Chapter Text
Bakugou was staring again. At him and his stupid, gorgeous, shitty hair. As his big, obnoxious laugh resonated throughout the room. He loved watching Kirishima, but he hated it too. Because he could feel his stomach squeezing and his chest compressing whenever he smiled, or laughed, or reacted in any way, because he was reacting to her. The stupid girl who he couldn’t even really hate. Her perfect pink skin, and short pink hair, and piercing yellow eyes. And her hands that were always able to swoon anyone towards her with a single touch. All of her was perfect; even her quirk was strong. Granted, not as strong as his, but strong nonetheless. And he hated her for it. He hated how beautiful she was, hated how she caught everyone’s eye, especially the guy that Bakugou wanted for himself. He wished that he could hate her for being a bitch, or annoying, or anything worth actually hating her for. But he couldn’t. She was kind and thoughtful of everyone, but he hated that too. He hated everything about her, but at the same time nothing about her. He only despised her because of a certain someone’s feelings toward her that he wished would’ve been towards him instead. He wanted her short pink hair and magic touch, so maybe then Kirishima would want him just as much. On top of the suffocating jealousy, Bakugou felt guilt because it wasn’t her fault that he wasn’t liked. I mean, he didn’t really care if people liked him or not; it was just one person. One person whom he would’ve traded anything to be liked by. Truly liked by. So the guilt kept him just watching, with a monotone, almost bored expression. To others, he would’ve just looked like he was bored waiting for class to start. But inside he was hoping Aizawa would show up soon, so that Mina could get her ass off of Kirishima’s desk. And that way his heart didn’t have to hurt every time Kirishima laughed at something she said.
As if summoned by Bakugou’s thoughts, Aizawa groggily strode into the classroom, a whole 3 minutes early, at 8:22 am. “Get to your seats, now,” he grumbled. Everyone quickly shuffled around while Iida jumped up and exclaimed that they would’ve been prepared at the start of class, but his early arrival had caught them off guard. He kept rambling on for about another minute, apologizing and saying he should be more proactive as class rep, before Aizawa shut him up. Once everyone was seated, Aizawa started talking.
“Okay class, I am going to be introducing a project today. We don’t do many of these, but it is not a time to slack off. Take it seriously and try to really apply yourselves. The projects will be in groups of three ...” As Aizawa said that, Bakugou saw Mina turn towards Kirishima and point between them to signal that they should work together. Aizawa saw that and paused for a moment before continuing. “… the groups will be randomly assigned; we will draw names out of a bowl.” At that, Mina turned again towards Kirishima and made a pouty face, which deeply irritated Bakugou. But at least there was a chance they wouldn’t be put together, so that was good. “Furthermore, every group will receive a random disaster scenario. You aren't allowed to switch scenarios or members. Your job is to determine how the specific combination of your quirks can be used to rescue as many civilians as possible while minimizing injuries and property damage.” Everyone started turning towards each other and whispering about the project. Bakugou was interested too; it seemed like a good way to practice strategizing and quirk usage without actually physically training. He was highly intelligent, which he prided himself on, so he knew the project would be easy. “The rescue scenario will be a natural disaster, and you will get one week to complete it,” Aizawa said in a slightly louder voice to grab everyone’s attention again. “That being said, It’s time to draw groups. I will draw the name of one person, and then that person will draw either two or three names depending on the number I tell them. Okay, let’s begin.” Aizawa pulls a big glass bowl with little papers in it out of his drawer and onto his desk. He wastes no time searching for a specific paper and just grabs the first one he sees. “Mina Ashido.” Bakugou’s jaw tenses at the name. He needs to get a hold of himself; he can’t let himself get angry at just the mention of her name. But of course she is the first one. Just her luck that she has the whole class to choose from. Thinking about this, Bakugou hoped that he would get good partners. He started thinking about who would be a potential good or bad partner. Distracted in his own head, he didn’t even realize that Mina grabbed a paper until he heard the name, “Eijiro Kirishima!” Bakugou snapped back to reality and looked up at Mina, jumping excitedly as Kirishima walked up to join her at the front of the class. No way. No fucking way that out of the entire class, the name Mina drew was Kirishima. It was like the universe was against him or something.
