Work Text:
1
It was a Saturday afternoon, and it was thundering outside, leaving most of Class 3A in the dorm common room, with the remaining students in their respective rooms.
Bakugou and Kirishima were engaged in a competitive game of Street Fighter on the large communal TV while Sero and Kaminari cheered and critiqued the gameplay.
Uraraka and Asui were drawing mandalas on pieces of looseleaf, and handing them over to Ashido and Hagakure to colour in. Midoriya was cutting the designs out intricately, while Ojiro was stringing the papers together. They were creating some sort of garland for the end of term party the class was throwing in the coming weeks.
Jirou and Tokoyami were beading bracelets on the floor, some sort of soft rock album playing in the background.
And Shoto sat with Yaoyorozo and Ida at the kitchen table, taste testing whatever Sato was baking in the kitchen.
“Mh, what do you think, Todoroki?” Yaoyorozo asked in regards to the cupcake Sato had given them to try. She wiped her mouth with a folded napkin, dabbing the edges on the corner of her mouth. Always so proper.
Shoto mirrored her action, reflecting on the cupcake he had just consumed. “Sato’s baked goods are always nice.”
Yaoyorozo smiled, “Something on your mind, Todoroki? You look spacey.”
Shoto shrugged as he zeroed in on the loudest part of the room: the Street Fighter game.
Kaminari was clapping Kirishima on the back, telling him to watch out for Bakugou’s infamous combo move, and Sero snickered as Bakugou’s health bar depleted.
Bakugou started yelling at his in-game character, while Kirishima couldn’t stop laughter from pouring out of his mouth as Bakugou brought the hand not holding the controller to Kirishima’s ribs and started tickling him as a last ditch attempt at victory.
“Hey, not fair! Dude—HAHAHAA—” Shoto heard the fall of Kirishima’s controller as the redhead fell to his side on the sofa, Bakugou’s hands ticking the wheezing redhead’s neck. Bakugou’s controller fell to the ground as well.
“Katsuki!” Kirishima exclaimed between laughs. “You know I’m ticklish! Mercy! Dude!”
Bakugou was all over Kirishima, hands on his ribs, on his back, under his neck, on his chest. For someone so averted to physical contact, Bakugou seemed to be having no problem here.
Sero and Kaminari were laughing along like this happened all the time. Like the Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight reaching over to tickle Kirishima was nothing out of the ordinary.
Sero and Kaminari picked up the controllers and continued the game, not peeling their eyes off the blaring lights of the television, while Bakugou and Kirishima, having calmed down now, were in their own little world, laying pressed against each other on the sofa, the tickling having stopped.
Shoto felt like he was witnessing something private as Bakugou ran his hand through Kirishima’s hair and mumbled something inaudible. They were laying on their sides facing each other.
And Kirishima shoved Bakugou off the sofa.
“Fucker!” Bakugou swore, as if Kirishima were the one to make him lose the match.
“That’s what you get for messing up my win, dude!” Kirishima barked a laugh and came down on the floor to join Bakugou. They sat right beside each other and commented on the game play. Bakugou rested his head on Kirishima’s shoulder, and it seemed as if they had melted into one another.
Everything went back to normal. Shoto’s world was flipped upside down.
“Todoroki?” Yaoyorozo brought him back to the conversation by waving a hand in front of his face. “Are you alright?”
Shoto nodded, “Uh, just… what do you think of Bakugou and Kirishima?” He lowered his voice so as to not get caught talking about his classmates.
Yaoyorozo’s face scrunched up, “Why do you ask? Bakugou‘s got determination and Kirishima’s got guts. They’re both strong fighters and competent heros.”
“No, what do you think of them together?”
Yaoyorozo thought for a second, bringing a finger up to her chin. “They balance each other out.”
Shoto sighed. Yaoyorozo didn’t understand his angle. “Did you… see that, just now? What they were doing?”
Momo raised an eyebrow skeptically, “See what?”
“Nevermind.” Shoto said. Maybe he had read into it too much.
—
2
Shoto, Midoriya, and Bakugou were walking back to the dorms from the train station. They had just come back from a two week long work study with Endeavour.
”Tough mission, huh?” Midoriya asked the boys.
Shoto nodded, “Pretty tired.”
They waited for Bakugou’s response. The blond was too caught up on his phone, typing away.
