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Today was the day. Katsuki could feel it thrumming in his veins, the soon-to-be victory almost tangibly in his grasp. On the surface, it was just another match. The school names of opposing teams, their mascots, hell, even their coaches weren’t anything ever worth registering in his mind. His neural pathways needed all the space they could get to store important information about past games, and he wasn’t about to waste it on recognizing the faces of whoever was standing on the sidelines. The only faces that mattered were the defeated expressions of the opposing players, grins crumbling when his spikes whizzed past them, slamming to the ground.
Well, mostly those were the faces he’d spent time memorizing. Usually it was satisfactory. And then there was Red. Katsuki hadn’t ever paid attention to whatever name was on the back of his jersey, but that hardly mattered. Originally, he’d only noticed the number, fourteen. But after the third time in a single game that he’d defeated Katsuki’s power play, it had become personal. So, Red was his motivation during every practice. His anger flared at the thought of the opposing player’s hair, tied into a ponytail to keep it from falling into his face. The vision of his stupid, absurdly sharp, sharklike teeth irritated Katsuki. And worst of all, his stupid fucking smile never wavered. Sometimes it would slip, pure concentration and focus overtaking his face, but it wasn’t ever gone for long. His dedication would pay off, cultivating in a perfect block or return, and he’d immediately go back to smiling.
Katsuki slammed the door to his locker shut, grunting with annoyance.
“Jesus,” Sero mumbled next to him. “You good?”
“Shut up, Soy Sauce. We’ve got a game to win.”
“You worried?” Sero teased.
Katsuki side eyed him, “You serious?”
“Just checking. You seem tense.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Whatever you say, man.”
Katsuki stalked past him, heading to the water fountain out in the hallway. His blood just about boiled when he saw who made it there first.
There he was, sipping from the fountain like it was his and his alone to drink from. His hair wasn’t tied up yet, Katsuki noticed, the black hairband tight around his wrist. As he neared, Red finished drinking, wiping water from his lips when he stood up. Katsuki pointedly didn’t look at how nice they seemed to be.
“Oh, hey!” Red spoke, “You’re uh… it’s Bakugou, right?”
Katsuki grunted in acknowledgement.
“I’m Kirishima,” Red extended his hand for a formal greeting.
Katsuki stared at it, hesitating before taking it firmly. He wasn’t afraid of a little contact with this guy.
“Not much of a talker, are you?”
Katsuki narrowed his eyes.
“Ah. Well, anyway, good luck with the game today!”
Good luck?
“I don’t need luck.”
“Yeah yeah, you’re all big and bad and everyone else is afraid to play against you.”
“You’re not?” Katsuki tilted his head.
“Course not! You’re a good challenge, but that doesn’t make you scary. Besides, losing’s not the end of the world or anything. It’s about the fun of the game,” Red—Kirishima?—said.
“Right,” Katsuki replied, biting back a laugh. This guy really was an idiot. “Can’t wait to smoke you on the court.”
“Sure, man! It’ll be a blast.”
Kirishima walked off, waving him goodbye. Katsuki stood there for a second, heart pounding in his chest. That guy pissed him off, but he’d use it as good fuel. He bent down to sip water, rising to wipe his mouth when finished.
Today, he was gonna wipe that fucking grin off that asshole’s face, and it would be a blast.
The starting lineup for today wasn’t the best, placing Katsuki at the back to serve, but he managed well enough. The rest of his team was half-competent and could hold their own without his power plays. Him being at the back with Sero wasn’t a horrible setup, either. He could begrudgingly admit that the height the other had was extremely useful, though definitely better for blocking.
As for the others in the front, he hardly paid any mind to who specifically was standing where. All that mattered was Todoroki was doing his job with setting, and Kaminari hadn’t completely fucked up by fumbling the ball yet. Luckily for them, Shouji was blocking, practically serving as a wall of muscle against the other team’s offensive plays. The plain-faced blond on the other team was visibly frustrated at how the others couldn’t seem to get past him, but fared no better when he made his own attempt.
Out of all his teammates, Katsuki respected Shouji the most. He could tolerate Sero, but had next to no patience for Kaminari’s idiotic joking. Todoroki was infuriatingly oblivious to most things socially, but had a poignant read on people that cut deep. It riled Katsuki up with no fail rate, and fucking Half-n-Half didn’t even seem to care when he was being rude. The final member of their team played well, but wasn’t all that standout during games otherwise. Katsuki didn’t have much to say to or about Tokoyami. It was a miracle he remembered the guy’s name in the first place.
After two side-outs, it was Katsuki’s turn to be in the front. He reveled in it, eyes tracking the ball as his brain calculated where he’d need to end up for the perfect spike. A bump from Kaminari sent the ball to Todoroki, his fingertips gracefully setting its trajectory to head straight to Katsuki. It was muscle memory at this point, running start to the jump, his height peaking at around 38 inches. Arm reared back, he smacked the ball down, refusing to blink as it hurtled towards the floor on the opposite end of the court.
