Archive of Our Own

'Blasty pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase??'

'No! And get out of my face, Raccoon Eyes!'

Why the fuck she wanted to use his room for her stupid weekly girl's night was anyone's guess. For one thing, Bakugou wasn't a girl. For another thing, he was the furthest thing from friendly and approachable you could get in Class 1-A (well, 2-A now, after that first year from hell). Ashido was about to explain but he didn't want to hear it, pushing past her and storming off to the gym. He had a standing session with the nerd and Shitty Hair he needed to attend. She was persistent though, following him out of the common room and into the weak sunlight of an early spring morning.

'Go ask someone else!' he growled, glaring at her.

'There's no one else we can ask,' Ashido protested. 'The only other person we would have asked is Midobabe and he lives right next door to Mineta. It's bad enough he listens at our doors and sneaks through the vents; sharing a wall with him is just inviting trouble, you know?'

Bakugou grunted. This he understood. How Mineta continued to be in their class and not punted like a football out of the campus was a mystery no one could solve. Even stupid Deku with his heart as big as his head would get a look on his face when talking about or to the little pervert, like he had tasted something exceptionally sour. Given that his little girlfriend Pink Cheeks was one of Mineta's victims, he could see why.

'So why not any of the other extras?'

'Ummm,' Ashido paused, staring off into space as she tried to find the right words. 'For one thing, he's too scared to try to spy on your room. Also…' she trailed off, biting her lip awkwardly.

'Out with it.'

'It can't be anybody's room we have a crush on, so…' Ashido winced. 'Sorry! Not that you're not a catch! It's just… yeah…'

Bakugou snorted. 'S'ok,' he shrugged. 'Not like I'm into girls anyway.'

'Really?' Ashido's eyebrows shot up so quickly they practically touched her horns. 'Damn, I owe Uraraka and Hagakure a couple thou.'

Bakugou opted to ignore the implication that the girls were betting on his sexuality. 'What do you even do on these girl's nights anyway?'

'Oh you know,' Mina shrugged. 'Hair, nails, makeup. Gossip about stuff. Snacks, movies, whatever we want. You can join in if you like.'

'As if I wanna join in with your shitty activities,' he sneered. 'Keep your noise down after 9pm.'

'Wait… is that a yes?' Ashido squealed, giving him a big hug that he allowed for all of 2 seconds, a record in their friendship. 'Thankyouthankyouthankyou!'

'Whatever. And get the fuck off of me!'

★★★★★★

Friday evening, the girls got up from the dining table and smiled at Bakugou.

'See you upstairs Blasty!' Ashido grinned, giving him a thumbs up, to which he rolled his eyes.

'What's that about?' Kirishima asked curiously, squinting as if that would help him think harder.

'The girls are using my room for their stupid girls night,' Bakugou grunted, scowling. He couldn't believe he got emotionally manipulated into doing this. Hopefully they'd realise what a stupid idea this was and never darken his door again.

'Wow Kacchan, that's so nice of you!' Deku gushed, clearing the table and bringing the dishes to the sink. 'Uraraka and Tsu told me but I didn't believe it at first.'

'The fuck does that mean, nerd?' Bakugou growled as he started to wash up. Deku chuckled warmly, no longer fazed by his outbursts.

'Well you do have an early bedtime, and you hate people being in your space,' he explained, rinsing the plates. Bakugou grabbed a tea towel and started to dry as aggressively as he could without breaking anything, having learnt the hard way from Aizawa-sensei what happened when the kitchenware got misused and/or broken (as if using the cutlery as throwing knives was illegal or whatever).

'Yeah, why did they pick your room and not mine? Everyone knows I'm the real babe magnet of 2A,' Mineta puffed out his chest and Deku looked like he was sucking on lemons again.

'Probably because you use words like babe magnet, bro,' Kaminari snorted.

'Also Bakugou's the one most likely to literally blow up in your face,' Todoroki added, turning on the kettle. Bakugou always wondered why he bothered with using one when he could literally just use his quirk to heat up water, but IcyHot wasn't known for being the most imaginative person, the blockhead. Or maybe the iceblockhead? Heh. Bakugou's hilarious if he did say so himself.

'Don't say that, Shouto-kun,' Deku chastised and that was new, since when did he call him by his first name? 'Kacchan would never…. well… maybe if you're misbehaving… well…'

Mineta had the audacity to glare at Deku. 'Misbehaving??? You got an issue with how I behave??'

'Well… the girls definitely do, don't they?' Deku shrugged. Turning his back to a gaping Mineta, he gave Bakugou a sunny smile. 'Thanks for helping, Kacchan, but you have to go. Don't wanna keep our classmates waiting!'

Bakugou blinked. He'd never seen Deku call anyone out before barring his usual Kacchan Mean whine he'd been doing since they were 5. His opinion on Mineta must be lower than Bakugou thought.

'Uh yeah. Later losers,' Bakugou handed the tea towel to Deku, who handed it over to Todoroki, and went upstairs, giving Mineta a middle finger as he walked by, just to add salt to the wound. Getting onto the 4th floor, he was mildly perturbed to see all the girls of Class 1A already outside his door, dressed in fluffy pyjamas and carrying blankets, pillows and bags.

'You extras moving in or something?' he snarked, unlocking his door.

'Don't be silly, Bakugou,' Uraraka giggled. Ridiculous. He'd never been silly a day in his goddamn life. 'This is our Girls Night starter pack!'

'Don't care. You can use the floor,' he gestured firmly, sitting at his desk and fishing out his earbuds. 'Leave me out of it.'

'Wow, Bakugou,' Hagakure breathed, floating pink onesie doing a three sixty in the centre of his bedroom. 'Your room is super cool!'

'He's not got 10 million pictures of All Might like some people for one,' Momo giggled gently, laying out a full tea set in the centre and adding hot water from a thermos.

Bakugou snorted. 'That's cuz I have taste,' he bragged. It was also because all his All Might merch was at his parents' place, but they didn't need to know that.

'Didn't know you were a fan of BUMP OF CHICKEN,' Jirou mused, eyeing the band posters above his desk. 'Seen em live yet?'

'Got tickets for when the Tokyo Dome is up and running again.'

'Sick.'

'Thought you wanted to be left out of it,' Ashido smirked.

'Whatever!' he snapped, turning back to his desk and jamming his earphones in, cheeks warm with embarrassment. Not like he wanted to be involved with whatever dumb shit they were up to anyway.

If he were honest with himself, he liked most of his classmates. They'd proven their mettle time and time again in that first year, and many of them were smart, strong and reliable. The girls held up their own in different ways, with Momo being the smartest in the class, Hagakure and Jirou being excellent at stealth, and Asui, Uraraka and Mina showing impressive battle instinct. He'd never say that shit out loud of course, but he thought it more often than he would have when he was a brat and unable to see a person's value past their quirk. Maybe if he had come to that conclusion earlier, he and Deku… well no point dwelling on that.