He watched as they stood there in front of everyone, gazing into each other's eyes, then he suddenly tasted copper in his mouth. Damn, he had bitten his tongue without realizing it. “You get one more partner,” Aizawa told them. So once again Mina put her perfect pink hand into the glass bowl. She made a whole act of swirling the papers around as if looking for the perfect one. When she finally grabbed one, she quickly pulled it out and opened it. “Katsuki Bakugou!” she said with a happy tone. “Ay! Bakubro, you’re with us!” he heard Kirishima say. What. The. Fuck. What the actual fuck. He had to have heard wrong; there was no way that, out of all odds, he got paired with Mina and Kirishima. “Bakugou, come join your groupmates, and all three of you find your seats,” Aizawa said, confirming that Bakugou had, in fact, heard right. He took back what he said; it was like the universe was against him; it genuinely, truly was. His hands started sparking, barely noticeable, as he walked up to them. He was so angry; there was no way he could stomach seeing them flirt for a week.
They all slowly started moving toward the back right corner of the classroom where there were three empty desks next to each other. After sitting down, Mina instantly connected her desk to Kirishima’s, leaving Bakugou floating alone. His stomach kept churning, and his chest tightened painfully as she started dragging her fingers along his arm while she said that she just wanted to be closer so they could discuss the project more easily. A load of bullshit if you ask Bakugou. Kirishima then reached out his arms, pulling them away from her grasp unintentionally, and pulled Bakugou’s desk to the other side of his. “If we’re going to discuss the project, might as well have the whole group in close range.” A bit startled by the sudden movement, Bakugou just replied with a scoff while Mina said, “That’s so thoughtful of you, Kiri!” At such close proximity to Kirishima, his heart picked up the pace, beating loudly against his chest. It was horrible being so close to him but not close to him at all. Especially with that pink bitch. He couldn’t do it; he really couldn’t. He debated going to Aizawa and asking to switch groups, but he couldn’t think of a legitimate reason to tell him. So instead, he decided that the second they got their rescue scenario, he would do the project as fast as possible. The rest of the class got put into their groups: Deku, Jiro, Sero; Todoroki, Uraraka, Ojiro, Koda; Iida, Shoji, Hagakure; Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, Tokoyami, Aoyama; Tsuyu, Mineta, Sato. Each group was also given a group number, starting with their group being number one.
People were chattering throughout the classroom until Aizawa grumbled loud enough for them to stop. “I’m trying to take a nap as soon as possible, so if we could get on with this…” he said as he gestured for them to shut up ”… that would be greatly appreciated.” Everyone settled down, eager to know what rescue scenario they would get. “Okay, starting with group one and ending with six. Group one, a Tornado Strikes a Suburban Town. Two, flash flood in a mountain town. Three…” Bakugou stopped listening after he heard his group’s scenario. His brain was already turning with ideas on how he could combine his group’s quirks to solve the problem as efficiently as possible. Okay, he thought, our goals are to rescue as many civilians as possible, get injured ones to a designated evacuation zone, clear blocked roads for emergency vehicles, and avoid making the situation worse. He would just have to get there the fastest, clear whatever’s in the way, and get people out. But all of them have to do something to get a good grade. Logically, he is probably the best person in the group for surveying the area since he can propel himself above houses and destruction with controlled blasts. Then he can communicate with his partners. He really does have the advantage in the group because being able to launch himself will make him faster at saving people too, since he can go over or through destruction. He can also blast away pieces that aren’t supporting structure… “So! When and where should we get together to work on this project? I honestly can’t wait to get started! Any ideas Kiri?” Mina’s high-pitched voice broke Bakugou from his train of thought. “I’m good with whatever. What do you think, Bakugou?” Bakugou realized that Mina’s smile dropped a little at that. He also noticed that Mina kept purposely excluding him, but Kirishima always brought him back into the group. Why? Whatever, he didn’t want to think about the two of them. “I don’t give a shit, you losers do your parts, and I’ll do mine.” At that, Bakugou decided he was done and got up to leave since class was technically dismissed now. “Ugh, you’re such a buzzkill, Bakugou,” Mina said with an irritated tone while rolling her eyes. “Like I give a shit,” He replied.
He walked out the door, bag slung on his shoulder. As he left in a huff out of the building, he heard a voice call after him, “Bakugou! Wait up!” He didn’t need to turn around. He knew that voice belonged to a certain spiky red-haired boy. “What do you want, Shitty Hair?” He said in an annoyed tone as Kirishima jogged to catch up to him. He was actually kind of confused about why the boy would be going after him; surely he would’ve chosen to stay with Mina. “I just want to talk to you, man. Wait up.” Part of him was glad for the opportunity to have a small moment alone with Kirishima, but the other part didn’t trust himself not to let this small thing affect him for the rest of the day. He also didn’t know what Kirishima wanted to talk about. He figured it was about the project, but he really didn’t want to talk about that stupid assignment.