This was it. He could hear the echo of it slamming on the ground in his mind. The ball careened toward the wooden floor—only to be met by a pair of arms set in a bump. He watched as the ball bounced off, heading back over the net. He felt the blood rushing in his ears, anger coursing through his veins. With every fiber of his being, he wanted to scream in rage. However, there was still a game to win. No matter how infuriated he was, that would always come first.
Shouji returned the ball, and Katsuki did his best to keep his head in the game. All he had to do was spike it again when the time was right, and hit the ball even harder. He could do that. He knew damn well how to do that.
Waiting became agony, the proper opportunity never quite setting him up. He was two seconds from losing his shit on Todoroki, who hadn’t set for him again the entire round so far. He turned his head, trying to catch the other’s eye, his expression screaming, What the fuck?
Todoroki paid him no mind. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head and trying to focus up again. Wherever the ball was headed next, he’d be there. He’d win.
In a panic, he scrambled backwards for it, yelling out, “I got it!” He proceeded to bump it over to Todoroki, who bumped it across the net.
Now he was irritated. His gaze cut to his teammate, and he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Seriously?”
Todoroki, per usual, either didn’t hear him or was too engrossed in the game to realize that was being directed at him. Katsuki had half a mind to go over there and scream directly into his ear to see if he’d listen then.
There wasn’t any time, though. As soon as he looked away, the ball was hurtling toward the ground, and nobody was moving fast enough.
He dove for it, and it worked. Once his chest had hit the ground, his vision went dark. He thought it had been from squeezing his eyes shut, but when he opened them, his head was pounding. He groaned in pain, attempting to push himself up from the floor. When he did, he registered there was a lot of blood in front of him.
Blood? What the fuck?
The taste of metal settled on his tongue next. Oh, shit.
The entire gymnasium had gone quiet, and then a whistle was blown, a timeout being called. Katsuki was then being grabbed by someone attempting to help him up, but fuck, he didn’t need any fucking help.
“Get your hands off of me, ‘m fine,” he protested, forcing himself out of the unwanted grip.
“Dude, you look like you got your shit rocked,” Kaminari commented, worried.
“Shut up,” Katsuki slurred, blood dripping down his lips. He stood to full height, dazed and confused. Aizawa, his coach, stood before him, the rest of the team huddled around.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” Katsuki reaffirmed. “I saved the play, didn’t I?”
“Well…”
He glanced at Kaminari.
“I was gonna get it, but when you hit your head—”
“You fucked it up.”
“Language,” Aizawa warned.
Katsuki rolled his eyes. “So what, I did it for nothing?”
“Dude,” Sero said. “Is it so wrong that we’re worried?”
“We’re wasting time! There’s nothing to worry about!”
“Injuries are compromising,” Todoroki chimed in.
“Breaking news: the sky is blue. Stopping for a bloody nose isn’t helping anyone,” Katsuki spat.
Aizawa sighed. “We can’t leave a biohazard on a court that’s actively in use.”
Katsuki grumbled. He couldn’t argue with that.
“Fine. They clean it, and we get out asses back out there and win.”
The game was won. Katsuki was happy about that. Not much else, though. The air in the locker room was charged, like anyone who dared to ask if he was okay would be electrocuted. He preferred the quiet, but hated knowing that it was his fault. Everyone else was overly worried about him.
After he gathered his things and left, not a single goodbye waved, he was immediately met with a wall of muscle as he turned down the hallway.
“Hey, man. You okay? That fall looked like it hurt.”
“Move,” Katsuki grunted.
“Oh,” Kirishima said. “Sure, sorry. Didn’t realize you were in a hurry.” He sidestepped Katsuki to give him room to walk, but meandered beside him to keep talking. Just great.
“It’s annoying that you had to pause but I thought how you recovered was pretty manly,” he complimented.
“I’m just not an idiot who whines about stupid shit.”
“Tough guy,” Kirishima replied.
“Do you harass all of your opponents after matches?”
“Nah. Just the interesting ones.”
“Lucky me.”
Mercifully, a few minutes of quiet passed by as they continued to walk, heading outside and towards the train station. In all honesty, Katsuki didn’t hate this as much as he anticipated it. For all he expected, Kirishima was much more relaxed and easy to be around compared to the people even on his own team. He couldn’t have anticipated it if he tried.
“I was hoping if you wouldn’t mind that maybe I could get like, I don’t know, one of your socials? We don’t have to be enemies off the court,” he smiled, holding his phone out in an offer.
Katsuki took it, opening Kirishima’s text messaging app. “I don’t do socials,” he said, typing in his phone number. He sent a text to himself from Kirishima’s phone reading, “hey, it’s me, the big red idiot.”
He handed it back to Kirishima, who laughed upon reading it. “Thanks. I promise not to abuse the privilege.”
Katsuki didn’t believe him in the slightest. “Sure.”
“I’m going to leave you be. Thanks for giving me your number. I hope I play against you again soon!”