“You should look where you’re going, Kacchan.” Midoriya warned.
Bakugou scoffed, still clicking at his phone screen.
“You’ve been on your phone the whole train ride.” Shoto commented, curious as to what Bakugou was doing. This wasn’t usual for the blond.
“Shuddup.” He replied.
Shoto did not fear death as he peaked over Bakugou’s shoulder.
Shoto read the name of who Bakugou was texting. It came as no surprise to see Eijirou. What did come as a surprise was the ‘<3’ tacked on the end of the name.
“Oi, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Bakugou seethed as he clicked off his phone and pocketed it. “Ever heard of privacy?”
”Why are you texting Kirishima so much?” Shoto asked.
“None of your business. Fucking pick up the pace, you two walk so damn slow.” Bakugou started increasing the pace of his walk. Shoto and Midoriya watched Bakugou take the lead.
“Kirishima is the only one Kacchan will text unrelated to hero work.” Midoriya whispered to Shoto.
Shoto raised an eyebrow, “Why?”
Midoriya rolled his eyes, “God knows.”
What was that supposed to mean?
“I’ve asked Kacchan about him and Kirishima so many times, and he just says I’m invading on his privacy each time. I’ve just stopped wondering at this point.”
“So… are they… you know?” Shoto asked, trying to solve the mystery.
“Huh? Dating?” Midoriya burst out in laughter, “I think I would know if Kacchan was gay. We’re childhood friends!”
Shoto was well aware that Midoriya and Bakugou were childhood friends– Midoriya did not need to state that again. What he was skeptical of though, was that statement. He had never had any childhood friends himself, but was positive that childhood friends didn’t know absolutely everything about one another. Especially something that was subject to change, like having a crush.
“Bakugou might not be gay. There’s a lot of terms he could go by.” Shoto commented.
Midoriya waved him off, “Always with your crazy theories, huh Sho? If Kacchan was dating Kirishima… heck, I don’t even think I can imagine Kacchan dating anyone.” Midoriya laughed to himself, as if they were talking about something absurd and out of the realm of possibility.
Shoto thought his assumptions were plausible, despite Midoriya’s claims, now that he’s seen the heart that was placed behind Kirishima’s contact name on Bakugou’s phone.
“Bakugou calls Kirishima by first name. Even has a heart on his contact.” Shoto pointed out.
“Was it a red heart?” Midoriya asks, intrigued.
“It was the emoticon variant. So no.”
Midoriya sighed. If it was a red heart would that really change anything? Midoriya plastered a smile on like this conversation was one he’d thought of many times before. “Your hero name is your first name. Doesn’t mean that everyone who calls you Shoto is dating you! Plus, knowing him and Kirishima it’s probably an inside joke of sorts.”
Midoriya said this with such certainty that even Shoto was convinced that he was blowing Bakugou’s relationship capabilities out of proportion.
Was Bakugou even able to display his affection? He still hadn’t let up the habit of calling Shoto “half-n-half bastard”.
Shoto was sure the blond would more likely explode than kiss anyone.
But all at once when they approached the dorms, Shoto was proven extremely wrong. Comical, to a point.
Kirishima was walking towards them, and Bakugou, ahead of them, stopped and opened his arms wide, waiting for a hug. Kirishima took him up on the offer. Bakugou and Kirishima stayed like that for a while, whispering to each other until Midoriya and Shoto caught up to them. Bakugou’s face was buried in Kirishima’s sweatshirt, and if you asked Shoto, he’d say that Bakugou’s shoulders were shaking.
“Hey Midoriya! Todoroki!” Kirishima greeted high fiving the two boys while Bakugou wrapped his arms tighter around Kirishima’s waist, inaudible.
And when Midoriya and Shoto were well past them, Shoto glanced back, and saw Bakugou wipe tears from his face with the sleeve of his hoodie, then he had seen Bakugou press a chaste peck on Kirishima’s lips. He couldn’t believe it.
Shoto rubbed his eyes, convinced the lack of sleep he’d had recently finally gotten to him. When he stared back at the scene, Bakugou and Kirishima looked like nothing had just happened.
When Shoto tried to tell his friends, no one believed him, chalking it up to Shoto being delusionally tired after two weeks abroad.
Blasty? Kissing Kirishima? I would think it to be the other way around!
