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They’d made a kind of game out of it.
On the walk to school, from their dorms to when they had to part ways at Eijirou’s desk, he and Katsuki would try to hold hands for as long as possible. If they had to let go and couldn’t grab back on after five seconds, then they lost and they couldn’t hold hands again for the rest of the walk.
It was a stupid game, Katsuki was aware of that. But the first time Eijirou had suggested it he’d had that challenging grin that he always sent him during training, and Katsuki wasn’t gonna dare back down from a challenge, no matter how menial.
And he really liked holding Eijirou’s hand, sue him.
Moving through the dorms was easy. Raising their arms over the heads of some of their classmates and briefly breaking contact around the taller ones and immediately grabbing onto each other a breath later, they ignored the eyerolls and snorts of laughter from everybody used to seeing their antics.
Cooking breakfast was a little trickier, but they made due with Katsuki’s right hand working the utensil while Eijirou’s left supported the bowl, and Katsuki got a lot better at flipping omelets one-handed. Eijirou still struggled with eating with his left, but his grip on Katsuki’s never wavered.
The walk to the main school building was where the real challenge began.
In the half hour before school began, the sidewalks on campus were flooded with other UA students leaving their dorm buildings, and with another rule of their game stating that they had to stay side by side as they walked, no dragging the other behind him through narrow gaps, there were multiple obstacles that could break them apart.
Not to mention the sabotage from their own classmates.
“Hey, Kiri!” Kaminari burst between them from behind, breaking through their joined hands like he was running through the paper strip across a finish line. His grin was way too wide for it to be an accident. “I’ve got a new game for us to check out after class!”
Alarm crossed Eijirou’s face just as it kicked up in Katsuki’s chest, and their hands shot out to lace back together tightly, with Katsuki tugging Eijirou so that Kaminari was on the redhead’s other side, their hands protected between them. And just like that they settled, Eijirou sending the moron a happy grin. “Sure man! What is it?”
Kaminari pouted at the failed attempt, but whatever he had to say next went unheard by Katsuki as a weight slammed into his back, the force alone almost making him let go of Eijirou’s hand. Almost.
“Blasty, give me a piggy back ride to class!” Ashido squealed in his ear, pink arms already looping around his shoulders.
“Fuck no.”
“But you’re strong, you can do it!”
“My arm is still healing, dumbass.” He didn’t have to keep it in a sling anymore, and he could fully wear his uniform jacket now, but carrying a whole person was still too much.
“Your other arm is fine though! You could carry me with just that one, easy!” The challenge was on her tongue, tantalizingly taunting.
But Katsuki had his own challenge to win. “And have your ass break that one too? Yeah right.” He ignored Ashido’s offended squawk as he shrugged her off of him, and he grinned as he ruffled up her hair before pushing her toward Kaminari. “Get Dunce Face to do it, he needs the strength training.”
“He’d be much nicer about it too,” Ashido said, sticking her tongue out at Katsuki like a child, but he just rolled his eyes. Real mature.
Kaminari did, in fact, carry Ashido all the way to the main building, and he didn’t even stagger from the weight that much. Maybe he was training more than Katsuki thought, finally.
There were more attempts from their classmates to break them apart. Uraraka and Jirou asked Eijirou for help carrying a huge stack of books they definitely didn’t need for the day, and he agreed like the lovable sunshine he was, carrying most of them under his one arm.
Deku came up to Katsuki with a weak challenge of who could sign their name better with their non-dominant hand, which was dumb. Katsuki had to use his for the last year while his right arm healed, of course he was better. He only had to let go of Eijirou’s hand for three seconds to prove it by leaving his autograph—perfectly written—in a page of Deku’s notebook and flipping him off before grabbing on again.
Todoroki even had the balls to break their contact just to hold one of their hands in each of his.
One
“Icy Hot, what the fuck?”
Two, three
“Sharing is caring,” he said, completely straight-faced.
Four-
Eijirou snorted, swinging Todoroki to his other side and taking Katsuki’s hand again, and he held Todoroki’s right hand in his left. “You could’ve just asked, dude.”
Katsuki growled as he glared at their clasped hands. Only he should be able to hold Eijirou’s hand.
A squeeze to his own had Katsuki looking to Eijirou’s face. His grin was crooked, teasing, and he lifted Katsuki’s hand to press his smiling lips to the back of it in a kiss.
Katsuki’s face rapidly heated and he quickly looked away, but his irritation also eased, warmth settling in his chest.
“Oh, do I get a kiss too?”
“Fuck off, Icy Hot!”
They made it to the main building with five minutes left before class started, and it was like every extra in the school decided to hang out in the hallway instead of going to their damn classrooms. There wasn’t a single gap for them to walk through.
Their hands were broken apart again as half of their own class surged between them, Sero taking up the rear as he smirked back at them. “Better hurry up before you’re late!”
Katsuki reached out to grab Eijirou’s hand again before it hit five seconds, pulling him to the side as he scowled at the sea of people ahead of them, tightly packed into the hallway. Katsuki didn’t want to lose the game, but they really would be late at this rate.
Eijirou frowned ahead in contemplation before looking back at Katsuki. “Up and over?”
Katsuki blinked in surprise. “You really wanna risk Aizawa’s wrath?”
Eijirou grinned, the grip on Katsuki’s hand tightening. “All for the game, right?”
Katsuki stared before he huffed, his own grin growing. Fuck it. He’s already faced death. What could be worse than that?
He worked his free hand in and out of a fist, collecting sweat into his palm. He’d need a lot to carry them both over the crowd to the 3-A classroom farther down the hall. His first real test since he started using his quirk in this hand again.
“Ready?”
Eijirou’s grin looked way too excited as he nodded.
He tightened his grip even more, his palm crackled, and they blasted into the air, the sound of the explosion and Eijirou’s cheer startling the students closest to them. Between the noise of his explosions it was dead silent in the hallway, all eyes on them as Katsuki shakily carried them over the crowd, his arm throbbing as he fired off explosions strong enough to keep them in the air but he wasn’t gonna stop, they were nearing the classroom, their classmates gathered in the doorway and watching in equal parts amazement and disbelief.
One more blast toward the door, and Katsuki flung Eijirou forward, their classmates backing out of the way as he landed in the doorway and skidded to a stop across the tile, then he was opening his arms for Katsuki to drop into. They didn’t hesitate to clasp their hands again, matching triumphant grins breaking across their faces. “We made it!”
“Fuck yeah!”
“Bakugou, Kirishima.”
All the students that had been gawking in the hallway scattered at the tired voice, revealing Aizawa, his gaze unimpressed. Their classmates in the room behind them scattered just as fast, leaving the two of them alone.
Eijirou quickly set Katsuki down, even if the grip on his hand tightened as he tensed, while Katsuki’s own blood ran cold. He hid it behind a defiant frown. “What? We’re not late.”
Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m glad that the strength in your arm is improving, but I shouldn’t have to explain why you two will be in detention after school.”
Katsuki clicked his tongue, looking away. “No, sensei.”
“Good. Now get to your seats.”
The idiot brigade didn’t even try to hide their snickering as they walked into the room, but Katsuki didn’t get as pissed about it as he normally would.
Because Eijirou squeezed his hand before letting go as they reached his row, and a grin of his own was pulling at his lips. “We won,” he whispered.
Katsuki bit back his own grin as he made his way over to his desk. Hell yeah, they did.