“You won’t win!” Katsuki called after Kirishima as he turned to walk away.
“It was close and you know it!”
Katsuki found himself smiling after the interaction, with a light feeling in his chest. He continued on his way into the train station, heading home.
Two stops away from where he would get off, the realization that Kirishima had turned completely around to go back after they parted dawned on him. Did the fucking idiot really get that distracted talking to him?
Whatever. It wasn’t his problem.
Unknown Number: dude. i totally just saw this like, INSANE play. you gotta see it.
Me: Do I?
Unknown Number: yes.
Unknown Number: [Link Attachment]
Me: Big deal.
Unknown Number: oh come on, man! you don’t find that at least a little impressive?
Me: Nope. Sorry to disappoint.
Unknown Number: you wound me
Me: You’ll get used to it.
Me: Why did you start playing volleyball?
Red Idiot: honestly? i always thought it was fun. i started taking it seriously when my moms wanted me to do a sport. what about you? :)
Me: I’m good at it and I like winning.
Red Idiot: profound.
Me: Did you want a motivational tale about how I worked hard to learn to love it?
Red Idiot: idk, i did think it would be a little more inspirational.
Me: You’re talking to the wrong person for that. I’d say take inspiration from me and win, but I don’t do losing.
Red Idiot: when was the last time you lost?
Me: Why would I tell you that?
Red Idiot: because i asked nicely?
Me: Not telling. Can’t remember how long ago it was, anyways.
Red Idiot: you’re so invincible my guy
Red Idiot: last time i lost, i was playing against this total dickhead. dude has an insanely aggressive spike and a mean smile on his face every time he plays it. his hair’s all blond and crazy too, you should meet him.
Me: You’re not funny.
Red Idiot: idk man, i laughed!
Me: At your own joke? Idiot.
Red Idiot: correction: funny idiot
Me: Whatever helps you sleep at night
Red Idiot: >:(
Me: :)
Red Idiot: can we meet up? i want to hang out with you.
Me: Why the fuck would I say yes to that?
Red Idiot: because i’ll pay for food if you say yes
Me: Then I’m picking where we’re eating.
Red Idiot: is that a yes??? :D
Me: I guess.
Red Idiot: awesome!!! when are you free, dude?
Me: Wednesday evening of next week.
Red Idiot: works for me! where to?
Me: Toyomitsu’s Ramen. 6pm.
Red Idiot: i know the owner!! he’s a super great guy. he actually used to train me at the gym.
Me: Did he?
Red Idiot: yup! we go way back :)
Me: I’ll see you Wednesday.
Red Idiot: ;))
“You’ve been smiling at your phone an awful lot,” Katsuki’s mother Mitsuki said as she sat down on the couch across from him. He rolled his eyes.
“What are you looking at? Something funny?” his father Masaru asked.
“Not really,” Katsuki said.
“Well, how’s school been going? Practice doing okay?” Mitsuki questioned
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Are you doing anything this week?” Masaru inquired.
“I’m going out for ramen tomorrow,” Katsuki told them.
“Oh, fun. Is it a team dinner thing?” she asked.
“Do you need money?” Masaru added.
“No, and no. He said he’d pay for it,” Katsuki told them.
“He? Who’s he?” Mitsuki said.
“Some guy I met at a game. Our team beat his.”
“And he still wanted to talk to you after that?” his mother laughed.
He rolled his eyes. “For some reason.”
“Well, we hope you have fun tomorrow evening, then,” Masaru smiled. “Will we meet this new friend?”
Katsuki shrugged. “Maybe. Unless I hate him after tomorrow.”
“Don’t rip his head off if he annoys you, kid.”
“I’m not you,” Katsuki snarked.
“Brat,” Mitsuki said, affectionately. “Seriously, though. Enjoy yourself.”
Standing across from the door to Toyomitsu’s was none other than Kirishima. Upon spotting Katsuki, his mouth broke into a grin, sharp teeth on display. He waved as Katsuki got closer.
“Hey!” he greeted.
“Hi,” Katsuki greeted back.
“I’m really glad you said yes to coming out. I was kind of worried you wouldn’t agree,” Kirishima admitted, nervousness in his smile as he held the door open for Katsuki to go in ahead of him.
Katsuki proceeded forward. “You’re the one paying, I might as well.”
“Is the only upside to this outing free food?”
Katsuki nodded.
“Seriously? You don’t wanna, I don’t know, get to know me more?”
Katsuki shrugged, a teasing glint in his eye. “What else is there to know? You’re a loud mouthed, annoying idiot who keeps losing to me. This meal’s more pity than a hangout.”
Kirishima laughed at that, and Katsuki didn’t understand why it made his heart feel funny.
“Alright, man, point made. I’m a loser. I get it. The way I see it, though, I still won some time with you.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes. “You practice that line in the mirror before coming out here?”
“Does it sound rehearsed?”
“A little.”
“Man, that was off the dome,” the redhead said.