Kacchan and Kirishima were just hugging, Sho. They were pretty close together, so you might have thought that. But Kacchan and I were childhood friends, so I’d have it figured out by now.
If my boy Kiri was dating anyone, I would know!
They just have a nice friendship, Todoroki. Please stop overanalyzing— here, have a cup of tea to destress.
Todo, I know yaoi’s pretty popular these days, but dude… Kirishima? Okay, I can kinda see Bakugou, but Kirishima?
Shoto knew what he saw though.
—
3
It was Valentine’s Day. All of Class 3-A was incredibly hyped up, plastering the dorm entrance with paper hearts, baking assortments of sweets together, and passing around various gifts. After the war in first year, any opportunity for a celebration wasn’t taken for granted, and after all the chocolate everyone had eaten, they were all quite tired.
So they all piled on to the dorm couches and huddled on the ground to watch cheesy rom coms in the common room.
Kaminari! For the last time, Megamind is NOT a romcom!
But, think about it, Roxanne technically–
I wanna watch The Notebook!
But there’s no action in that, Toru!
Oh shit! Sero! Watch your elbows, you totally spilled this on me!
Gah, my bad! Wait, lemme get a napkin or something…
Well, the class was trying to watch a romcom.
Todoroki observed his bickering classmates, finding some comfort in their mindless amblings. He was beside Ida and Midoriya on the sofa, and while doing some people watching, his eyes wandered to the only two members of Class A not engaged in conversation with everyone.
Kirishima and Bakugou. They were seated on the floor in front of the sofa, leaning on it, but more so leaning on each other. Bakugou was practically on Kirishima’s lap, and was whispering things in Kirishima’s ear that was making his shoulders shake a bit, and from what Shoto could see, a smile split across the redhead’s face.
“Sho, whatcha staring at?” Midoriya asked from his right, mouth full of salted chips as he passed the bag to Shoto.
“Huh? Oh…”He took a few chips and tossed them into his mouth. He wasn’t aware he was being so obvious. He lowered his voice, “Kirishima and Bakugou. They’re in their own little world.”
In fact, while Kirishima was actively participating in the cookie baking and card decorating of the day, Bakugou hadn’t joined in, deciding instead to just hover around the redhead all day. Bakugou had sat with Kirishima and whispered all day. Giggling and whispering, giggling and whispering, it was driving Shoto a bit insane watching them. He didn’t know why he couldn’t peel his eyes away, it was like he had a romcom going on right in front of him.
“Do you think Bakugou lost his voice?” He asked Midoriya. To which Midoriya returned his confused stare.
“I had to quiet Bakugou’s storm of yelling this morning.” Ida chimed in.
Midoriya sighed and scratched his neck, “Kacchan’s never been one for Valentine’s Day, I’m surprised he’s even down here with the class, honestly. He’s never been big on love.” He ended that statement with a chuckle, and Shoto remembered Bakugou’s bullying nature in his middle school days.
“Are you sure?” Shoto asked.
“I’m his childh–”
“Childhood friend, yes Midoriya, I am very much aware. But I’m telling you, Bakugou’s changed around Kirishima.”
Ida shrugged, “Of course he has, that’s his best friend.”
“Yeah, they make each other better with a Plus-Ulta attitude!” Izuku, bless his heart, tacked on, pumping his fist.
Shoto sighed, frustrated. This was not the right group to be having this conversation with. Maybe he needed to get Ashido’s opinion, or Hagakure’s.
As he scanned the common room to look for a possible candidate to hold discussion with, he saw it: Bakugou bit Kirishima’s ear. So quickly, the two erupted into hushed laughter after, and Shoto felt as though he were invading on something private as Kirishima swatted Bakugou away with his hand and Bakugou fell on him. They repositioned themselves to be seated upright once again, but Shoto could swear he saw their hands link before going under the blanket they were sharing.
He nudged Midoriya, “Did you see that?” He gestured in the direction of the couple of the night.
Midoriya and Ida just exchanged a glance and began laughing at Shoto.
Maybe Kaminari had spiked the punch again or something.
—
4
It was a mission in America, and with the nation’s symbol Star and Stripe gone after fighting for Japan, it was Japan’s duty to send help in for America. Bakugou, Izuku, and Shoto were stationed in Phoenix, which Bakugou was delighted by due to the warmer climate than their last posting in Minneapolis.
