The indelicacies of nitroglycerin (Todobaku/ Bakutodo)

Chapter 8.

“What’s your favourite food?” Todoroki asked as he and Bakugou left the classroom at the end of school. Bakugou arched an eyebrow at him.

“What’s this, 21 questions?”

“You know, sometimes when people ask you harmless questions, you can assume they don’t have ulterior motives and genuinely want to know, and just answer them like a normal person.” Todoroki pointed out helpfully and tried not to smirk as he dodged an uncomfortably close explosion.

“I like eating anything spicy. Happy now, you obnoxious fuck?” Bakugou grinded out between clenched teeth, and Todoroki snorted.

“Jesus, that’s so typical.”

“Hah?! As if you and your cold soba can talk, Mr Traditional-Japanese-Ice-Cube-Room.” Bakugou sneered mockingly but Todoroki paused, raising an eyebrow.

“How do you know what my favourite food is?”

“Because you and that wind fucker were yelling about it, my apologies for not blocking my damn ears.” Bakugou growled irritably and Todoroki took a long moment to process that. Wind fucker… Yoarashi from Shiketsu High? When did… Oh, back in their first year when they were at the provisional license courses? Damn, he’d completely forgotten about whatever the overwhelmingly energetic, enthusiastic guy had talked to him about… and Bakugou hadn’t?

“Wow… You actually listen?” Todoroki didn’t mean to say it out loud, but Bakugou’s reaction was funny anyway.

“If you wanted me to beat your dumbass face in you should’ve just said so, Halfie.” Bakugou growled around a pissed off, contorted smirk, veins ticking in his neck and temple as he released a flurry of blasts from his palms. Todoroki gracefully ignored him, humming in thought.

“Both of our favourite foods are so typical… Do you like sweets? Let’s go to a dessert place instead.” Todoroki suggested not unreasonably, he thought, but Bakugou looked at him as if he’d just asked him to go jump into a volcano.

“‘Instead’- Since when was I fucking going anywhere with you, Candy Cane? And don’t just assume I’m free, inconsiderate bastard.” Bakugou griped and Todoroki just gave him a look.

“Are you not?”

“Die.”

With that decided, Todoroki turned to head towards a dessert place nearby. Bakugou grumbled and groaned as usual but he ended up following him anyway, making Todoroki hide a smug smirk.

They both ordered drinks and sat down at a table by the window. It was almost like magic, the area around them immediately cleared as Bakugou stomped over to his seat, expression a storm. Todoroki wondered if he was mad at the place or the company, then decided it was a waste of time to ever try figure out why Bakugou was angry.

Instead he just started talking to him about nothing in particular, purposely pushing every single one of Bakugou’s trigger happy buttons and getting called every insulting name under the sun. So, a normal conversation between the two, really.

The drinks took an awfully long time to come, a fact that Bakugou growled about every few seconds as if he was worried Todoroki would forget, but Todoroki found that he didn’t mind at all. Honestly, just sitting here at a cozy little dessert place with Bakugou after school, just talking and bantering and watching those murderous glares lose a bit of fire one by one, in tiny, barely noticeable increments…

Todoroki could hardly believe it, but it was comfortable. So comfortable. This must be what a high feels like.

Their drinks did come, eventually, and Todoroki had to kick Bakugou’s shin to distract him from growling irritably at the waiter, which earned him another round of aggressive threats - which, in all their violent glory, were empty, and they both knew it.