They were directed by a staff member to sit in a booth tucked into the corner of the shop. A few moments later, their waiter arrived. He was an insanely timid guy with dark hair, a lanky build, and anxiety rolling off of him in waves. Kirishima didn’t seem to notice the awkwardness, greeting the guy warmly.
“Hey, Amajiki! What’s up, man?”
“Nothing,” the waiter mumbled. “What about you?”
“Just here with a friend. I’ll take the usual.”
The waiter nodded, then looked to Katsuki, waiting for his order. Katsuki couldn’t tell if this guy was about to burst into tears or turn on his heel and sprint away. He shrunk further under his gaze.
“I’ll take a tantanmen,” Katsuki said. The waiter nodded.
“I’ll, uh… I’ll bring those out,” he muttered.
As soon as Amajiki departed, Katsuki looked at Kirishima. “What’s his problem?”
“Amajiki’s really, really shy. He’s a really nice guy once you get to know him, though!” the redhead insisted.
Katsuki looked at him skeptically. “Right.”
Quick to shift the topic in conversation, Kirishima commented on the other boy’s order. “So, I take it you like spicy food?”
“It’s the best kind of food there is.”
“Eh, I’m not so big on it. Too much and my eyes start to water.”
Katsuki smirked. “Weak.”
“Hey, knowing your limit is important!”
Surprisingly, conversation between them came and flowed decently easily. A few weeks ago, Katsuki couldn’t even try to imagine being in this situation, sitting across from his most loathed opponent on the court. Now, he struggled to imagine his life without the occasional text here and there from the boy sitting across from him. For the first time in a long time, Katsuki felt himself open up to the idea of genuine companionship. Everyone else on his team irritated him in one way or another too much when they weren’t playing. Somehow, Kirishima wasn’t bothersome in the slightest, though Katsuki would never admit that.
His eyes scanned over the redhead’s face, taking in his features. His hair was unnaturally spiky and bright in shade, and a burning curiosity suddenly made space in the blond’s mind. At the next natural lapse in conversation, he pounced.
“That can’t be your natural hair color.”
“Why not?” Kirishima grinned.
“You look like a stoplight.”
“Huh. Never gotten that one before,” Kirishima said. “You’re right, though. It’s dyed.”
“What’s your natural color?”
Kirishima hesitated before answering. “It’s black.”
Katsuki was genuinely shocked at the answer. “Seriously?”
Kirishima nodded. “Yeah, man.”
“You don’t even have roots showing or anything. And you dyed your eyebrows too?”
The redhead nodded again.
“Seems like too much effort.”
“I like to think of it as commitment.”
Katsuki shrugged. “Why’d you dye it?”
“I didn’t like how I looked in middle school. Needed a change when I got out.”
“It can’t have been that bad,” Katsuki said.
Kirishima laughed a little, pulling out his phone. “You’d be surprised.”
Within the next minute, Katsuki was leaning in to see an old picture of Kirishima, when he had to have been around thirteen or fourteen years old. He had the same smile he did now, but his hair was black and shaggy, falling around his head and framing his face. Katsuki glanced back and forth between the picture and the boy sitting across from him.
He was cute even then, Katsuki thought.
Wait. What the fuck?
“You looked fine,” he said, attempting to keep his voice completely neutral. He sat back up to put space between them.
“I appreciate it, but I disagree. Anyway, I definitely feel more confident with this. It’s definitely high maintenance, but it’s worth it,” he smiled.
Amajiki returned with two bowls in hand, setting them down in front of Katsuki and Kirishima. He meekly told them to enjoy their meals before disappearing.
As both of them broke their chopsticks, Kirishima spoke up once more.
“Now it’s your turn to tell me something about you.”
“Why’s it my turn?”
“I just shared, now you go! Tell me something about you.”
Katsuki blanked. What the fuck was he supposed to say?
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything, man.”
“You’re not being very helpful.”
“Okay, okay. You asked a question so I’ll ask one back. That work?”
Katsuki nodded, beginning to eat his tantanmen.
“Ooh, okay! When did you start eating spicy food?”
“When I was a kid. My mom loves it, and I didn’t hate it.”
“Wow. I couldn’t stand spicy stuff when I was little.”
“Seems like you can’t even now.”
“Hey! I can,” Kirishima insisted.
“Yeah? Prove it,” Katsuki challenged.
“Can I? I haven’t used them yet,” the other boy asked, chopsticks hovering over Katsuki’s bowl. He nodded, giving Kirishima the go ahead to take some for himself. He watched as he took his bite, eating it with little resistance or complaint. “See? I’m fi—”
Then it hit him.
“Okay, that’s. Wow. Fuck, how do you eat this?”
“I’m not weak,” Katsuki said. Kirishima’s eyes were now watering, but he looked determined, chewing and swallowing the bit of ramen that he had taken.
“Damn. You’re crazy, Bakugou.”