“Ei would love this.” Bakugou commented as he devoured a plate of chicken wings they’d stopped to get at one of the airport stalls. They had a red eye flight, and the group was quite hungry after the lengthy duration of plane time.
“Friend of yours?” Burnin asked the boys. She’d gone along to accompany them, no matter how many times Shoto had insisted that they were 18 now, and were perfectly capable of handling themselves at the airport. But Endevour had noted that Burnin spoke fluent English, having grown up abroad, and would give the agency some peace of mind over the boys.
Shoto didn’t mention the fact that the “boys” Endevour was referring to literally fought Japan’s largest war at 16 years old. But Shoto didn’t mind Burnin, she was always like a fun aunt to him.
Bakugou nodded in response to Burnin’s question, wiping his sauce-covered face with the back of his hand , “Yeah, Red Riot.”
Burnin’s eyebrows shot up as Shoto reflected on how sticky Bakugou’s hands must be. Gross. “Hey! He’s pretty popular in the magazines nowadays, huh?” Burnin drove her fork into her buffalo chicken salad with starved passion. Was buffalo chicken from buffalos themselves? The offspring of a buffalo and a chicken? Or the dressing that the chicken was drenched in? Shoto never knew the answer.
Midoriya perked up at the mention of hero media, “Yes, Kirishima made the front cover of Hero!Japan last month, and his issue sold five times the usual amount! This month he’s on WOWHERO’s cover, Japan Media Central’s largest network of tabloids. Currently in the voting ranks for Handsomest Heroes in the Kyoto Men’s annual poll, now that he’s 18, and when he ages up he’s a top ranking contender–”
Midoriya’s muttering was cut off by Bakugou’s scoff, though it sounded like a happy sort of noise if you asked Shoto, accompanied by a smirk that was the same one Bakugou wore after winning a battle. “Ei’s fucking awesome. Manly as hell.”
Shoto nodded in agreement. He did admire his upbeat classmate, but something in the way Bakugou had said the compliment, with a… lovestruck look in his eyes. That has got to be love, the way Bakugou’s eyes went slightly lidded at the mention of the redhead. That’s how Shoto looked at soba.
Shoto shot Midoriya a look, hoping he’d caught Bakugou swooning too.
“Something wrong, Sho?” Midoriya asked with a piece of prime rib in his mouth. They were really getting their taste of American food in the half an hour they had landed, but it was quite humid in the Phoenix airport, with a damp stench Shoto couldn’t quite place at this late hour.
Shoto shook his head. He’d have to talk to Midoriya about this afterwards.
Burnin turned the conversation back to Bakugou, “So, Bakugou, is this your friend group at school too? Do you boys sit in class together?”
Bakugou barked out a laugh, “Hell no! Not with these losers.”
Shoto knew Bakugou was just making fun. It was something he’d learned to decipher over time. “We do occasionally sit together in class, yes, though it tends to be Midoriya, Ida, Uraraka, Asui and I in one group.”
Burnin thought for a moment as she took a sip of her ice water. Wasn’t hepatitis transferable through ice? Shoto would just produce his own ice for the duration of this trip. “So who’s in grumpy’s group then?”
Midoriya answered as Bakugou stuffed his face with chicken wings. They were so spicy that no one else bothered to touch them.
“Kaminari, Sero, Ashido, Jirou, and obviously Kirishima are in Bakugou’s friendship circle.”
“Oh nerd, please never call it that again. Circle like some sort of stupid…” Bakugou cut himself off as he took another bite of wing.
“Why obviously Kirishima? Why’d he get singled out?” Burnin asked. Shoto had come to learn throughout the years that she was all one for some gossip.
Just when Shoto thought he’d get some real answers on the relationship status of Bakugou and Kirishima, Midoriya answered on behalf of the blond again, “That’s Kacchan’s best friend.”
And the conversation was left at that, with Shoto losing hope that he’d ever uncover his awaited mystery, and zoning out and focusing in on the grilled cheese sandwich in front of him.
—
5
They were at the hotel room the agency provided, and it was two to a room. Bakugou and Shoto had been paired together, and Midoriya was put in the room next door with another intern at the agency, seeing as he was the friendliest of the three, and wouldn’t scare or intimidate the fairly new sidekick.