He stared at his maths book as if it owed him money, tuning out the giggles and chatter of the girls behind him. It wasn't due until next week Friday but like hell was he going to participate in whatever conversation they were having behind him. Normally he'd be catching up on studying with Deku, but Deku had some kind of "plans" that he did not elaborate on. Probably reorganising his manga by release date instead of story order like the nerd he was. Anyway it wasn't as if he'd let Ashido Mina get carte blanche of his room - it would probably be pink leopard print by the time he got back. A tug on his trouser leg broke him out of his thoughts; it was Asui holding up a large bowl of slightly orange popcorn. He took out his earphones and gave her a mildly annoyed look.

'Want some? It's popcorn with Laoganma in it,' she explained. 'I call it pepcorn, saw the recipe in a video.'

'Nice,' he nodded, taking a handful. Unfortunately with his earphones out, he overheard the current discussion and it was exactly as inane as he thought it would be.

'Pretty sure Ojiro has the best abs in the class,' Hagakure mused, tossing candy at Ashido who caught it with her mouth.

'Are you nuts?' Have you seen Kirishima shirtless?' Mina retorted. 'He's got muscles for days!'

'OK but think about it. He does martial arts and has to swing by that tail of his,' Hagakure pointed out. 'His core strength must be crazy.'

'By that metric, best abs should go to Round Cheeks,' Bakugou snorted before he could help himself. Uraraka turned bright red, and hid her face in her pillow.

'Oh my god, Bakugou! That's so nice of you to say!' she squealed. He stared at the girls, eyes narrowed.

'Nice ain't got nothing to do with it,' he scoffed. 'You could probably get most of those guys on the mat easy. Anyway best looking abs is Shitty Hair's, most functional is probably Tails' or IcyHot.'

'Todoroki??' Mina asked, eyes widening. 'How do you figure?'

'He has to balance on ice while fighting, his core strength is crazy.' Bakugou would never say this to Todoroki's face, but he would also never challenge him to a sit-up competition.

'I'm surprised you didn't say yourself, kero,' Asui teased gently around a mouthful of popcorn. He snorted but she had a point, what with his need to be the best and all.

'That's because I have the best arms, Frogface.' A chorus of oohs validated his opinion immediately, although Ashido still looked doubtful.

'OK but Kiri-'

'Listen, the guy's a fucking unit but I have to have strong arms to manage the recoil on my quirk. Plus I lift heavier than him.' He paused in his assessment before acquiescing, 'His back is fucking nice though. Bodybuilder definition.'

'I guess it's time we invite ourselves to your gym sessions then,' Hagakure joked, and even though he couldn't see her face he could hear the mischief in her voice. 'Best ass?'

'Deku,' Bakugou and Uraraka said at the same time. Their eyes met and both of them went red immediately to the snickers of the room.

'Not like I need an argument for an observable fact, but this I gotta hear,' Jirou smirked, taking a sip of her soda and leaning back.

'He… uh… squats real heavy.' Why was saying that out loud so embarrassing? Uraraka nodded rapidly, brown hair bobbing back and forth in agreement.

'Have you seen him kick through walls? Even without his quirk it's crazy!'

'I'd like him to kick through me,' Hagakure laughed to a chorus of screams and squeals.

'Hagakure-chan!' Momo chided, ears bright red. 'You can't say things like that about our classmates!'

'And I'm out,' Bakugou turned around and began to put his headphones back in, to the sounds of wailing.

'Bakugou noooo!! I'm sorry, please stay!' Hagakure apologised, getting up and grabbing his arm.

'Yeah Blasty, it's way more fun talking about this stuff with you than I thought it would be!' Ashido grabbed his other arm, and with surprising strength pulled him onto the floor and into their circle.

'Have some tea,' Momo added, handing him a very fancy teacup with some delicious smelling brew. 'It's apple cinnamon, Midoriya-kun said you liked things with cinnamon in it.'

'Ah yeah, thanks Ponytail.' Why were Deku and Ponytail talking about his preferences? Weirdos. He considered getting up and leaving anyway but he refused to give his room up to these idiots. Even if they talked about ridiculous things sometimes.

'So who do you think is the hottest guy?'

Bakugou made to get up again, but froze when Ashido shrugged and said 'Well Blasty obviously.'

'W-what??' His brain short-circuited, not expecting that answer, but the girls all seemed to see it coming.

'Totally fair,' Jirou nodded. 'Whole package, physically anyway.'

'What's that supposed to mean??' Bakugou wasn't sure whether to be flattered or aghast, so settled on somewhere in between.

'You know, you've got these piercing crimson eyes…'

'And that jawline, kero.'

'And that body? Ugh his waist!'

'Great skin too.' He could feel Hagakure's breath on his cheek as she leaned a little closer. 'How do you even manage that?'

'Uhh genetics,' he mumbled, feeling shy. It was one thing to know you're the best, it was an entirely different thing to have someone else say it to you. Even Deku wasn't this detailed. 'And a 6 step skin care routine.'

'Ooh you gotta show us that!'

A few hours later, everyone left his room, faces glowing both with happiness and rejuvenating sheet masks that he very kindly shared with them ('you better repay me for these!'). Flopping onto his bed, he checked his phone, groaning at how late it was. While that was far from the worst experience he'd ever had (it was actually kind of…nice?), it didn't mean that he wanted to make a habit of it. Hopefully this little session got it out of his classmates' system and they'd never ask him again. Right?

♡♡♡♡♡♡

'No.'

'But we had so much fun last tiiiiime!' Mina whined, flopping dramatically onto his desk. Bakugou elbowed her off meanly, baring his teeth.

'You used up my products and filled up my trashcan!'

'Ah actually Bakugou-kun, I got you some replacements,' Momo interrupted gently, handing him a gift bag and smiling. 'With some extra products I thought you might like.'

'And we can always take the trash bag with us if it's too much trouble, kero,' Asui added. 'We can vacuum too if you want.'

'Pleeeaaaase?' Hagakure begged, her gloves clasping in front of him. 'We'll even get you more of your favourite snacks!'

Bakugou pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. 'Fine,' he grunted to the cheers of his girl classmates. 'But do your homework first, I'm not helping any of your extras study.'

'As if homework is allowed on Girls Night' Uraraka snorted. 'Thanks Bakugou!'

Bakugou covered his face with his hands as the girls wandered off. A hand patted his shoulder gently; it was Deku, smiling warmly at him.

'Sounds like you had a good time at Girls Night,' he observed gently. Bakugou's ears reddened at the proximity and the memory of talking about Deku's ass but he powered through.

'Yeah, whatever. What's it to you anyway?' he groused, desperately trying to fight off his face flushing.

'It's nice seeing you offer a safe space for our friends Kacchan. It means a lot to them. And to me,' he added, his smile softening and his eyes doing the thing where they brightened so much they looked like dewdrops on grassy fields. Ugh.

'Whatever,' he grumbled, shaking his hand off his shoulder, trying his best not to spontaneously combust at Deku's kind words and pretty eyes.