Katsuki shrugged, continuing to eat his ramen, not reacting to the spice. Kirishima took copious bites of his, trying to rid his mouth of the assault it had experienced.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” Kirishima asked.
“No,” Katsuki answered. “Relationships are stupid.”
Something shifted in Kirishima’s eyes. “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. No time to date since you’re dedicated to being the best.”
“It works, doesn’t it? Why’re you asking, anyway? You got a girlfriend?”
Kirishima shook his head. “No. I’m not that interested, either.”
Katsuki narrowed his eyes. Why would he ask if it doesn’t matter?
“Anyway,” the redhead said, “I was wondering if after this, you maybe wanted to walk around the park nearby? If you have time, after this.”
Katsuki thought for a moment and then shrugged. “Sure.”
In all actuality, he could’ve declined and opted to return home, excusing himself under the guise of needing to work out or study for school. Despite the fact that those would be the very activities occupying his time upon returning home, he couldn’t find it in himself to walk away from this outing.
Kirishima beamed at his answer. “Awesome.”
They continued to eat their meals in amicable silence. Once they both finished, Kirishima paid, true to his word, and they headed off to the park. They walked around for a little while. The sun was starting to set, bathing their environment in vibrant shades of reds and oranges. It made Kirishima’s hair glow, the sight captivating. Katsuki forced himself to look away. What the hell was up with this sudden fascination?
“So…” Kirishima started. “What’s your favorite class?”
“Math, I guess,” Katsuki answered.
“I suck at math,” the redhead admitted. “A lot of the time, I’ll think, ‘Hey, this is finally making sense to me!’, only for my attempts to solve stuff to be completely wrong. I was almost ineligible to play for a while because of it.”
“Sounds like you need a tutor,” Katsuki said.
“Man, I guess I do. I don’t think I could find anyone at my school willing enough, though.”
“Just text me next time you’re struggling. I’m sure it can’t be that hard for me to figure out.”
“You’d seriously help me?” Kirishima looked at him, genuine hope brimming in his eyes.
“Sure,” Katsuki told him.
“That’s so kind of you, dude!”
Katsuki grimaced. Kirishima caught the expression and laughed.
“Worried that helping me will ruin your tough guy persona?”
“Fuck off,” Katsuki said. Kirishima laughed. Katsuki wanted to hear him do it again.
They came to a bench, choosing to sit down for a little while.
“I know I already said this, but I’m really glad that you came out to spend time with me today. I hope you wouldn’t mind maybe doing it again?”
“You’re not that bad to be around,” Katsuki responded. “I guess we could hang out again.”
Kirishima, honest to god pumped his fist in victory. Where Katsuki expected to feel like cringing, he found it cute. His head must’ve been unscrewed and put back on improperly at some point today. Why didn’t he hate it?
“You’re so stupid,” he said.
“Not stupid enough for you to hate it,” Kirishima grinned.
Katsuki rolled his eyes and huffed a sigh. “I guess.”
“Is that agreement I hear?”
“Don’t push it.”
Kirishima chuckled. The conversation lapsed into a bout of comfortable quiet, the sounds of the park filling the air. Children laughing and running from each other, people talking as they walked. It was nice. Maybe Katsuki should do this more often.
Kirishima looked over at him a few times, looking like there were words on the tip of his tongue, but then he’d change his mind, shaking his head and looking down. The third time it happened, Katsuki caught his gaze, and raised an eyebrow at him. He swore that Kirishima blushed.
“Sorry, I’m just nervous. I was gonna say that I think you’re, uh, you’re… pretty.”
Pretty? What the fuck?
Katsuki’s face must’ve looked ridiculous, because Kirishima haphazardly tried to correct himself. “Sorry! Not pretty, um, handsome, if you prefer that! Jeez, I shouldn’t have said anything, that was really uncool.”
Katsuki averted his gaze, feeling heat rise to his own face. What the fuck was happening.
“Okay,” he blurted.
The quiet between them was thick and awkward.
“I’m—You wanna get out of here?” Kirishima suggested.
“Yeah,” Katsuki stood. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Oh.”
Katsuki didn’t give him the chance to say anything else, tossing a “bye” over his shoulder as he beelined down the path they’d taken in. His face was still burning, heart racing like he was in the middle of a run. There was nothing that could’ve prepared him to expect that exchange. He knew he’d fucked up how he responded, but fuck, what was he supposed to say?
He probably could’ve thanked the other boy. But how was he to anticipate being called pretty?
Passing by Toyomitsu’s, he did everything he could to distract his brain from overanalyzing the shit out of the remark, and he failed every step of the way. Even once he boarded the train to go back home, he wasn’t able to find a single thing to focus on otherwise. It was like his mind insisted on stewing in whatever gooey feeling the compliment had given him. His face felt warmer by the minute. He felt his phone buzz.
It was a text from Kirishima.
Red Idiot: man, i’m so sorry that i said that. i really hope i didn’t make you uncomfortable
Me: It’s fine. Get home safe.
