares at Shinsou, who's looking up at Katsuki like he expects an honest answer.
"The fuck do you mean?"
Shinsou rolls his eyes before pointing between them, "Do I have to spell everything out for you?" He stares at Katsuki for another second before sighing, "Right. I mean, out of the two of us, who do you think he finds more attractive?"
That clarification doesn't clarify anything for Katsuki. He's certain Kaminari doesn't really swing that way and if he does then probably not for two assholes like Shinsou and him.
"Fuck if I know. Why does it matter? You think he's into you?" Katsuki grumbles. He crosses his arms.
"Hm. I think he's actually into you. He likes your blunt asshole attitude." Shinsou counters and Katsuki's breath hitches a little. He tries to play it cool.
"What makes you say that?"
The atmosphere is getting tense with the way Shinsou looks at Katsuki with piqued interest and mild annoyance. He looks to the ceiling and then back at Katsuki.
"Because I have eyes, shithead."
That's the stupidest explanation Katsuki has ever heard. He has eyes too, damn it and he has not seen Kaminari look at him any differently than he looks at Shinsou.
"Good job, doesn't explain anything." He grits out and Shinsou sits up, legs now crossed and looking at Katsuki like he's the stupid one.
"You're so fucking blind it's actually unbelievable– I thought you were super smart. Kaminari eye-fucks you all the time, dude!"
Shinsou's voice cracks at the end and if Katsuki didn't know any better, he'd say Shinsou sounds jealous. And because Katsuki is a little shit, he narrows his eyes at Shinsou and says as if it's fact: "You're jealous."
Katsuki didn't think he'd ever get to see Shinsou lose his façade. He sputters and turns bright red and it satisfies Katsuki way too much for his own good. He smirks at him with newfound glee.
"Oh my god you are!" He exclaims, just to rub it in and Shinsou throws his pillow at him.
"You know fucking nothing!" Shinsou shouts and Katsuki throws the pillow back.
"Oh don't I." Katsuki grins at Shinsou's reddened face. It's just too good; he almost forgets the insinuation that Kaminari actually does swing that way and is in fact attracted to him.
"You like Puppy Eyes and it bothers you that he finds me attractive!" Katsuki can't help the joy he feels at being able to bully Shinsou with this information.
"Fuck you!" Shinsou huffs, "You don't know anything. Good thing you're fucking blind and oblivious. Yeah, Kaminari is hot but I'm not jealous of you."
There's a strange glint to Shinsou's eyes and Katsuki tries his best to figure out what he means when there's a loud knock. They both tear their eyes from each other and Shinsou scrambles to his feet and opens the door.
Kaminari is just as red as Shinsou was a second ago. He's heaving for air and Katsuki knows he must have run all the way.
"Sorry for being late. What did I miss?"
Shinsou looks over to Katsuki and Katsuki wants to embarrass him but there's a second where he realises that throwing Shinsou under the bus will result in his own embarrassment. He holds Shinsou's gaze for a moment.
"Nothing." They say simultaneously and Kaminari looks at them in confusion and a moment later in suspicion.
"Right," He states, his eyes narrowed, "Well you two better not be having secrets from me."
They shake their heads and Kaminari deems that good enough to drop his things and jump onto Shinsou's bed.
Despite their previous conversation, Katsuki doesn't really get the feeling that Kaminari is into him. There's three options as to why. Either Kaminari is really good at hiding it. Or Katsuki is genuinely really blind or -and in Katsuki's opinion the most likely to be true- Shinsou is messing with him.
The whole thing throws Katsuki completely off his A-Game and he barely gets any research done. It wouldn't be half as bad if Shinsou and Kaminari didn't notice.
"You okay? You haven't typed or touched your mouse in ten minutes and you look really deep in thought." Kaminari's voice cuts through to Katsuki. Next to him, Shinsou snorts into his fist and Katsuki punches his shoulder lightly. The fact Shinsou probably knows it's about the whole conversation from before, annoys Katsuki to no end.
"You guys do have secrets from me!"
It's not fair to Katsuki how smart Kaminari is with people. He notices this stuff way too quickly and Katsuki doesn't know how else to save himself but to go full on attack mode.
"Eyebags' was asking me who I think out of the two of us you'd be most attracted to!"
For the first time this week, Katsuki feels like his struggles with these two were worth it.
Kaminari's expression is indescribable and Katsuki has a hard time not laughing at him. He's doing his best though. Shinsou on the other hand, looks both mortified and murderous and Katsuki almost breaks when he sees his face.
The silence after his statement stretches for at least a full minute until Kaminari recovers with a quiet "What the fuck?"
And Katsuki wants to console him by saying that they couldn't come to a conclusion and no one needs to be attracted to anyone here bla bla but then Kaminari asks with brutal honesty: "Am I this obvious?" and all words die on Katsuki's tongue.