'See, he's not even grateful for it!' Mineta whined, folding his stumpy arms across his chest. 'Bet you saw all their sexy pyjamas.'

'Yeah actually, I took pictures. Wanna see?' Mineta leaned forward as Bakugou opened his gallery folder to a picture of his middle finger front and centre. 'Took it from my good side.'

'You bastard!' Mineta groaned as he and Deku cackled.

That week's Girls Night was movie-themed, each of the girls bringing a DVD of their choice. Bakugou sat at his desk with his arms folded looking like bored royalty tolerating the serfs, preparing to be fully unimpressed by the selection. But as he flipped through each one (and how did they even get DVDs this day and age??) his scowl softened. Toy Story from Asui, Fast and Furious 5 from Uraraka, Bad Boys II from Ashido, K-pop Demon Hunters from Jirou, Ghostbusters from Hagakure, and…

'Well? Which one do you wanna watch first?' Ashido asked as the girls looked at him expectantly.

He held up In The Mood For Love (Momo's pick). 'I.. I think I wanna watch this one.'

'That's surprising kero,' Asui admitted, tipping her head to one side inquisitively.

'Uh…' Bakugou felt his face heat up. 'Deku and I used to watch it all the time with our moms when we were little. We'd be drawing or some shit, while they drink wine and cry. S'dumb, but…' he wasn't sure how to finish that sentence, the feeling in his chest a confusing mass of emotions that made him feel disgustingly gooey and warm. 'I mean, all of those movies kick ass but…'

'Hey, your room, your rules dude. Even if it's our night,' Jirou grinned, getting everything set up. Uraraka and Ashido dragged him from his seat onto the floor between them, covering all three of them up in a fluffy blanket. Asui gave him a bowl of her peppery pepcorn and Hagakure dimmed the lights, bathing everyone in the glow from the projector pointed at his only posterless wall. Momo lay her head on Ashido's lap and smiled up at him, and Bakugou suddenly felt so cared for that he almost ran away on reflex, but his therapist told him to be better at accepting this sort of crap so he stayed put.

'Midoriya-kun said you'd like those movies,' Momo admitted softly, eyes twinkling in the dim light. Bakugou opened his mouth and then shut it, unsure what to say, but before he could answer, the movie started and he put everything aside to just enjoy the moment instead.

★★★★★★

This girls night thing wasn't so bad.

For one thing, the girls were considerate and kind (well, they were future heroes, you'd expect them to be). He always had a say in what they did, they didn't stay so late that it messed with his sleeping schedule and they usually brought some good shit with them.

It also came with the benefit of annoying most of the guys in their class.

'OK so why does Bakugou get to go and not us again?' Kaminari demanded, pouting. Most of the boys were crowded around Bakugou's desk looking anything from hurt and insulted to downright annoyed. Delightful. Made him puff his chest in arrogant glee.

'Because I'm obviously better than you, Dunceface,' Bakugou gloated, smirking. 'All you extras need to get on my level!'

'Uhh Deku is the best out of all of us, and he's not invited!' Kaminari protested. Deku blinked his large green eyes, surprised at being pulled into the conversation.

'Yes I am,' he shrugged. 'But I wake up early to run with Tenya-kun,' and hey what why is he on first name basis with Class President? Also, running with Ingenium is crazy work. '…I just have other stuff to do.'

'What could be better than hanging out with girls in their hottest outfits?' Mineta was drooling and if Bakugou hadn't promised Aizawa no violence in the classroom he would have drop kicked him out the window.

Deku, surprisingly, snorted. 'You clearly haven't been around girls if you think they're in their hottest outfits at sleepovers,' he scoffed, rolling his eyes. 'And with that attitude I don't think you ever will.'

'Ooooh bro he just called you maidenless bro oooooh,' Sero taunted, as everyone laughed at the stricken look on Mineta's face. 'But seriously Midobro, what's your secret?' he continued, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

'Just be a good person, I guess. And maybe have some good gossip to share?' Deku grinned.

'Is that why I'm not invited? Because I'm bad at gossiping?' IcyHot frowned, looking thoughtful. 'I am willing to upskill to get invited. I hear they have amazing snacks.'

'Look at you go, already starting to gossip,' Deku laughed. 'You'll get invited in no time!'

The next girl's night that week seemed to be hair focused, what with the girls showing up to his room with towels wrapped around damp heads and bags of products.

'Your hair is so soft!' Uraraka cooed, running a hand through his spiky blond hair. 'I thought Deku was pulling my leg!'

'Why the fuck were you talking to that nerd about my hair???' Bakugou demanded, swatting her hand away.

'Well I went to get some hair scrunchies-'

'Why the FUCK-'

'He gets them for Eri.' God, he was just so good, the best of humanity, isn't he? 'Anyway I said we wanted to do each other's hair and he brought it up. Said you were a natural blond, which I guess shouldn't surprise me since I've seen your mum and all.'

'You think I dye my hair like Shitty Hair and Pikachu?' Bakugou snorted, sitting on his bed next to Asui, who he decided had the best snack selection. Momo gasped.

'Kaminari-kun dyes his hair??'

'What, you think the carpet matches that electric bolt?' he smirked as the girls scream-laughed. Few things boosted his ego more than making them crack up like that, he was starting to realise. 'He paints that shit on, swear to God. Sometimes we help him while we redye Shitty Hair's roots.'

Hagakure plopped down in front of him and undid the towel around her head. 'You are so funny,' she gushed. 'Who knew?'

'And yet none of you bitches had a crush on me, despite being the hottest and funniest guy in our class,' he shot back, grinning evilly at their embarrassed faces. Hagakure held up her hands in defence, gloves facing palm outwards.

'Hey I didn't say all that!' She protested laughing. 'Besides I was the one that clocked you as part of the LGBTQ+ Mafia, sis.'

'How did you even know?' It wasn't that he was in the closet exactly, but he knew he talked about winning way more than any one individual. Unless she had a mind-reading quirk as well?

'You literally never stare at Yaomomo. Even I stare at her, she's hot! We kinda figured it out from there,' Uraraka pointed out, chewing on several Pocky sticks at once. Momo spluttered, choking on a cup of tea (ginger cinnamon this time).

'Guys please!' She protested, her flailing somewhat interrupted by Jirou gently combing her hair. 'No objectifying classmates!'

'Hey, we do that all the time,' Hagakure pointed out. 'Especially when talking about the number one ass in class!'

'Anyway,' Uraraka said loudly, her face red again. 'It's not that you're not attractive, it's just… well… you know…'

'You've got a bad attitude, kero,' Asui shrugged. 'We know you now and we're used to it, but the first impression was kinda scary.'

'Besides, you've mellowed out a lot since then,' Jirou added. 'We all had to grow up after… you know… all that stuff happened last year.'

'S'whatever,' he shrugged, valuing their honesty. 'I was an ass and now I'm less of one. Not like I give a crap really.'

'Love you Blasty,' Mina winked. 'Bad attitude, good genes and all!'