Red Idiot: you too!
Upon arriving back at his house, Katsuki kicked his shoes off at the door. His face didn’t feel as heated anymore, thankfully.
“Hey, how’d it go?” his mother asked as he entered their living room.
“Fine,” he replied, beelining past her to go to the stairs.
“Just fine?” she called after him.
“Fine!” he repeated, heading to his room. He shut the door and crossed to his bed, sitting on the edge of it. Trying to further unpack the statement and his reaction was exhausting to think about. Maybe he needed to sleep on it.
He went through his night time routine, showering and changing into his pajamas, brushing his teeth and then laying in bed. Whatever happened today was in the past, and didn’t matter. He would stop thinking about it, and that would be the end of that.
In the park, he once again sat next to Kirishima on the bench. The redhead must have said something funny, or stupid. Maybe both. Katsuki laughed at it, regardless.
“You’re so stupid,” he told the other boy.
“You like it,” Kirishima said.
Katsuki shrugged. “Nobody would believe you if you said that.”
“Yeah? It couldn’t ruin your reputation if I went spreading rumors that you actually liked someone? The big bad Bakugou Katsuki actually has a friend?”
“In your fucking dreams, idiot.”
Kirishima laughed. “What, so we’re not friends?”
Katsuki didn’t deny it. Kirishima smirked.
“Idiot,” Katsuki muttered. “Whatever. They still wouldn’t believe you.”
“Maybe not. But I know that it’s true.”
Katsuki looked at the boy beside him. Kirishima’s smile was infectious, his eyes a mesmerizing shade of ruby red.
“Your eyes are nice,” Katsuki blurted.
“Thanks. So are yours.”
Katsuki felt himself begin to lean in. “Yeah?”
Kirishima must’ve felt magnetized, beginning to move in as well. “Yeah.”
They paused, mouths a mere few inches from one another.
“Can I?” the redhead asked.
Katsuki felt himself nodding.
Tentatively, Kirishima pressed his lips to Katsuki’s. Katsuki pressed back. It was nice, making his head and heart feel fuzzy once more.
A blaring alarm pulled Katsuki from his sleep, startling him awake. He shot up, blinking against the vague light from the window in his room peeking out from behind the curtain. His heart was racing, head spinning, and his hand clutched at his chest.
“Fuck,” he huffed. Before anything else, he had to silence his goddamn alarm.
Once he did, he simply sat there, reeling from his dream. What was this, a goddamn rom-com? Why was he fucking dreaming of kissing Kirishima? Why didn’t he hate it? Was this what his subconscious wanted to happen yesterday?
No. It didn’t fucking matter if it did or didn’t. It wasn’t something he wanted, he decided. He didn’t have time or room in his heart for a stupid fucking relationship. There was no room for debate.
He forced himself out of bed, heading to the bathroom. He had to get over this ridiculous fucking fantasy. After using the toilet and brushing his teeth, he went downstairs to make himself a quick breakfast, then decided to go on a run to clear his head.
While on his run, his phone kept buzzing. He ignored it until he rounded the block, pulling it out to look at the notifications as he walked back to his front door. There were a few texts from different people.
Soy Sauce: hey dude, wna come over? denki and i are playing video games later
Red Idiot: hey, man! how’d you sleep?
His heart dropped looking at the text from Kirishima. He looked at the notification underneath it. It was a reminder from Aizawa.
Practice this week for Thursday is cancelled.
He pushed the door open, heading inside. His mom was in the living room, watching something on the TV.
“Morning, Katsuki. How’d you sleep?”
He didn’t know how to answer. “Good, I guess.”
“How was your run?”
“Fine.”
“You wanna do anything today?”
“Like?” he asked, eyebrow raised.
“I don’t know, we could go somewhere. Unless you have plans?”
He thought about it. “Sero invited me over for video games, or something.”
“That sounds fun. You gonna go?”
He shrugged, choosing to sit down on the couch.
“You don’t want to?”
“Dunce Face is gonna be there. He’s insufferable.”
“You say that about all your friends,” she smiled. “Oh, but not about that boy from yesterday. Not yet, at least. You didn’t tell me how it went!”
“I said it was fine.”
“That’s it? People aren’t ever ‘fine’ for you, I know you better than that. They’re all ‘fucking idiots’ or ‘okay enough to deal with.’”
“‘S not my fault everybody else is insufferable.”
“So is he insufferable, too?”
Katsuki thought about his day with Kirishima, but his train of thought crashed into his dream.
“No.”
“Well, what’s he like, then?”
“He’s very… smiley,” Katsuki said. “He has good sportsmanship, too. He plays volleyball for a different school.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. He’s the only fucker who’s ever blocked my spikes,” Katsuki groused.
“Impressive. So he’s strong then, too. I’m surprised you didn’t kill him considering the blocking.”
“It’s the only thing I hate about him.”
“It’s good to see your competitiveness isn’t stopping you guys from being friends.”
