"Suki, I need help," Kirishima whined, pouting as he scribbled on the corner of his paper.
"You always need help." Bakugo's tone was flat, but he moved next to Kirishima to look at the problem he appeared to be stumped on. "Oh. That's actually kind of difficult. An independent clause is a statement that can be said alone, like 'The dog is brown. A dependent clause is—well, dependent. It relies on the independent clause to make sense, like if you said 'The dog is brown and likes treats'."
"Oh!" Kirishima perked up, suddenly much more understanding of Present Mic's homework. That makes so much more sense, okay."
"Didn't Mic explain it earlier? You seriously need to start—"
"Paying attention?"
"Yes," Bakugo said, exasperated.
"I know, I know." He paused, staring blankly at his paper and accidentally dropping his voice to a whisper. "I try."
Bakugo frowned, noticing how Kirishima seemed suddenly . . . sad? Unsure? He wasn't one for reading people, but Kirishima was such an open person that it was clearly nothing good. And, seeing as he'd gotten plenty of help from the stupidly cute redhead, he felt inclined to do the same even despite his lack of experience.
"Red?"
Kirishima perked up a bit at the nickname, trying to ignore the building butterflies in his stomach. "Yeah?"
"What's wrong?"
His eyes blew wide, seeing how suddenly concerned and almost tender Bakugo was. "Uh—"
"Don't even start fighting me on this," Bakugo tapped his head with his favorite rolled up paper, though it didn't hold much malice after their weeks of bonding. "You were making a face."
Kirishima huffed, turning his head. Really, he didn't want to talk about it, but not for any truly concerning reason. For all the times he'd told his friends that talking about their feelings helped, he didn't do it often.
"Shitty Hair—Red—Oh, fuck it—Eijiro." Kirishima jolted, turning his head with wide eyes. "Fuckin' talk to me. I'm not as good as you with comfort but I'm pretty sure I can call you out on whatever bullshit you're thinking up."
"Uh, yeah." Kirishima nodded idly, the thought of Bakugo saying his given name fresh in his mind. "Right. Uh-huh."
Bakugo sighed, exasperated. "Not the answer I was looking for, stupid."
"Oh, yeah! Right! Uh. I don't know, just feeling down. Never been good at academics. I mean, I'm not like, stupid or anything, right? But I'm not like you or even Midoriya—sorry, that might be annoying, huh? But you gotta admit, his analysis skills are really impressive." Bakugo just grunted in dismissal. As annoying as it was, Kirishima was right and he didn't feel like denying it. "So I guess I'm just stuck on not being good enough or whatever."
"That was painfully easy to get out of you," Bakugo stated, almost impressed, before smacking Kirishima over the head with his paper. "Now don't be fuckin' stupid, stupid." Kirishima opened his mouth to retort, only to get hit over the head again. "You may not me some fucking genius in English or whatever the fuck but you're anything but stupid. You have a great fuckin' quirk and some of the strongest morals I've ever seen, who gives a fuckin' shit if you don't know some shit?"
Kirishima blinked once, then twice. "You know, coming from someone who wants to be the best at anything and everything—"
"Shut the fuck up before I kill your dumbass. I'm allowed to, you're not."
"What?! That's not fair!"
"Shut up! Die!" Bakugo smacked him over the head with his paper until, eventually, Kirishima snatched the paper and did it back. It quickly became a full-blown wrestling match, Kirishima launching out of his chair to tackle Bakugo to the ground and instead getting rolled onto his back and pinned down. The second he realized how close their faces were, how it was so close to being a kiss, he shoved Bakugo off and flung himself away with his hands in the air.
"Okay, okay, I give up!" He panted, less out of exhaustion than shock and maybe even fear. He wasn't sure.
"Already? Pussy."
Even with the somewhat mean comment, Bakugo was just as panicked. He crossed his arms, settling back on his chair and nudging at Kirishima's. He didn't say much, quickly regaining his composure and ignoring the flustered feeling bubbling up in his gut. He forced it back down, though. He wasn't going to let his feelings—the ones he absolutely didn't have, Kirishima was just his friend; his best friend even—bother him. So, he helped Kirishima through the rest of the work until as the clock ticked by and he found that it was past dinner.