Shoto was dressed for bed in a blue striped pyjama set, and sat leaning against the bedframe, reading over some school work he’d been assigned to take along with him on the mission. He watched as Bakugou came out of the bathroom and threw on a black shirt and grey sweats.
Bakugou usually had red marks on his lower neck and shoulder area, something that others wouldn’t see because Bakugou’s hero costume covered those areas. The turtleneck he’d recently implemented as a permanent feature in his costume aided with that.
But Bakugou and Shoto had been assigned roommates before, on account of Bakugou and Midoriya’s rocky past, and how the last time they’d been paired on an overnight trip, it was like they were having a screaming competition with all the arguing they were doing.
So Shoto had seen the scratches and bruises Bakugou had before in those areas when he was changing or getting out of the shower, but the times he’d asked about them, Bakugou always brushed him off and claimed they were from training or a villain, or the friction from his hero suit.
The usual marks on Bakugou’s neck and shoulders had subsided since they left for the mission, and if Shoto let his imagination run for a bit, he could connect the marks with a certain sharp-toothed redhead.
Bakugou sat down on the side of his own bed, checking his phone.
“It’s pretty nice that we got two beds.” Shoto commented, remembering how on their last abroad mission, their room had one bed and a pull out couch, and Bakugou denied sharing the bed or sleeping on the couch, leaving Shoto with an aching back each morning.
“If we didn’t, you’d be sleeping on the floor, dumbass.” Bakugou commented with no heat from his bed, laying down more fully as he kept typing away on his phone.
Shoto laughed a bit, “Come on, Bakugou. You can’t have that much of an aversion to sharing.”
“Tch, I share a bunch. The only person I’ve shared a bed with is Ei, though.”
Wait, was Bakugou admitting something? Was Shoto right all along? Why was Bakugou just coming out and saying it?
“Really, why is that?” Shoto asked, intrigued, though he felt silly for being this invested in his friend’s personal life.
“Memory loss hit you, Icyhot? That I-Island trip in first year, I told you the stupid asses at reception only had a one bed, even though I explicitly booked for two.”
Oh. Right. The frequently mentioned I-Island story. Midoriya had always laughed, as Bakugou brought it up every time the group checked into a hotel for a mission.
“This reception staff better not be like the stupid asses at I-Island.” Bakugou had said once they had entered the lobby of this hotel.
Though Bakugou didn’t seem upset that him and Kirishima had to share a bed. It was more the prospect of how the staff had forgotten his reservation for a two bed.
And Bakugou shared plenty with Kirishima. He cooked his meals for two, he let Kirishima drink from his waterbottle, and they either bought every sweater in a matching set or just shared a wardrobe.
Bakugou’s phone started to ring then, a generic ringtone playing out.
“Mind if I take this?” Bakugou asked, surprisingly polite, but the blond had shown change from his initially volatile ways from first year, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to Shoto.
Shoto nodded in approval, though he knew Bakugou didn’t need it as he walked over to the bathroom and shut the door. Shoto could still hear pieces of the conversation, and he’d bet 50 bowls of soba that Bakugou’s opening line was, “Hey babe.”
“Yeah, IcyHot and Deku… right, hope that went good, Red…”
Red? Kirishima!
“That’s good to know, thanks… yeah, I miss you too… stupid cute face…”
Cute? Shoto never in a million years could even picture Bakugou saying that word.
“... photoshoot was sexy as hell, Red. I mean it…”
Shoto was on the edge of his seat, was Bakugou going to confirm that Kirishima was his love interest?
“Right, good night man… sure sounds good, I’ll let the bastard know. Bye.”
And with that, Bakugou’s phone clicked off and Shoto sighed, unsatisfied with how his mystery was yet to be solved.
Shoto scanned Bakugou’s outfit, and his eyes landed on his torso, which donned a RED RIOT branded sweatshirt. Kirishima’s, if Shoto remembered correctly.
“Hey IcyHot, Ei said hey on the phone.”
Shoto smiled, “How’s he doing?”
“Good. Busy, but good.”
Bakugou’s phone rang again, but Bakugou sat down on the bed this time, not stalking off to the bathroom. Shoto’s interest was piqued: would he get his answers?