Bakugou nodded, not sure how to respond, absently running his hands through Hagakure's hair (once he found her head, anyway). She handed him a bottle of mousse and he applied it to his palms, warming them up a little before returning to her hair. She melted in his touch, and he felt a weight against his legs as she slumped back with a moan.

'Oh boy this feels amazing.' She sounded breathy and if Bakugou didn't hate the little fucker so much, he probably would have called Mineta to gloat. 'How are you so good at that?'

'S'not rocket science, Invisalign.'

'It's so annoying how arrogant you are when you're able to back it up so often,' she grumbled and he couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else. 'Shut up and give me a French braid please!'

♡♡♡♡♡♡

Hagakure kept her braid in through to Monday (or so she claimed, not like he could see the damn thing anyway). This time it was Aoyama who looked bemused.

'Mes cheries, why did you not ask to use my room?' He asked, looking a tiny bit hurt. 'Am I not one of the girls?'

Ashido gasped. 'Oh my god Aoyama-kun! So sorry for excluding you, of course you're one of the girls!'

'You can use his goddamn room next time too,' Bakugou grunted, folding his arms in a way that he hoped would make him look intimidated and not pouty. As if he'd admit to enjoying the girls wasting his time. Aoyama smiled brightly.

'Mais oui!' he nodded. 'I know I'm on the same floor as you-know-who but with Midoriya in the middle I'm sure we'll be safe. And I can make a really good charcuterie board.'

The girls ooh'd and Bakugou clicked his tongue in derision. How quickly these extras' faces are turned by fancy cheeses!

'Kacchan, do you want to spar with me on Friday?' Deku offered softly and he was annoyed at how easily that made him feel better. He grunted in assent and Deku's smile widened, eyes that dewy green again and he had to look away because it felt like looking into the sun with no sunglasses.

Come Friday the two of them met at the gym (prebooked; Bakugou learned this the hard way too), did some warm up stretches and began to spar. Him and Deku had a lot of one-on-one time together - sparring, studying sessions, the occasional meal. Hell they even travelled home together on weekends, opting to stay in dorms with the rest of their class during the week to be close to the school-mandated physical and mental therapy they all had to go through post-war. But he was selfish and greedy and unashamed to admit it (to himself, anyway,) and so he craved every extra chance to be around Deku more, like a starving man begging for scraps. He was ashamed to admit why he wanted it, but it would be pointless to dwell on; Deku and Round Cheeks were surely a done deal, what with all the giggling and blushing they got up to together. Deku didn't blush and giggle with him.

But he did spar, so that's how he handled his feelings. Seeing the flush on the nerd's chubby, freckled cheeks, the competitive glint in his pretty green eyes, the sweat darkening the curls on his forehead from emerald to a deep, dark forest… it did things to him. Scraps that barely filled him up but took the edge off his hunger. Punches felt like love taps, grapples were hugs, kicks were him being swept off his feet (literally). He was down bad and it was fucking disgusting. He desperately hoped that Deku couldn't see his pathetic little feelings all over his stupid face; as smart as his nerd (his nerd??) was, he had a blind spot when it came to romance. Cheeks must have nailed him down with a fucking hammer.

'Deku-kun! Bakugou!'

Speak of the round-faced devil.

'Ashido-chan, 'Chako-chan!' Deku greeted ('CHAKO-CHAN?' Bakugou's treacherous brain screeched in horror), pulling his All-Might t-shirt up to wipe the sweat off his face, not noticing three pairs of eyes zoom in on his washboard abs. 'What are you doing here? Thought it was Girls Night at Aoyama's?'

Uraraka put a hand on Deku's shoulder soberly, face set in a grim line. 'Sometimes the suffering of the few is not worth the joy of the many.'

'Hah?' Bakugou grunted, confused.

'Turns out we're lactose intolerant,' Ashido laughed even as she rubbed her tummy balefully. 'No cheese for us otherwise we'll be the blasty ones, if you know what I mean.'

'Gross,' Bakugou gagged, while Deku and his little girlfriend giggled. 'So you decided to stink up the gym instead?'

'Actually, you mentioned something about Uraraka-chan being able to take people down, thought it would be a cool time to learn,' Ashido continued. 'Do you mind if we join?'

If he had any objections, they died in his throat the moment Deku turned his excited little face at him, replaced with thought of pinching those round cheeks right in the middle of those goddamn freckles. Grunting a yes, he turned away quickly before they could see what an excited Deku did to his so called permanent scowl. It ended up being pretty useful, Cheeks showing them all how to do more non-violent take-downs on civilians and swapping pairs between the four of them so that they could learn different fighting styles. It ruined his one on one time with Deku but he supposed he had plenty of that. Not more than enough, nothing was ever enough, but this was nice too, he admitted to himself.

Once they finished up and began to make their way back to the dorms, Bakugou asked a question that had been buzzing in the back of his head since Aoyama stole girl's night from him (stole?!?!? Dammit he was getting soft!).

'Did one of you have a crush on Sparkletits or something?'

Uraraka choked on her granola bar while Ashido laughed so hard she began to cry.

'What? No! Well, we thought he may have had a crush on Hagakure-chan for a bit, y'know because he was the first to see what she really looks like,' Round Cheeks explained once she had hacked up enough rolled oats. 'But he is very gay, as it turns out. Why do you ask?'

'Pinky said one of the rules about Girls Night is no crushes allowed,' Bakugou pointed out. Ashido nodded enthusiastically in agreement, wiping her eyes.

'Doesn't that mean Mineta should be allowed then?' Deku teased, an adorably mischievous glint in his eye. It was Bakugou's turn to cackle as the girls gagged dramatically all the way to the dorm.

★★★★★★

His room was getting full with all these extras, but he was surprised at how little he minded nowadays.

Turns out Sparkle-tit's plan had backfired; without Deku actually being in his room to keep everyone safe, there was no one to protect them from grape-faced pervs, resulting in a peephole drilled through his door and Mineta with a earphone jack induced black eye on Monday. So they crawled back to Bakugou like worms and he took them in again like the street urchins they were because he was just cool like that, you know? So now Aoyama showed up with a tray full of his least stinky cheese and a variety of deli meats and spreads to go with Yaomomo's apple cinnamon flavoured tea, Asui's pepcorn and whatever else they'd scrounged up for their Girls Night menu. Bakagou was exempt from catering - he provided the space, of course - but he was not exempt from participation.

Case in point today, where the girls had decided to experiment with makeup.

'Bakugou I promise you this highlighter will make your cheekbones pop!' Hagakure insisted, a brush brought threateningly closer to his unwilling face.

'Get away from me Invisalign!' Bakugou writhed in his desk chair, fighting for his life against Asui's tongue pinning him down (ew, so wet). 'How would you of all people know what makes skin pop, anyway??

'Rude!' she huffed. 'Blast me, Aoyama-kun!'

'Aye aye, captain!' he saluted from his spot on Bakugou's bed, where he was delicately applying powder foundation to Yaomomo's face. A brief beam of light, and she was suddenly visible, grinning furiously.