It's his turn to gape and he can hear Shinsou snort, likely at him though Kaminari's head snaps over and he pouts Shinsou's way.
"This isn't funny!" Kaminari frowns, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It's really nothing serious."
Katsuki doesn't want Kaminari to admit to liking him. He doesn't really need this whole drama. Best case scenario, Kaminari just stops talking altogether.
"You didn't make anyone uncomfortable." Shinsou hums reassuringly. He's way better at this than Katsuki. "So, I was betting you're more attracted to Blasty over here. Was I right?"
Katsuki can't believe Shinsou would go to such lengths but Kaminari, despite being bright red, shakes his head. That hurts Katsuki's stupid feelings more than he likes to admit.
"I don't like either of you more than the other. I like both of you. Or like, not like, we barely know each other but I'm kind of attracted to both of you." He rambles to clarify and suddenly Katsuki doesn't know what to say. How the fuck did they get here? Hasn't he been feeling the same way with them? He thinks both of them are hot or cute in their own way though he likes to deny it to himself.
"Wow, guess I was wrong all along. Though, I suppose I don't mind looking at either of you, too" Shinsou remarks. He leans back against the wall, watching their faces for a reaction. Katsuki doesn't really know what his face looks like right now. All he knows is that the probability of three strangers finding each other equally attractive at the same fucking time is almost zero.
"Well fuck Blasty, got anything to say?" Shinsou pokes his arm and Katsuki blinks back to reality. He scowls and Kaminari immediately takes it the wrong way.
"Oh my god, we're sorry Bakugou! We don't mean to make you uncomfortable and we're not making moves here. You'll be totally safe and you can totally tell us to fuck off if we're overstepping boundaries or-"
Katsuki interrupts, "Shut the hell up, Puppy Eyes! Who said anything about making me uncomfortable? Sure, you two are annoying, for different reasons but I'm more annoyed with the fact you look way too cute when you're concentrating which distracts me and Eyebags looks too good while also being an asshole who isn't afraid to stand up to me and that's uh-"
He trails off as he realises he's probably vocalising way too many way too personal thoughts he's previously tried to shove away into the back of his mind.
Kaminari looks a little taken aback while also sporting some very reddened cheeks and Shinsou looks positively smug.
Katsuki usually goes into the offensive when he's feeling threatened, which he is feeling somehow right now but instead he takes the defensive and hides in his hands.
"Ya know what, forget I said anything." He mumbles into his palms and then he can hear Kaminari let out a deep breath and Shinsou snort. He feels the bed shift and then someone is grabbing his wrists and Katsuki wants to scream because all of this is way too embarrassing for him.
"You know, I didn't think you'd be the shy type, Bakugou." That's Shinsou's voice and Katsuki is almost a hundred percent certain he's the one pulling on his wrists. "Come on, this is no reason to hide. Or are we your gay awakening? Because then I'd totally understand."
Katsuki scoffs at the suggestion and stops fighting Shinsou who manages to pull his hands away from his face. Katsuki takes a deep breath before he opens his eyes again. There's a crooked smile adorning Shinsou's face and Katsuki wants to wipe it off with whatever means necessary. Kaminari scoots closer to them and it draws Katsuki's attention. The other's face is flushed red and Katsuki feels at least a little consoled by the fact Kaminari is just feeling as embarrassed as he is.
"So?" Shinsou hums into the awkward silence and Katsuki evades either one's gaze.
"Well, we should probably continue our work." He murmurs.
"Totally. But to be honest, I'm not really feeling like it after all of this." Kaminari admits and Katsuki would probably agree if it weren't so embarrassing.
"I vote we grab some food, hang out and see what the night brings? I'm not feeling overly productive right now and my roommate is about to return. He's super annoying so we better leave before he comes back." Shinsou gets up, tiptoeing past his scattered bag and some papers.
"Fine. I guess we can go grab food." Katsuki obliges, closing his laptop and carefully stuffing it back into his bag.
"Heh, guess it's a date then!" Kaminari exclaims and Katsuki stares at him with raised brows. Next to him, Shinsou smirks, throwing them their jackets before grabbing his wallet and keys.
"I'll take you up on that Kaminari!" Shinsou declares and Kaminari blushes but nods his head fervently. Katsuki can't believe he's agreeing to this but as the other two look at him expectantly he feels like he can't deny them - or himself. He shakes his head, looks to the ceiling and then back to Shinsou and Kaminari.
"If it's a date, I expect to be fucking wooed. So you losers better give it your all!"
Kaminari and Shinsou laugh at his words and Katsuki can't help but smile in return. Maybe he doesn't hate being paired with a tired-looking asshole and a puppy-eyed blond.