The indelicacies of nitroglycerin (Todobaku/ Bakutodo)

Chapter 4.

Todoroki felt like he’d finally actively gone and done something right in his life, as since that night, Bakugou had started being…. nice, to him. In Bakugou’s own way. It wasn’t anything big or special, barely even noticeable to an outsider, but Todoroki was equally bewildered and happy at the subtle differences in Bakugou’s treatment of and attitude towards him.

Overall it was just… softer.

When they bumped into each other Bakugou would greet him with “hey” and some casual, mild insult, rather than “the fuck you lookin’ at, half-assed popsicle”, which was already nothing short of a miracle. He didn’t swear in most sentences anymore, and what was more bizarre was that there were a lot of sentences now. He actually talked to Todoroki now. Well, generally Todoroki would initiate conversation, but Bakugou would actually respond and carry on the conversation like a normal person, rather than immediately tell him to go die and leave his sight as quickly as possible. He let Todoroki sit beside him while he was napping in the shade beside the classrooms without any argument now, and didn’t question it when Todoroki would occasionally walk beside him to class, or to the cafeteria, or back to the dorms.

He scowled much less when it was them alone, talking late at night when Todoroki couldn’t sleep and Bakugou got hungry. Or in the library when they were studying together in silence after Bakugou firmly told Sero and the rest to “fuck the fuck off, I’ll tutor your empty excuses for brains later”, or sitting on the couch with Shouji and Koda in the communal area of the dorms while everyone else was playing games. Bakugou’s neutral frown resting on his face for so long was still quite a jarring sight to see, and Todoroki had caught himself staring at those unusually calm features in a daze far more often than he’d admit.

He was convinced he was right, now, and it wasn’t just his eyes playing tricks on him. Bakugou was pretty.

Todoroki liked to think Bakugou’s voice had changed a little as well, when talking to him. It was a little quieter, much more like a normal person’s inside voice, and a bit smoother too, lacking that biting edge his crude words were so well known for.

Todoroki was glad to find that Bakugou’s almost overwhelming competitive spirit and sense of rivalry hadn’t diminished in the slightest, though. He’d still spar with Todoroki with everything he had, pushing himself to the very limits of his power with that crazed grin on his face, fighting like a blaze of wildfire. Oh, and the pregame, mid-battle and recovery trash talk still remained, riling up Todoroki’s own sense of competition and challenge as always. But he would sneer down at Todoroki’s abilities less now.

Their relationship hadn’t changed much when in the presence of other people, though. Todoroki didn’t think there was a particular reason, they just belonged to different friend circles after all, which didn’t interact too much in general. So he was very surprised when Kirishima suddenly pulled him off to the side one day, eyes gleaming in that pure, straightforward, Kirishima-typical excitement.

“Yo Todoroki, what’s your secret man?” Kirishima grinned as if he actually expected Todoroki to know what he was talking about. Todoroki blinked, doing his best not to make his usual deadened expression too off putting as he tried to figure out the context.

Kirishima was a cool guy, cheerful, very down to earth, and pretty strong. He reminded Todoroki of a big puppy in some ways, that was always happy to see you and would tolerate all of your bullshit, but in such an unconditionally loving and supportive way that he made you feel bad for being an ass. Todoroki could definitely see how Kirishima had marched his way into Bakugou’s thorn wall of a heart. Kirishima somehow just made Todoroki want to be friendly to him, and it was a natural quality about him that he’d been quietly in awe over for quite some time. He often wondered what it’d be like being friends with the guy.