'There, now we can both have popping cheekbones!' she crowed in triumph, dusting his face with golden powder. 'I knew Trophy Wife would look good on you!'

'Y'all are scarier than any villain we've ever fought.' Bakugou sighed, defeated.

'Worse than the League of Villains?' Asui teased, releasing her tongue once he'd given up the fight.

'You fuckers are your own league of villains!'

'All hail the League of Baddies!' Hagakure cheered, holding a makeup brush aloft like a sword.

It felt kind of good laughing at something so traumatic with his class, Bakugou realised as everyone began giggling helplessly. They were future heroes, but current teens and having the opportunity to be a little weird, a little irreverent, a little fucking loopy, was few and far between. He didn't know how to express that to everyone, but one glance at Ashido's face, black eyes shining as she applied eyeshadow to her pink lids, told him that not only could she read his mind, but she felt the same way.

A knock at the door startled everyone out of their laughing fit, and Jirou got up to answer the door. 'Oh! Hi Midoriya!'

'Hey friends! Special delivery!' Deku announced, entering his room with a stack of delicious-smelling pizza boxes. Just as well, because if Bakugou had to subsist on cheese and deli meat alone he'd have to start a riot.

Hagakure gasped. 'We didn't order a pizza boy stripper did we?' Deku squeaked, face turning fire engine red, and everyone cracked up again. He delicately placed the boxes on Bakugou's night stand and began to make his way out when Ashido and Uraraka locked the door behind him with an ominous click.

'What's the hurry, Deku-kun?' Uraraka said sweetly, an evil look in her eyes.

'Yeah… we just want to give you a little makeover,' Ashido purred, approaching him with several brushes.

'Uhhh, that won't be necessary,' Deku looked at Bakugou helplessly, as if he could do anything about it.

Bakugou shrugged, trying not to let his eyes water while Hagakure added eyeshadow with the seriousness of a mortician. 'The League is dead, shit nerd. Long live the League.'

'What's that supposed to- ACK!!' Deku was silenced by Yaomomo's steely grip as she delicately applied a tinted lip balm to his full lips. Bakugou was briefly distracted by this, and so didn't notice when Jirou began taking various pencils and wands seemingly out of nowhere like a goth fairy godmother.

'Bakugou, you have really pretty eyes,' she grinned, a kohl pencil getting dangerously close to his face. 'They'd look so good with a little enhancement…'

20 minutes and a whole lot of swearing on Bakugou's part and they were done desecrating the temple that was his face. The girls crowded around him and cooed, barring Uraraka who was adding the final touches to Deku's look.

'You look amazing, explodo-boy!' Ashido breathed, eyes wide. 'Really really beautiful.'

'Yeah, it's a little unfair, actually,' Hagakure agreed, holding up a mirror to his face and… wow.

His eyes, already almond shaped, were sharply defined by black eyeliner that swept as close to his waterline as he could tolerate. A light touch of red eyeshadow in the corners of his eyes made them glitter like rubies. High cheekbones were dusted with orange blush and glitter, making him look like he'd spent all day in the sun and developed a glowing tan, contour adding to the sharp lines of his jaw and the high bridge of his nose. A bit of lip gloss (less tacky and gross than he thought it would feel) made his lips look… well, he's never really thought about his lips other than whether they were crusty, but they looked nice. All of it looked fucking nice. He felt like a rock star. This was almost as cool as putting on his hero suit, but took less time.

'Done!' Uraraka's announcement distracted them all from Bakugou's face, including Bakugou himself. 'I present to you… Midoriya Izuku!'

Wow.

Um OK.

So Bakugou knew he was gay. He'd kind of always known it. And he knew he was gay for Deku in much the same way he knew the sky was blue. A sort of abstract truth, one could say. So Bakugou has never experienced the unique pain of a gay panic because what was there to panic about? He already knew what his own deal was.

Until now that is. Because Uraraka and Yaomomo did some witchcraft to his (his??) Deku.

First of all, they'd kept the freckles, enhancing the paler ones that everyone only saw during the summer but he knew were present like he knew his own face. They added a sprinkle of glitter across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose so that the whole thing had the effect of a galaxy of stars across his face. A pinky blush was added, almost to even out the embarrassed one he often sported, making him look positively cherubic. Bronze metallic eyeliner - and was that mascara or were the nerd's eyelashes that damn long? - made his already large innocent eyes look positively doe like, and pink lipgloss made his already full lips look poutier and more kissable. It had the sum total effect of making him look like a forest nymph, some sort of fae creature that belonged to nature who snatched hearts and souls from wanderers who travelled too far from the beaten path and got lost in the woods.

'…fuck me…' if Bakugou hadn't felt Hagakure's gloved hand squeeze his bicep, he wouldn't have been sure if she had said it or he had thought out loud.

'Mon Dieu,' Aoyama breathed, and he didn't know a lot of French, but hard same.

'Um… How do I look?' Deku asked nervously, blushing prettily and the whole room melted like butter in the microwave.

'Unreal,' Bakugou breathed, then added halfheartedly, in a vain attempt to save his dignity, 'nerd.'

'Lemme see!' he demanded, making grabby hands for the mirror as if anybody could deny the divine. Wordlessly, Asui handed him the mirror and he gasped and that was pretty too fuck! Goddamn!

'Wow, I look so different!'

'You look beautiful, Midoriya-kun,' Yaomomo smiled, high fiving Uraraka. 'If I do say so myself!'

'The glitter freckles were a great touch,' Uraraka nodded, grinning from ear to ear. 'You're really a genius, Yaomomo-chan!'

'OK, enough fawning over the literal embodiment of spring,' Ashido clapped her hands and broke the spell. 'Let's take a selfie!'

Manhandling a dazed Bakugou onto the bed right next to Deku, everyone else gathered around them. He was vaguely aware that the rest of them had makeup on too, that Jirou's winged eyeliner was dark and dramatic, and Uraraka's blush was artificially enhanced across her nose and cheeks, but none of them looked like Deku. Soft and beautiful and bewitching, curls framing his face, luminous eyes like sea-glass half submerged in oceans dammit! Fuck!

He must have been staring because it took a second for him to notice that Deku was looking at him too, green eyes on each detail that had been added to his face, drinking it all in. 'You look really pretty, Kacchan.' Was that a spell? Did he speak in elvish? What the fuck? His heart literally couldn't take this.

Bakugou nodded dumbly. 'Uh yeah, back atcha.' Back atcha? Bakugou Katsuki the fuck was wrong with you? He turned to face the lens, his heart playing jumprope in his throat, and tried to look less out of it for the camera.

The selfie Ashido sent to the Girls Night group chat was cute, all of them smiling at the camera, pizza boxes just out of frame.

The ones she sent to Bakugou in their private chat alternated between him staring at Deku like he was the only thing that existed, Deku staring at him like he hung every single star in the sky (as if they weren't all on his face dancing around his freckles), and the two of them looking into each others eyes as if nothing else mattered.