Katsuki nodded, thinking about the text that sat unaddressed on his phone. “It’s whatever.” He stood up from the couch, repressing the urge to sigh. He still wasn’t sure what to do about what happened yesterday or how he was meant to feel about it.
“You’re leaving me already?” Mitsuki asked.
“Got stuff to do.”
“Okay. So are you going to Sero’s?”
“Maybe.”
Sitting between Soy Sauce and Dunce Face while they bickered, neck and neck for second place in Mario Kart was simultaneously fun and irritating. “Eat my dust, assholes,” Katsuki grinned.
“No fair! You always win!” Kaminari whined.
“Cry about it,” Katsuki sneered, just as his racer crossed the finish line.
“Man,” Sero said. “Do you ever lose?”
“Do you hear yourself?” Katsuki said. “Of course I fucking don’t.”
“Wouldn’t kill you if you did, just once,” Sero muttered.
“That sounds like you want your ass kicked again.”
“Let’s play something else,” Kaminari suggested.
While the other two decided what game to play, Katsuki pulled his phone out. Kirishima had texted him again since the morning, but he couldn’t bring himself to respond.
Red Idiot: are you mad at me?
Right as Katsuki opened his message app, Kirishima started typing. His thumb hovered over the chat, waiting to see what the next message would be before he opened it. The dots in the bubble pulsed, then disappeared. He felt a twinge of disappointment. They returned a few seconds later, and then stopped once more. He put his phone face down on his leg.
“Smash Bros?” Sero suggested. Katsuki nodded. He couldn’t focus on the fun of the round, but refused to be too distracted to claim victory. After beating both Sero and Kaminari once more, he picked his phone up again, disappointed to see that no new messages had arrived. Why did he care so much?
“What’s so interesting?” Kaminari asked, leaning over Katsuki’s shoulder to peer. He slammed his phone face down against his lap, shoving the idiot away.
“Okay, okay, jeez! I get it, don’t be nosy about whatever girl you’re talking to.”
“Girl?” Katsuki questioned.
“Oh, c’mon, man, you’re so obvious. You keep looking to see if she texted you back,” Kaminari said. Katsuki frowned.
“I’m not talking to any girl, or anyone.”
“So what do you keep checking for? We know it’s not the time,” Sero said.
“None of your fucking concern,” Katsuki grit out. “Why are you so curious?”
“So sorry for being invested in your life, dude. It’s not like we’re your friends or anything,” Kaminari replied.
The instinct to deny it rose, but he knew he’d look like a fool for trying to make that statement. The evidence against him stacked pretty high, considering he was sandwiched between them in Sero’s basement.
“I’m not talking about this.”
“Fine, we’ll back off. You know you can say shit to us other than yelling when we mess up on the court, right?” Sero asked.
Katsuki didn’t know how to answer that.
“That’s where you say thank you, by the way,” Kaminari chimed in.
“Shut the fuck up,” Katsuki told him.
They lapsed into slightly tense silence, Katsuki’s phone buzzing on his leg. He ignored it to make a point, and eventually, Sero started another round of Smash.
After a few more rounds, Katsuki told them that he was leaving. To his credit, he begrudgingly thanked Sero for the invite, and thought about his words on the way home. In theory, he could tell them the stupidity he’d been dealing with. But what gave him reason to believe their responses would be helpful, let alone free of mockery? He had no interest in tolerating Dunce Face’s inevitable ridicule. If they called him gay, he was scared they wouldn’t even be wrong.
Was he gay? For as long as he could remember, Katsuki had never taken romantic interest in anybody, male or female. That dream from the night before turned his heart inside out and his head upside down. He didn’t hate kissing Kirishima in his dream, but dreams are always some crazy unrealistic shit, aren’t they?
Upon arriving home, he wasn’t sure what to do anymore. He pulled his phone out to check the time. The text from earlier remained on his lock screen.
Red Idiot: i’ll stop bothering you, then. again, i’m super sorry.
He sighed, pocketing his phone again. His father was the one sitting on the couch now.
“Where’s mom?” Katsuki asked.
“She went to pick some things up. How was your day?” his father responded.
“It was okay,” Katsuki said. He hesitated, but decided to just go for it. “How’d you know you liked her?”
“What?” Masaru asked. “As in, how did I know I wanted to be with her?”
“Yeah.”
“What spurred this on?” the older man questioned, a smile on his face.
Katsuki cringed and turned around, heading for the stairs. “Never mind.”
“Wait!” Masaru called. “You don’t have to tell me. I’ll answer you.”
Katsuki paused, looking back at his father, waiting.
“I knew that I liked your mother when I started thinking about her more than my other friends. I started to get nervous around her, too. I never would’ve worked up the confidence to tell her, though. I was pretty lucky that she felt the same way.”
Katsuki nodded, absorbing the information. “Okay. Thanks.”
“If you’re wondering whether you like someone or not, you probably do, in my experience,” Masaru told him.
