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Bakugo brought the flashy car to a stop outside Kaminari’s place. Kaminari jumped out onto the kerb.
Bakugo half turned in his seat.
“Don’t slam the-“
Bang! The door slammed shut.
“Oi!” Bakugo yelled. “I said don’t slam it!”
Kaminari didn’t care.
“Later, dudes,” he grinned. Bakugo peeled away without waving back.
“How hard is it to follow a simple instruction…” he muttered, glaring at the road ahead. Kirishima smiled over at him fondly. For all his complaining, Bakugo was still giving his friends a lift home.
Next was Mina. She swung the door open.
“Don’t you…” Bakugo warned.
“Relax,” she laughed. “It’s a car, not your firstborn…”
“Slam it and find your own way home next time.”
Bang!
“Damnit!”
She laughed again and leaned down, resting her arms on the open window frame, face close to Kirishima’s.
“You still coming tomorrow?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
She grabbed his shirtfront and pulled him closer, something knowing sparkling in her eyes.
“Don’t chicken out this time.”
“As if I would,” he laughed nervously.
She let go and winked at him before stepping back.
“Night, Red.”
“Night, Mina.”
“Thanks, Bakugo!” she waved back as she headed inside.
“Tch. Damn extras…”
The atmosphere inside the car changed when it was just the two of them. It was quieter, obviously, but something settled. Kirishima liked to think it was because Bakugo was more comfortable with him than anyone else.
As the world rolled by outside, he stole a few glances at Bakugo, lingering on that sharp profile, until he caught Bakugo looking back.
“What?” Kirishima checked.
“Nothing…” Bakugo said, turning his eyes back to the road.
When they pulled up outside Kirishima’s building, he paused with his hand on the door handle, sensing Bakugo had something he wanted to say.
“You good, man?” Kirishima checked.
Bakugo huffed, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.
“So you and Ashido are a thing now…”
“No way,” he said, turning back towards Bakugo, needing it to be clear. “We’re just friends. We’ve known each other forever…”
“Doesn’t mean you couldn’t date…” Bakugo grumbled.
Kirishima knew what this was really about. Bakugo had been thinking about asking Midoriya to team up with him all month.
“Midoriya shot you down, huh?”
“Hmph. Idiot doesn’t know what’s good for him.”
He wasn’t the only one.
“Actually, I think he does. I saw him going after Uraraka…”
Bakugo went still.
“Get out.”
Kirishima ignored him, knowing what that meant to Bakugo. Besides, he was the one that had started this conversation, and Kirishima felt compelled to see it through now.
“Bakugo…”
He kept staring ahead, jaw so tight he might actually crack his teeth.
“Hey. Look at me.”
It took a while but eventually Bakugo’s eyes slid sideways. Not ideal, but at least he wasn’t being completely defiant.
“I know what he means to you-“
“You have no idea how I feel about him!”
Kirishima let out a breath. Sometimes he wished he could harden his will like his body. But he couldn’t, so he’d just have to be brave.
“Yeah, I do. Because… it’s how I feel about you.”
The words sat heavy in the air for a moment, then Bakugo turned to him properly, brow creased.
“Are you being serious right now?”
“Yeah, man. I’ve liked you for a long time.”
Bakugo’s fingers gripped the steering wheel fiercely.
“Why would you tell me this now of all times? If you say you know what he means to me...”
“Because he’s made his choice, and it wasn’t you. But you have another option. Bakugo…” Kirishima said, leaning in. “I’m right here.”
Bakugo broke the eye contact and looked away, huffing out a breath.
“You think it’s that easy? You think I can change my feelings, just like that?”
“No. You wouldn’t be the person I fell for if it was that easy for you. But I want you to at least consider me. I think we’d be good together.”
Bakugo let out a quiet, almost disbelieving scoff, though there was no real bite behind it this time.
“You’ve thought about this a lot, huh?”
“Pretty much since the day we met, but it’s felt different lately, like it’s not just an idea, but something I think we could make work for real. I’m not asking for anything more than you to just think about it for now.”
Bakugo didn’t say anything, but he didn’t argue either and that in itself was a win.
Kirishima exhaled slowly.
“Hey, you should come in.”
Bakugo’s head snapped around.
“You just said I don’t have to do anything.”
“You don’t. We’re friends, right? I just figured you might not want to be alone right now.”
Bakugo clicked his tongue, eyes flicking toward the building then away again.
“No. I’m not leaving my car parked in this shitty street.”
Kirishima felt a soft smile pull at his lips.
“Invite me to yours then.”
Bakugo shot him a sharp look, something unreadable flashing across his face.