Pinky: ?

♡♡♡♡♡♡

Bakugou called a one-on-one emergency meeting with Ashido as soon as he woke up on Saturday. He wasn't sure how he was going to avoid all the extras, but he trusted Ashido's ability to distract them. The coast was clear when he was summoned to her room - she must have thrown something shiny past them and told them to fetch.

'Hey Blasty, what's up?' Ashido greeted breezily as he entered, desperately trying to shake the sweat off his hands.

'I'm losing my mind.' He couldn't stop pacing, the image of Deku's beautiful, disgusting, magical, horrifying face burnt onto his retinas, his short- and long-term memory and his fucking soul. The way the make-up made his vibrant green eyes, already Bakugou's weakness, glow preternaturally, haunted his dreams. His lips, already soft looking, had been rendered kissable, as if Bakugou didn't already think about them in that way enough already. He had always pined for him a little, even knowing that he wasn't available, but after that, he burned for him.

He needed to cut that shit out immediately.

'Uh?' Ashido blinked, confused as she slowly sat down on her bed. 'Bakugou, stop pacing and calm down!'

'I am calm!' he snapped. Guilt reared up in his gut, causing him to hack up a hasty apology for shouting that made her eyebrows shoot up so high they nearly disappeared into her hairline. Bakugou apologising? Oh this was serious.

'Sit down,' she said gently, patting the bed next to her. He flopped down and immediately curled up into a ball, feeling a little bit like his world was ending. He couldn't believe he'd lost his control over something so unimportant as his deep and unreciprocated love and adoration for that nerd because of fucking eyeliner. He was going to burn down the next Sephora he saw, swear to God.

'I wanna invoke a Girls Night rule,' he mumbled from his fetal position, staring at the leopard print duvet until he went cross-eyed.

'Which one?' Ashido asked, rubbing his back gently. He had gotten so used to the girls being touchy feely with him that he no longer remembered that he hated being touchy feely.

'I want to add a boy to the banned list.'

'But most of them are already on the banned list,' Mina paused, looking up at the ceiling in thought. 'The only ones not formally on the list are Tokoyami, who wouldn't come if we paid him, Koda, Shoji and Satou because they have their own thing on Friday night, and… Oh!'

'Yeah. Fucking oh,' he grumbled, his face bright red.

'Oh honey.'

'Don't.'

'I will.'

'Well… don't.'

'I gotta.'

Bakugou rolled out of the fetal position so he could lie on his face, hoping that he could smother his flame red cheeks out, or maybe die from lack of oxygen. 'Ask your stupid questions then.'

'Midoriya, huh? Since when?'

'My therapist says probably since we were brats.'

'Your thera-… OK,' Ashido took a deep breath and sat back. 'Hey, you picked the best.'

'Of course I fucking did. I always pick the best.' Ashido giggled at that and it made him feel a little better. At least one of them could find humour in this fucked situation.

'So what happened that caused all this? Was it the make-up?'

'Fucker looked like A Midsummer's Night's Dream,' Bakugou groaned, voice muffled with his continued attempts at killing himself so he wouldn't have to continue with this conversation or any conversation ever. Ashido patted his back comfortingly.

'Well, the course of true love never did run smooth,' Ashido soothed, clearly attempting to stop him from meeting his maker through a slow and inefficient death. 'Do you mind if I call for back-up?' Bakugou made a noise that was neither a yes nor a no, not thinking that this could get any worse.

'Hi Ashido-chan! Is Bakugou OK?'

Hey look it got worse!

'WHY THE FUCK DID YOU INVITE ROUND CHEEKS?!?!' he screeched, jumping off the bed so violently he nearly bashed his head against the wall. 'SHE'S DATING HIM!!'

'Who am I dating?' Uraraka asked calmly, sitting backwards on Ashido's chair, an eyebrow raised. Bakugou gaped at her, mouth working like a goldfish.

'Aren't you and Deku dating??'

'Oh no! I had a crush on him first year but we talked it out and we're definitely better off as friends. Anyway Iida-kun's more my speed. Pun intended,' she winked, doing the cheesiest finger guns he ever had the horror of witnessing.

'But I thought… with the first names… and the blushing????'

'Isn't blushing while talking about someone's ass a normal reaction? Also Deku-kun, Shouto-kun and I are trying to call the people we're super close to by their first names,' here she paused, looking a little sad. 'It's a small thing, but after the year we had, we wanted to find a way to show each other that we cared since you know… it may not last forever.'

'That's why we do Girls Night,' Ashido added, smiling softly at Bakugou. 'We're gonna go out into the world and put ourselves on the line again and again and we may not come back, so why not do something nice with people we care about?'

Bakugou hadn't really thought about it that way before. He knew that everyone had got closer, call it friendship, call it trauma bonding, but there was still something sweet about going the extra mile for each other just because. He supposed it was like how he knew Kaminari's favourite energy drink, or when they help Kirishima bleach his roots, or when he got an extra protein bar to give to Sero after training. They didn't get as many chances in their first year, and they may not get that many chances in their third, so why not do it now while they were healing together? Bakugou felt himself relax, feeling unexpectedly touched that they wanted him to be a part of their thing.

'So what's this about Deku-kun?' Uraraka asked. Bakugou suddenly felt un-relaxed.

'You guys said that guys who someone likes are not allowed to come, so he needs to stay the fuck away.'

'But I just said- waitaminute…' Uraraka narrowed her eyes at him. 'Do you like him?'

'Like is an understatement,' Ashido muttered.

'Pinky, I'm gonna blast you into a brand new colour palette.'

Uraraka burst out laughing. 'That's probably your funniest threat yet,' she wheezed, wiping a tear from her eyes.

'Unhelpful, but thanks Cheeks.'

'You know what would be really helpful? If we helped you to confess to him,' she continued, ignoring Bakugou's pout. 'We don't officially have a rule on boyfriends being banned but we can take it to the rest of the League of Baddies.'

'BOYF-,' Bakugou spluttered. 'HAVE YOU LOST YOUR DAMN MIND???'

But she was already summoning the other girls to Ashido's room. Bakugou had enough time to rapidly go through the 5 stages of grief to the two hell-beasts he called friends' great amusement, and by the time they got there he was on the final stage, acceptance, which looked an awful lot like him lying face down and trying to suffocate himself again. He was vaguely aware of the conversation being had ('him and Deku? Awwww!') before he was unceremoniously dragged into a sitting position, six flushed faces peering at him with a dangerously excited gleam in their eyes.

'So you want to confess to Deku?' Jirou started, but Bakugou interrupted her.

'I did not say that. I said the opposite of that. He needs to be banned from girls night. In fact, let's get him expelled too, say he's bad for my heart or some shit.'

'Midoriya-kun getting expelled before Mineta is probably against the Geneva convention,' Momo chuckled.

'Who knew Bakugou was such a drama queen?' Asui mused, a finger on her chin thoughtfully.