Then the realization hit Shoto that maybe he needed to calm down a bit and understand that maybe Bakugou wanted his love life to be private for a reason… but was it bad if Shoto was just using context clues to piece together a mystery? It wasn’t like he was doing anything wrong to the boys directly… and everyone had their bad habits and maybe Shoto’s was snooping and he was alright with that.
Bakugou answered the phone, and Shoto expected it to be Kirishima, and so was let down by Bakugou’s starting line of, “Hey, Ma.”
Shoto had no interest in his friends’ phone calls now and switched off his lamp to head to sleep.
—
+1
It was two days after the new year that Class A was able to head out for a celebratory dinner, as they had all gone home for the break and spent the holiday season with their families. Some had met up for shrine visits, but with this being their last year at UA, they thought a gettogether was in order.
By bus, train, or car they managed to all meet up at their high school's parking lot, and from there they carpooled to the nearby pho restaurant that they had all agreed fit everyone’s budget.
Limited students of Class A had chosen to take their cars, making the carpooling arrangement quite crowded. This resulted in Shoto, Bakugou, Sero, Kaminari, Hagakure, and Ashido all being driven by Kirishima in his big red Jeep.
”This is, like, pretty illegal, no?” Kaminari laughed nervously from the backseat, squished between Shoto and Ashido, with Sero on Shoto’s lap and Hagakure on Ashido’s.
“Cram it, sparkplug, I told Ei to just ditch you idiots and you can figure out how to get to the restaurant by train.” Bakugou barked from the passenger seat.
“We would’ve, but the restaurant is a thirty minute walk from the nearest station.” Sero commented. He was built lean, so not much of a weight on Shoto.
“Whatever, just stop your complaining and let Ei focus on the road.” Bakugou quipped, crossing his arms. Shoto wondered why Bakugou didn’t bring his black Subaru Legacy. The blond always traveled by car, so how did he make it to the parking lot meeting point?
“Why didn’t you bring your car, Bakugou?” Shoto asked. Simple enough question, but Shoto was unsure why Bakugou’s face was turning redder by the second. It wasn’t that hot in the car.
Bakugou just shrugged. Kirishima turned on his indicator and made a right turn before commenting.
“I stayed over at the Bakugou’s for the New Year, so we came together.”
Interesting. Very interesting…
“New Years? That’s like a family event, how did your parents let you go, Kiri?” Ashido asked from the right side of the car.
“Ah, well they had a party with their friends this year, and they’re pretty busy with Nao and Reiko, so they didn’t mind.” Kirishima ran his hands along the steering wheel with practiced ease. He was probably the best driver Shoto knew.
“How are your sisters, man? It’s been forever since I came over to see them!” Sero fiddled with his rings as he sat, sliding intricate silver bands across his fingers.
“Oh dude, Reiko’s 6 now! She’s running all over the place, totally mixing up my manga collection. And Nao’s starting high school soon, so she’s pumped. She wants to be a quirk counselor, so manly!”
Todoroki couldn’t help but wish he had grown up with an older brother like Kirishima, who talks so proudly about his siblings. That was a sore subject for another day.
The conversation lead to everyone sharing their resolutions, which Shoto mostly tuned out after Ashido brought out her notes app to read off a huge list.
When Bakugou’s turn had rolled around, Shoto listened in. “My resolutions? Eh, be the fucking best.”
Huh. So same as always. Shoto felt a little disappointed.
Kirishima hit Bakugou’s shoulder with a laugh, “Dude! Come on! You promised!”
“Fine, fine. A resolution is to be nicer to the fuckin’ people or whatever.” Bakugou said with an exaggerated sigh.
Ashido perked up, causing Hagakure’s legs to fall slightly onto Shoto’s. Not that he could really see a difference, her being invisible and all. “Ayyyy Blasty! So you’ll finally cook your famous spicy ramen for me? Eijirou ALWAYS talks about it!”
“Kacchan of the Bakugous! Does this mean you’ll tutor me like you tutor Kiri?” Kaminari hollered, even though they were all in the same car. Shoto winced at his voice. Kaminari was a nice guy, just loud. Very loud, and Shoto was sure he drank a few beers before he came here, based on the smell of his breath so close to Shoto’s face.
“Whaaaaa dude, you’re so good at dying Kiri’s hair, I was thinking of some ghost roots and I'd love your help!” Sero commented.