“I’m driving off in five seconds,” he grumbled. “Get out. …or don’t…”
Kirishima settled back in his seat and Bakugo drove on.
Bakugo’s building had underground parking. Once they put Bakugo’s baby to bed they headed upstairs. Kirishima had been to Bakugo’s place before, but this time it felt different. Bakugo was making a very deliberate choice to keep him close. Given his personality, it was hard not to read into it a little.
The apartment wasn’t fancy, but it was clean in that controlled way Bakugo did everything. Minimal furniture, sharp edges, nothing out of place.
Bakugo kicked his shoes off.
“Don’t start,” he muttered, catching Kirishima looking around.
“What?”
“That damn look.”
Kirishima raised his hands slightly in surrender.
“I didn’t say anything.”
Bakugo clicked his tongue.
Kirishima didn’t need to say it, they both knew he’d spent basically all his money on Midoriya’s suit, and what was left he’d blown on a flashy car.
“So, you gonna offer me a seat?”
“What? You need an invitation now? Usually you just do whatever the hell you want anyway.”
“Yeah, but this is different, isn’t it?”
Bakugo’s shoulders tensed.
“Different how..?” he said suspiciously.
“You just had your heart stepped on and I’m supposed to be comforting you.”
“I don’t need to be comforted because of that idiot.”
Kirishima stepped closer.
“Yeah? Then why am I here?”
Bakugo flashed him a defiant look before his shoulders sagged.
“Go sit on the couch.”
Kirishima dropped onto it without another word, watching as Bakugo hovered in the doorway like he didn’t know what to do with himself.
“Come sit,” Kirishima said, patting the space beside him.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Bakugo snapped.
“Hey, man. I get it. It’s okay to be upset. Maybe venting will help.”
“What?”
“Because I’m an awesome friend, I’ll let you rant about the guy you like. The one that isn’t me.”
As much as it would hurt, it was a hurdle they both needed to get over if they were gonna have any chance at a future together.
Bakugo pushed off the door frame and stepped closer.
“You a masochist or something?”
Kirishima scratched his head.
“Sometimes I wonder…”
Bakugo dropped down onto the couch beside him, and Kirishima thought he caught a glimpse of something softer on his face.
They sat in silence for a minute, but Kirishima was used to Bakugo taking time to gather his thoughts before he spoke. He watched him think, always a little amused by the hoops he made himself jump through before he could say anything remotely vulnerable. But at the same time, he liked that Bakugo always spoke his mind, even if it did take him a while to get there.
Bakugo let out a breath.
“You know what really sucks?” he said eventually. “I encouraged him. If I’d known that’s how he’d take it…”
“Hey, he was gonna get there eventually, whether you said anything or not.”
Bakugo leaned forward and pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes.
“I know. He never felt that way about me.”
Kirishima slowly reached out, laying a tentative hand on Bakugo’s shoulder.
“Dude, you can cry about it if you want…”
Bakugo’s head snapped up.
“I’m not gonna cry about-“
He saw Kirishima smirking.
“Bastard…” he grumbled, but his lip twitched up in a tiny smirk too.
He pushed Kirishima’s hand away and sagged back into the cushions.
“Still sucks though.”
“Yeah. It does.”
Bakugo rolled his head sideways, fixing a flat look on Kirishima.
“What would you know? I haven’t rejected you yet.”
Kirishima swallowed a gasp but he couldn’t stop his heart giving a heavy thump. Bakugo acknowledging anything between them was more than he’d ever expected.
But he had to play it cool for now.
“You’ve still got plenty of time,” Kirishima said.
It was supposed to be a joke, but something sharpened in Bakugo’s eyes.
“Yeah?”
He was asking if Kirishima would wait for him.
“Yeah…” he breathed.
“Because you know it’s gonna take me a while to get over the nerd.”
“Yeah. I know.”
Bakugo let out a sigh.
“C’mere…”
“What?”
Bakugo closed his eyes.
“Don’t make me say it again.”
Kirishima carefully slid over, watching for any sign from Bakugo that he should stop. When none came, he ended up pressed against Bakugo’s side, unsure what to do next.
“Is this-“
Bakugo’s head dropped onto his shoulder.
“Mm, this’ll do…”
Kirishima went still for half a second, then he let out a slow breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding. He wanted to say something but he also didn’t want to spook Bakugo, so he kept quiet.
His eyes dropped to their hands, so close. It would be so easy to reach out and take Bakugo’s…
Kirishima sighed softly.
Easy, but not simple.
He resisted the temptation, curling his fingers into the couch cushion instead. But as Bakugo’s warmth soaked into him, Kirishima decided if this was what waiting looked like, then Bakugo could take as long as he liked.