'Literally everyone,' Ashido snickered. 'You remember his tantrum during the Sports Festival?'

'OI!'

'Why don't you want to confess?' Hagakure asked suddenly. Bakugou swallowed hard, not mentally prepared for the amount of vulnerability answering that question would take. But Girls Night was a safe space, even if it was happening in the middle of the day.

'… there's no way he likes me back,' Bakugou said softly, feeling the unfamiliar sting of tears. 'He… I treated him like shit in middle school. We were best friends and I ruined that because I was a shitty brat.'

'Well you died for him in high school - I feel like that balances out a little,' Hagakure half-joked. 'Besides, you do all these nice things for him now, right?'

'Yeah, because I don't deserve him!' Bakugou groaned, pulling his hair. Ashido untangled his grip gently, presumably out of care for him and his hairline.

'Hmm, that's not how any of us see it,' Uraraka mused. 'Least of all Deku-kun. He sees it as getting his favourite person back.'

'Well that idiot has a big heart and I don't wanna break it again.'

Momo pulled a napkin out of her arm (with a little explosion logo in the corner, nice touch) and he wiped his face, not realising that he had started to cry. Was this how Deku felt all the time? It sucked! How did the Midoriyas not become raisins from losing this much fluid?

'You won't break his heart, Blasty,' Ashido said softly, pulling him into a side hug. 'Trust us.'

'How the fuck do you know?' He did not sob when asking that, and fuck you for thinking that he did. The girls were silent for a long time, having a wordless conversation between each other, then Momo sighed.

'So, you know the tea? And the pepcorn, and the movies and the hair and skin products?' She started hesitantly.

'Yeah?'

'Midoriya-kun told us about all of that,' Uraraka admitted. 'We'd ask him every week what he thought you'd like and he was right every single time.'

'W-what?' Bakugou sat up in confusion, the warmth of Ashido's arm still around his shoulders.

'We knew it was a big ask, getting you to give up your space for us, and we wanted you to have a good time too. So we'd ask Deku what some of your favourite stuff was and he'd give us tips or help us find what we needed.'

'Like what skincare store you get your stuff from,' Momo joined in, smiling. 'We went together and he picked all the things you like.'

'He showed me the pepcorn video. And I'm pretty sure he said the DVDs came from your mum's house,' Asui added. 'Except for the Toy Story one, that one's mine.'

'He burnt KPDH onto a disc for me. Don't tell the feds,' Jirou winked.

Bakugou snorted wetly. 'We are the feds, dumbass,' he joked.

'Nuh uh! Don't include me with the pigs, dude!'

He laughed wetly, feeling a bit dizzy. 'So he's been doing all this stuff for me?'

'Mmhmm,' Uraraka nodded. 'Like I said, you're his favourite person. And maybe that's not in a romantic way but I think it's worth a try, right?'

'And if he says no, we'll put him on the banned list, and spend the next 4 Fridays talking about how much he sucks, actually,' Hagakure laughed. 'Like how dumb his adorable freckles are.'

'…they're in the top 3 best things about his looks,' he admitted, hiding his face in his hands as the girls cooed again. Get a grip, Bakugou! Who even is he right now? Maybe he should blast himself in the face to get his street cred back.

'True true. Where do you place his butt?'

After he blasted Hagakure into space, of course.

★★★★★★ ★

Their plan was so simple that he wasn't sure if he was for it or not, but he was strong enough to admit it was better than the one he'd thought up (screaming 'I love you' in Deku's face and then killing them both as well as any witnesses who happened to be in the general vicinity) so he went along with it. It was bright and early Wednesday morning and he was making him and Deku their usual post-workout smoothie when Ashido bounced in, hopping onto Bakugou's back like a koala.

'Girls Night tonight, Bakubabe?' She announced, winking. Bakugou couldn't help but smirk at Deku's surprised face.

'You know it, Pinky.'

'T-tonight??' Deku squeaked, eyes wide. 'But that's so soon!'

'Nah it's cool,' Bakugou shrugged, kind of amused at the look on his face. 'We finished all the homework we had for the week yesterday, right nerd?'

'Uhhh yeah! R-right!' He got up suddenly, grabbing his bag and pulling at his shoddily done tie nervously. 'I gotta get to class early, see you Kacchan!' Deku practically ran out. Ashido waited until they both heard the front door slam before giggling.

'See, what did we tell you!' She laughed. 'I know you already do, but pay special attention to his muttering today, trust me.'

And he did trust her, so Bakugou turned up his mental Deku decoder. The nerd spent the whole day listing seemingly endlessly disconnected ideas under his breath, scribbling madly in his notebook. It took an embarrassingly long time for him to realise that he was going through things that Bakugou liked, thinking up options and discarding them based on how easily he could source them before tonight. It was definitely an ego boost, hearing Deku bat a thousand like that. Why yes, abseiling down Heights Alliance would kick ass and yes it would result in Aizawa gutting them and hanging them up on a plaque like a trout! Yes, his favourite band was on tour and probably wouldn't give up a sold out show in New York to perform in Bakugou's dorm room!

God he loved this boy. Wanted to kiss him till those freckles fell off his stupid pretty face.

When the last bell rang for the day, Deku shot out of his seat like he still had OFA and was operating at 100%, but Asui had warned him this would happen so Bakugou was ready, catching up to him in the hallway with less ease than he pretended.

'Where ya off to, De-ku,' he asked brightly… well, brightly for him. It made Deku shiver, his face a bright red.

'WAHCCHAN!' He squeaked, grabbing his chest. 'Um I uh… library?'

'Cool, I'll walk ya.'

'N-no need!'

'We haven't hung out all day.' Bakugou didn't know how to do puppy eyes the way Deku did that wore him down like an overused crayon in a preschool, but Uraraka assured him that he wouldn't need to and she was right; Deku folded like an omelette.

'Yeah OK.' They meandered, definitely not in the direction of the library, in silence. Well. Bakugou was silent. Deku was still muttering like crazy. No Deku, they did not sell scotch bonnet pepper sauce locally and you cannot import it via express shipping.

It was oddly nostalgic walking with him like this, Bakugou mused, occasionally pulling Deku by the elbow so that he wouldn't walk straight into a pole or something. They walked to and from school like this as kids, Deku muttering up a storm and Bakugo just liking being next to him. He wished he hadn't fucked it up in middle school, but at least he could enjoy it now. Especially seeing as the muttering was about him. There were some great date ideas in there, but he was getting ahead of himself. Jirou said to wait until he stopped muttering; he could be patient. Well, normally he couldn't but everyone knew that for Deku he would do anything, including learning how to wait.

Eventually the muttering died down and Bakugou looked at Deku. His face was twisted in a rare display of anguish, his soft pink bottom lip wobbling. 'You OK nerd?' He asked gently. At this point they'd wandered all around campus, and had ended up at the edge of the woods behind the school. This late in the afternoon there was no one around - it was just the two of them.

'I… yeah…' he ran his hands through thick dark green curls, distracted. 'I just…' He stopped walking and stared at Bakugou helplessly. 'Kacchan, what do you want?'