“Wait, I want those jalapeno poppers you make for Kirishima!” Hagaruke added, capitalizing on the fact that everyone was asking something of Bakugou now.
Bakugou crossed his arms and scoffed from the front of the Jeep. “I said it’d be ‘nicer’, not a fucking genie granting your damn wishes.”
Shoto noticed that the common denominator in all of his friends’ requests was that they were all things that Bakugou regularly does for Kirishima.
Surprisingly, out of everyone in the car, Kaminari seemed to be following Shoto’s train of thought, “But our wishes are just the normal things you do for Kiri like, all the time!”
“Hey, yeah! You totally play favourites, Bakubabe!” Ashido agreed.
“Hah! Yeah, Bakubabe.” Sero laughed.
Bakugou was scowling now. “You’re dead. All of you.” He seethed, though Shoto thought that statement was quite unfair, considering how Shoto had done nothing but observe. Bakugou was fuming now, as Sero and Kaminari began laughing. Kirishima was navigating a particularly tricky intersection when Bakugou turned around to face the group.
He brought his finger out to flip them all off, like some pissed off middle-schooler, which just made Ashido and Hagakure join in on the laughter. Shoto remained quiet as he watched Bakugou’s crashout. As soon as Bakugou opened his mouth and unbuckled his seatbeat, the whole car was suddenly silent, facing Bakugou’s wrath.
“Katsuki…” Kirishima warned, but was too occupied with driving, with two semi-trucks coming beside him on the road.
Bakugou was pure rage. “I tolerate your bitchy, stupid ass nicknames, but whatever the fuck you just spewed out of your garbage mouths crosses the damn line. I’m gonna snap all your fucking ribs and hang them like a garland–”
As Kirishima made it past the intersection, he grabbed Bakugou’s bicep with one hand, still keeping his eyes on the road. He turned Bakugou around to face forward again. Kirishima started laughing as the rest of the group remained silent. “Okay, okay, no one’s ribs are becoming festive decor. They’re not trying to embarrass you, Katsuki they’re just poking fun. That’s what friends do sometimes.”
Apparently Kaminari didn’t fear death. Or that big mouth of his didn’t. “Well, trying to embarrass Bakubabe a little.”
Sero shot him an exasperated look, “Shut up, man! Bakugou’s gonna go ape shit.” He whispered.
Bakugou bit his tongue. “This is so fuckin’ stupid, Ei. Dunno why you wanna see these hooligans we were fine at home.” He muttered.
Kirishima pressed his lips into a tight smile as he looked at the group in the back through the rearview mirror. “We’re almost there, gang! And Katsuki, at least they all have activities lined up that they wanna do with you! We all like spending time with you.”
At this, Bakugou softened. Shoto saw it in the way his shoulders relaxed. “Hah!”
And Shoto was sure the whole group had seen the way Bakugou stared at Kirishima the whole way there.
“So, what’s everyone’s go-to pho order?” Sero asked.
“Do you think they have soba?” Shoto asked.
The whole car erupted in laughter at Shoto’s always soba-focused attitude.
…
The pho restaurant was good, it was nice to catch up with Midoriya and Ida and talk about how their winter breaks had been. The restaurant did serve soba, so Shoto was delighted, and the ambience inside was traditional Japanese, which Shoto felt brought a sense of familiarity, but also was quite funny to everyone, considering how pho was a Vietnamese food. It was the joke of the evening.
As everyone was getting up to go their separate ways, Kirishima offered to drive some of the class to the nearest station, which was much appreciated.
“Hey Red, I’ll walk with you.” Bakugou said, following Kirishima as they walked off.
“Are you and Kacchan going together, Kirishima?” Midoriya asked, standing with the class at the entrance of the restaurant.
Kirishima turned around to face the class. “Oh, yeah. We are.”
“Do you two live close?” Ojiro added. A normal question, but maybe the whole class was a bit curious as to what was going on between the two.
Kirishima shook his head, “Nah, it’s like a two hour train.”
“Wait Kacchan, can we take the train back together? We’re heading the same way.”
Bakugou shook his head, “I’m going with Ei.”
Sero scrunched his face, “Whaa Kiri, you’re gonna drive Bakugou two whole hours? Dude, it’s like 10 pm!”
