𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐄𝐒 | bakutodo

THREE

shouto brushed past katsuki's ill-mannered insult, rotating the wooden chopsticks through the buck-wheat noodles. he slurped up the soba, his transfixing heterochromatic eyes immediately widening in shock. he felt his heart melt at the first bite.

"th-mff is- s-mm good." katsuki let out a breathy laugh in amusement, pulling the silver tab off of his red bull, storing it in his backpack. "damn right it is! i cooked it!"

"did your mother not prepare this?" katsuki immediately paused at the mention of his mother, his frame of mind quickly interchanging.

shouto picked up on that small conversion of emotion, exhaling. "apologies. touchy subject?" katsuki glared down at the ground with a scowl, nodding slowly.

"regardless, this is the best soba i believe i have ever tasted. i would call this finer than my own sister's." shouto complimented, attempting to lift the blonde's sulky mood. it seemed to work, katsuki's face substituting back to his trademark expression. "hell yeah! i learnt from my aunt. she's a fucking legend at cooking."

"make sure to personally thank her on my behalf, then."

;

"top scorers on his exam, kazumi ozaka in third, shouto todoroki in second, and katsuki bakugou in first. make sure to-"

katsuki drowned out the rest of his english teacher's words, nestling his wired buds into his ears before slinging his backpack over his shoulder, one thought swimming around in his busy mind as he rushed out of the classroom.

he had to get home as soon as possible. he had to get home as soon as possible. he had to get home as soon as possible. he had to-

"bakugou! wait!" he felt a cold hand on his shoulder, making him turn around. katsuki pulled his left earbud out of his ear. "what is it, peppermint."

"i was wondering if you were busy today..?" ... "why?" "i wanted to invite you out for something. anything you'd like. in return for the soba." katsuki found a smirk building at the corner of his mouth. "are you asking me out on a date, peppermint?"

"uhm- no- i- it is simply something i would like to repay you with. do you have time? if not that is completely understandable."

the ash-blonde paused, a small voice in his head repeating the same words over and over again. he knew he had to get home as soon as possible. otherwise she would kill hi- "yeah. i'll go. i'm digging bubble tea."

shouto offered a half smile. "perfect. i have just the quintessential place."

and so, with his scratched skateboard tucked under his arm, katsuki set off with shouto on a quest for the best bubble tea in town. it was only a ten minute walk, and despite the awkward silence shared between the two boys, they arrived rather quickly.

;

"this is the best bubble tea i have ever tasted in my goddamn life." katsuki moaned as he chewed on the black sugar tapioca pearls swirling in his mouth. "why of course. it is my sister's company, after all." "wait- for real?" shouto hummed casually, kicking stray pebbles under his feet.

the wind blew softly in the boys' ears, minty leaves dancing through the air. musutafu's national park was relatively empty, given it was now four thirty pm.

katsuki had brought him to this exact park, claiming that he always visited the same bench nestled nicely between two trees, creating an arch-like shape with it's branches.

shouto exhaled and set his satchel down on the bench, sitting himself down next to it. katsuki chose to place his backpack between the two, bringing his feet up to his chest as he limply rested his head on the brace.

"would you care to explain why you like this bench so much?" katsuki snickered to himself, pointing over to a dent in the solid pavement. "you see that crack over there?" shouto hummed. "people trip over it all day long. and i get to sit here, and watch them all land on their faces."

perfect example, as a young girl peddling on her bicycle came flying off of her seat upon biking over the dent, landing on her face in a rather unflattering manner. katsuki snorted and attempted to conceal his laughter, seeing how perturbed her mother was as she came dashing towards her.

shouto frowned, and flicked katsuki's arm. "that's not very nice bakugou, that poor girl's nose is bleeding." that made katsuki burst out in laughter, muffling it with his hand.

...

"maybe it is a little bit funny."

"see? you get it!"

shouto watched katsuki unfold right in front of him, his rare smile appearing on his face as he laughed wholeheartedly. the half-red half-white teen couldn't help the little voice in the back of his head saying,

'that boy's laugh is beautiful.'