'Hah?' Bakugou asked, stopping to face him.

'It's Girls Night and I,' he made a strangled sound before continuing. 'What can I get for you? What do you want?'

'You.' Bakugou stood facing the boy he's been in love with since he knew what love was.

'What?'

'The girls told me you've been helping out with all this. And it's been perfect, but I just want you.' Bakugou's face was bright red, but he pushed on. He could do this. The League of Baddies he called friends believed in him. 'You're all I want, Izuku. You make me happier than anything else in the world.'

He was staring at the ground now, watching the shadows lengthen in the setting sun. In front of him was Deku's bright red sneakers, the only things he could look at right now, which were frozen to the spot. Maybe he was right. Maybe this was a shitty idea and he'd ruined everything soft and new between each other.

'Kacchan.' Something in Deku's voice made him look up and oh. Deku was looking at him like he was the only star in the sky. His eyes sparkled in the warm light of the setting sun, tears welling up on his lashes like dew. They were filled with surprise and awe, and something else that he hoped was a reflection of what he felt right now in that moment.

'I love you, Izuku.'

Deku threw himself at him, scarred arms wrapping around his shoulders, face buried in his neck, tears soaking up his school blazer. 'Kacchan,' he sobbed his name over and over again like it was a prayer. 'Kacchan, Kacchan, Kacchan!'

Bakugou wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him infinitely closer, breathing in the smell of Izuku that was his favourite smell ever. Something clean and warm, like reading a book under a tree on a sunny day. 'Is this you saying you love me too?' He asked, half joking, half desperately needing that clarification before he exploded.

Izuku pulled back and yep, that was love that he saw twinkling in those emerald eyes. 'Idiot,' he huffed. 'Of course I love you too.'

And before he could protest at being called an idiot, Izuku pulled him even closer and kissed him gently on the lips.

Bakugou immediately lost awareness of all other senses, fluttering his eyes closed as he got lost in the sensation. In this moment, all he could feel was Izuku. His soft lips pressed against his, strong arms hugging him closer, fingers delicately playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck. The feel of his torso tensing and then relaxing in his hold as Bakugou hugged him tighter, and the movement of his legs as he adjusted balance, always adjusting for Bakugou, always moving in sync with him because he loved him too, it turned out. Bakugou couldn't help but smile against Deku's lips and as their eyes opened, he could tell that Deku was smiling too. Bakugou sacrificed the hold on his waist to hold his face instead and as he cupped his freckled cheeks in his palm, he knew that was the correct decision to make, even if it was also the wetter of the two choices.

'Izuku,' he murmured, rubbing his thumbs along his cheekbones, feeling the softness against the pads of his fingers. 'You didn't have to do any of that shit for Girls Night.'

'I know,' he said, leaning into his touch. 'But it was so kind of you to let the girls use your room. Ochako-chan and Tsu-chan are two of my closest friends and you gave them a safe space. I just wanted to thank you without being weird, and they wanted it too so it all kinda just happened.'

'Yeah, well,' he could feel himself blush under the boundless love that Deku seemed to have for him. 'They're all my friends now so…'

'Kacchan's amazing!' Deku breathed, kissing him on the lips. Pulling away, his smile big and bright and warm like a summer sun, he touched Bakugou's cheek. 'My boyfriend is amazing!'

Boyfriend! If he hadn't been holding onto the most precious person to him he would have exploded himself straight into the stratosphere.

'Fuck yeah he is,' he grinned, finally getting to kiss the freckles off of Deku's beautiful face like he'd always wanted to do.

♡♡♡♡♡♡ ♡♡

'DIE!'

'…I didn't think it was that kind of game?'

'No, Yaomomo-chan, Mario Kart is not that kind of game,' Deku sighed, running his hand through Bakugou's hair lovingly even as he shot him an exasperated look.

Momo had the flu and Jirou had to go home this weekend, and although they both said they could have Girls Night without them, everyone else refused, citing Ohana meaning family or some shit. Deku suggested that they play some games online instead, and because Bakugou's boyfriend's a genius who had great ideas, they all happily agreed. And so this was how Bakugou found himself in his dorm room on Friday night, the girls on voice chat through Discord and a slightly flushed boyfriend doubling as a warm, freckled pillow underneath his head. Momo and Jirou weren't really gamers but the other girls played fairly regularly, practiced enough to give Bakugou a challenge. They were definitely better than Kaminari, not that that was a high bar to clear. He hadn't played video games with Deku in a very long time but he was too busy talking Yaomomo and Jirou through the controls to be a threat, allowing him to comfortably take the lead.

Bakugou cackled, the thrill of victory being in his top 3 favourite feelings. It used to be number one, but it turned out kissing cute boys with freckles who think the sun shines out of your ass was a shade better, at least in Bakugou's esteem. He hadn't decided what the third thing was yet but Girls Night was up there for sure. Princess Peach sped through Luigi's mansion like she was being driven by a madman (What? She's objectively the best character; she's ruler of the kingdom and has an impeccable sense of style), while everyone else was fighting for seconds, the filthy casuals.

'Kacchan?' Deku asked sweetly, glancing down at him, long dark eyelashes fluttering so prettily it briefly took Bakugou's breath away.

'Yeah?'

'Would you still love me if I were a worm?'

'What the fuck kind of question is that? I'd love you no matter what stupid shit you do.' A chorus of awws through his laptop made him smirk. He was nailing this boyfriend thing.

'Even if the stupid shit involves a blue shell?' Deku's smile curled evilly at the edges. Combined with the green hair, he looked alarmingly Grinch-like.

'HAH?' Bakugou tore his eyes away from his stupid, cute, evil boyfriend and stared in horror at his screen as a spiky blue shell hit him high into the air and off the course. He was placed back just in time to have every single one of his so-called friends drive past, leaving him dead last.

'I WIN!' Deku crowed, holding his Switch aloft like it was the literal knife he stabbed Bakugou in the back with, the traitor.

'Second!' Ashido cheered. 'Midobabe, if we were in the same room, I'd high-five you.'

'Haha bronze medal, bitches!' Uraraka cackled, her competitive streak rearing its ugly head.

'Bye everyone, I am going to kill my boyfriend,' Bakugou deadpanned, leaving voice chat and turning to Deku, who gulped. 'Say your prayers, Midoriya Izuku.'

'Oooh government name, I am in trouble,' he had the audacity to giggle, the demon child. He ducked when Bakugou lunged forward, barely missing his attack. 'Oops, you might be serious. Mercy!'

'Never!' Bakugou yelled as he tackled him, the both of them landing with an oof on his bed. 'Beg, worm!'

'Kacchan, please,' and his eyes were that pretty dewy green and his lips looked especially plump, and it turned out that hearing Deku saying please in that breathy way might be a slightly better feeling than continuing Girls Night, so he figured he'd kiss him to death and then see if he could get him on the banned list as revenge. The girls will understand, he was sure.