“How do the mean guys get princess treatment?” Mineta huffed, crossing his arms in frustration. Everyone ignored him. He only got invited to the class hangouts because he was Kaminari’s friend, and because he’d complain to Mr. Aizawa if he didn’t get invited.
“No, no, Kat’s just gonna stay the night.” Kirishima said, waving his hands in front of him to clear up the confusion.
“Since when do you and Bakugou have sleepovers? Totally unfair! Can we come over too?” Kaminari asked. Clearly, he had forgotten the fact that Bakugou and Kirishima had spent New Years together.
“Why? Listen to Tape Face, it’s 10 pm.” Bakugou rolled his eyes. Kirishima looked hesitant, like if he were pushed a bit more, he’d cave in.
Ashido groaned, “Ugh, playing favourites always, you two! We get you’re best friends, but we want sleepover fun too!”
“Yeah, and you guys always plan to go to the arcade without telling me! I always have to ask!” Kaminari said.
“Hey, I always ask them to come to the aquarium with them, too!” Sero commented.
Bakugou’s eyes widened. “Haah? At least I don’t straight out deny your constant requests to crash all our dates! Like what the fuck, can’t a guy just hangout with just his boyfriend sometimes? Always something, always tagging along. Like yeah no duh the only time I get Ei to myself is at the house. So just go to sleep, all of you.”
The whole class paused. Shoto couldn’t believe his ears. It was all out in the open now, Bakugou had said boyfriend. To the whole class. That boyfriend was Kirishima. Shoto wasn’t crazy!
“Wait, Kacchan and Kirishima are–” Midoriya started. Ashido started muttering her own words of disbelief, and Kaminari and Jiro’s mouths were hanging wide open, and Uraraka exchanged a look with Asui like everyone had sprout three heads.
Sato and Mineta shared similar looks of surprise, same with Sero and Ida. Ojiro, Shoji, and Koda just watched it all go down.
Shoto was right! He wasn’t hallucinating! Midoriya was wrong! Shoto was a pro theorist!
“YES! I was right!” Okay, maybe Shoto was a bit crazy. Shoto exclaimed like he just won the lottery. He couldn’t help himself! The greatest mystery on his mind was confirmed! All those months of observation!
“Uh, Todoroki–?” Yaoyorozo started, but after two bowls of soba and a theory proven, Shoto was on the high of life.
“Midoriya! They’re cannon! Confirmed! Finally! I knew it!” Shoto really tried to shut his mouth. But the theorist inside of him was so overjoyed.
The focus on Bakugou and Kirishima was broken, and everyone turned to look at Shoto.
“Oi! Why does everyone look like they’re seeing a dead man walking?” Bakugou said, and laughed at his own joke, as after the war in first year, that’s what Bakugou quite literally was.
Kirishima was beet red in the face. He knew he’d be the one pressed with all the questions later. Or maybe later came sooner than expected.
“How long have you two been together?”
“Wait, I highkey see it now.”
“OH EM GEE MY FAV TWO BOYS WHAT WHAT!!”
“Awww, totally cute! I’m so happy for you two!”
“Ah, I feel stupid, how did I not know this?”
“Wait, I’m actually sorry dude, I didn’t know those were dates!”
“New fav couple!!”
“Is this what a hard launch is?”
“Aw, so happy for you two!”
“Congrats!”
“When did this happen?! How did I not know that–?”
“Damn, Kiri fine as hell, you’re lucky, chopped ahh Bakugou.”
“WHAAAAAAA IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!”
“Why didn’t you tell us before, Kacchan?”
That last comment was from Midoriya. Bakugou scoffed, slinging an arm around Kirishima’s waist, “Could we have been more obvious? I think the only one with half a brain is IcyHot. Overheard his theories once or twice, I think he talks aloud and doesn’t know, the bastard.”
Bakugou shot a smile at Shoto, “But please, get a new hobby.”
Shoto laughed, “Hey, I’m right!”
Midoriya smiled, “You were right, Sho! Sorry for not hearing you out!”
Shoto glared at Midoriya, “So just admit that you’re actually All Might’s secret love child. I know it, so no need to hide now.”
The whole class erupted into laughter. Shoto wasn’t quite sure why, as what he said hadn’t been a joke, but he laughed along anyways.
Sometimes, not every situation needed to be understood, but Shoto was happy to have bragging rights for this one.