Katsuki went upstairs, his father’s words repeating in his head. You probably already do. He opened the door to his bedroom, closing it behind him.
He weighed the options floating in his mind. On one hand, he could continue to ignore Kirishima. He wouldn’t have to confront him until their next match, and he couldn’t be bothered to think about how far away it was at the moment. But on the other hand, he could suck it up, and try to be friends despite the weird dream he had. He could bury it, and it would probably go away.
He thought about how Sero told him that he could talk.
Maybe if that was true, he’d feel it. He reminisced on how easy it was to talk to Kirishima, whether it was over text or in person.
He could choose to be honest, maybe. It was a risk, but maybe it’d feel better than risking letting the dream he had eat away at him.
He unlocked his phone, opening the texts with Kirishima. He stared at it. Minutes went by.
Fuck it. He wasn’t gonna be scared of how this went. If Kirishima reacted badly, he could block him, and that would be that. They never had to speak again. Katsuki felt a pit form within himself at the thought of it, but he’d get over it. Eventually.
Me: Can we talk?
It was read almost immediately.
Red Idiot: yeah!! are you okay?
Me: I’m fine. Can I call you?
Katsuki felt like he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing, but he pressed forward.
Red Idiot: sure
He inhaled, telling himself that no matter how the call went, he would be fine. Whether they were still friends or not, he would be fine.
He pressed the call button on Kirishima’s contact, bringing the phone to his ear. It was answered immediately.
“Hi,” Kirishima said, voice sounding nervous.
“Hey,” Katsuki responded. “I didn’t mean to ghost you.”
“It’s fine,” Kirishima answered. “You’re a busy guy, I get it. I would probably avoid someone if they made me uncomfortable, too. Listen, man, I really am so sor—”
“Stop,” Katsuki told him. Kirishima went quiet. “I don’t know what I’m fucking doing,” he admitted. “I—” he started, then stopped. “I didn’t hate what you said, I just didn’t know what to say. It… I’m going to say something, and if you hate me for it, we never have to talk again, okay?”
“Okay,” Kirishima said, sounding a little confused. “I don’t think I could hate you, man.”
“I had a dream you kissed me,” Katsuki blurted. “I don’t know what that means. I’ve never had a fucking crush on anyone before, or whatever.” His face burned as he talked. “I know I didn’t hate what you said, and in my stupid fucking dream, I didn’t hate kissing you. If that’s… Fuck, I don’t know. If that’s bad, sorry.”
Kirishima was silent on the other line. Katsuki held his breath, waiting for the beeps of a disconnected call.
“I like you,” Kirishima admitted quietly. “I… That’s… I’ve always thought you were pretty. I loved seeing the way your face looked after a victory, even when my team lost. I wanted to know more about you. And then we hung out, and I learned, and everything made me want to learn more. I—” Kirishima huffed in disbelief. “Do you like me, Bakugou?”
“I fucking guess,” he said.
“We don’t—we don’t have to date or anything, if you don’t want to. I just—Thank you for telling me. For being honest about it. God, I was so scared that you hated me.” The relieved smile was evident in the way he spoke. It made Katsuki’s heart flutter, and he yearned to stomp the feeling out.
“Are we still friends?” he found himself asking.
“Yeah, man, of course. We can still be friends. We can figure this out, it doesn’t have to be tonight, though.”
“Okay,” Katsuki said, nodding. “Thanks.”
“Of course,” Kirishima replied. “Is it okay if I ask you out, or not yet?”
Katsuki’s heart kicked harder in his chest. “Yeah.”
“Awesome. Do you want to go out with me? We could do Toyomitsu’s again, or whatever you want, honestly!”
“Whatever’s fine,” Katsuki told him. “I never say shit like this. I just… wanna see you again, I guess.”
“I wanna see you, too.”
They planned out their next date, agreeing on a day and time and bidding each other goodnight. As Katsuki set his phone down, reeling from the whole exchange. It went better than he could’ve imagined, even with how unfamiliar all of it felt. Despite his apprehension about relationships, something convinced him this would work.
His phone buzzed once, then twice. Then two more times. He investigated the cause.
Red Idiot: ohmygodohmygod i asked him out he said yes im freaking out mina
Red Idiot: like i have to tell you everything asap
Me: ?
Red Idiot: WHAT TEHUFCK IM SO SORRY BAKUGOU
Red Idiot: THIS IS FOR SOMEONE ELSE IM SO SORRY
Red Idiot: IM SO HAPPY YOU SAID YES THOUGH!! CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU
Me: Pay more attention. You’re acting like you like me or something.
Red Idiot: haha very funny.
Me: Would you have confessed if I didn’t?
Red Idiot: i don’t know if i could’ve worked up the courage, tbh. i’m lucky you’re so confident :))
Red Idiot: i like that about you.
Me: I like that you’re good at volleyball. And your hair.
Red Idiot: careful, now you sound like you like me or something
Me: In your fucking dreams.
Red Idiot: don’t you mean in yours? ;)