“Are you okay, man? You kind of stormed out of there. I thought you’d be happy with our group since we've been friends for so long.” Friends, ouch. He was a bit taken aback by what Kirishima had asked; no one usually asked him if he was okay. But that’s because he made sure there was no reason for people to. He didn’t want to look weak; he isn’t weak. “One year isn’t a long time, Shitty Hair.” His body disagreed with what his mouth said; he felt his fists clench. To him, that year had felt like an eternity. Every moment with Kirishima felt like forever. But at the same time, those moments always seemed to slip away just as quickly. Shaking his head to keep that out of his mind, Bakugou picked up the pace a little. Kirishima kept up and didn’t take the hint, much to Bakugou’s annoyance. “One year isn't as short as people make it sound. That's a lot of days to spend waiting, wondering, changing... or realizing that maybe some things are worth waiting for.” Bakugou paused his walk and stared into those deep crimson eyes he often thought of. What did he mean by that? It seemed as if it was directed at something or… someone. Could he be trying to tell him something? As they stared silently into each other's eyes, Bakugou’s anger and frustration left him; he completely forgot what he had been so worked up about and lost himself in that moment. Those deep wine-red eyes- one look, and he felt almost drunk beneath their gaze. Until the beautiful moment was interrupted by the heavy metal ringtone of Kirishima’s phone. Snapping back to reality, Bakugou quickly averted his gaze, and he felt his ears heat up. He was glad his hair partially covered them, or Kirishima would’ve been able to see him blush. “Oh! It’s Mina, let me take this real quick.” Oh. Of course. Fuck, he’s not this stupid! Of course Kirishima was talking about Mina when he said that. Fuckass hope made him believe it could’ve been for him. But he didn’t even know if Kirishima liked boys, so really he was just trying to feed into his own delusions. He felt his eyes prick, but he didn’t cry. He never cries. He hates it; he thinks it makes him look incapable of controlling himself. As Kirishima is turned around, distracted by stupid Pinky on the phone, he takes it as an opportunity to leave unnoticed. Kirishima doubles over laughing at something Mina said on the phone, and Bakugou seizes the moment. He quickly runs left behind a building so that Kirishima can’t catch up to him on his usual path to the doors. He walks slowly down the back alleyways leading to the dorms. It’s a much longer route, but he’s grateful to be out for a little while and not have to interact with people.
As he trudges home, his mind is all wrapped up in the day’s events. He kicks a pine cone as he sulks and spots a bench near a cherry blossom tree. He decides to sit down for a little while. Spring had always been his favorite season; it was the season of change and growth. It had always felt very symbolic to him growing up. Also, because it was his birthday was during this time, every year he grew during the season of growth. Thinking about his last birthday made him smile a little. He wasn’t really a person who liked celebrating his birthday. He enjoyed it more in solitude, as a day to reflect on his past year and learn. He also didn’t have a desire for gifts; he felt he had all he truly needed and wasn’t too materialistic. But the previous year, Kirishima had surprised him with a single brownie with 16 candles on it; it was so packed with all the little fires he had lit with mini finger explosions that it looked like one big flame. The small action actually made him really happy, and he had a great birthday. Kirishima had also saved up a lot of money and bought him an electric guitar, which he remembers was horribly wrapped. He chuckled at the memory. Bakugou had learned guitar right after that; he had always wanted to, and Kirishima had remembered that from when he mentioned it at the start of their first year. The guitar sat next to his drum set, which he had been playing since he was a little kid. He liked the reminder that Kirishima was a part of his life now, just as the guitar was part of his instruments. Bakugou sighed as he sat there for a little longer. Just thinking of their moments together brought a pain to his heart. He finally got up and headed for the dorms about 15 minutes later. It was almost 8, so he had to start getting ready for bed; it had been a truly exhausting day. As he walked home beneath the falling cherry blossoms, the sunset painting the sky in shades of deep red and gold, reminding him of those painfully beautiful eyes, he found himself thinking of their earlier interaction. He looked up at the petals drifting through the evening light and took a deep breath. Some things, he realized, could be beautiful even if they were never meant to be his.