"Hey, Bakugo?" Kirishima shifted in his chair, suddenly nervous despite having wanted to ask for a while. . "D'you maybe wanna do something tonight? I know we're studying or whatever, but it's Friday and—well, just . . . not studying? I, uh—"
"Shut up, Shitty Hair. You're gonna give yourself an aneurysm." Bakugo frowned at his paper. "Sure, whatever. What did you have in mind?"
"Oh! Uh, we can watch a movie? Denki recommended some horror movies the other day. Ooh, or I could set up Ark again?" Kirishima babbled on and Bakugo fought back the twinge of jealousy at the use of Kaminari's given name. Hearing his own family name was already annoying, he thought they were past that. But, evidently, he was wrong. They hadn't yet gotten to Katsuki and Eijiro and that pained him.
He furrowed his brow, staring down aggressively as a new thought popped into his head. "Sleepover."
Kirishima paused mid sentence, tilting his head with a dumbfounded grin. "No way. I'm in a dream. You wouldn't ever—aw! Suki, bro!" He launched himself at Bakugo, enveloping him in an inescapable hug.
"Get off of me! I'll fucking kill you you bitch!" Bakugo thrashed even though he wasn't very mad at all. Kirishima persisted anyhow, squeezing impossibly tighter and covering himself in a thin layer of hardened skin to help protect himself from pointy elbows and strong kicks. He howled with laughter, even when the door was all but burst open and Aizawa watched for several seconds as they rolled around on the floor.
"I don't get paid enough for this," the teacher muttered, letting out a long, exasperated sigh. "For the love of God, Kirishima, let Bakugo go before he kills someone. I don't need to clean blood, it's not a fun task."
Kirishima stared, wide eyed yet still grinning as he let go of the boy. Bakugo hit him over the head once, then twice, then a third time for good measure, although Kirishima wasn't sure. Then, he pushed himself up and pulled his leg back to kick the redhead.
"Bakugo," Aizawa warned, long and slow and filled with exhaustion. "Don't do it."
Bakugo stared him dead in the eye as he slowly, so slowly, tapped Kirishima's side with his foot. Aizawa groaned, slamming the door in their faces without so much as a goodbye. Not even a scolding. He was far too exhausted to even bother with it, having fought off three villains the night before. Rather, he pulled out his phone as he made his way through the rest of the dorms.
I'm absolutely done with Bakugo I'm going to kill him.
Was it dramatic? Yes, it was. Aizawa was well aware of this. However, he didn't exactly care. Apparently, his husband didn't either.
aww, babe, you know you love the idiot
The teacher grunted, mildly annoyed at the truth. I love all the idiots. That's the problem.
am i one of the idiots?
That got a smile. Unfortunately, yes. However if that boy doesn't do something about those painfully obvious feelings of his, he won't be one of the idiots.
oh that kirishima isn't it
He only smiled harder. Hizashi and him had been keeping up on it, since they often did that. It was something most of the teachers did, really. They'd all watched as Midoriya and Todoroki bloomed, and before that, Shinso and Kaminari. Midnight was the only one who really talked openly about it, other than Mic and Aizawa to each other, and it was interesting to see the students' budding relationships just as it was to watch them flower.
i can't wait for them to finally get together. they'll be so cute. kind of remind me of us in the old days, except you're less boom boom and more gloom gloom
Remind me why I married you?
to have babies
It took every ounce of his being not to burst into laughter at that, exhaling furiously as he passed two students he only vaguely recognized. You're a pain, Hizashi.
am I at least a pretty one, tho?
No. He paused, waiting several seconds before immediately regretting it. Yes, yes you are.
Without so much as a hesitation from sending three messages in a row, as he knew Hizashi was the last person to care, he shot one last text and waited only for a response before he put his phone away. I should probably get finished with the dorm sweep and head out to patrol. I love you
love you more, beautiful <3 be safe out there
With a rare smile that he tucked away every time he had to face a student, he made his way out of the dorm room and then out of the school.
* * * * *
"Did you have to do that?"
"Do you have to keep talking?"
Kirishima laughed, locking eyes with Bakugo with a painfully soft smile that he knew spelled his feelings out letter by letter. "Maybe I do. You never know, man."
Bakugo only grunted in response, completely enraptured by the look in those ruby eyes. He shook his head after a moment, turning away with a furious blush. He didn't want anything to do with kissing those smiling lips. He wasn't thinking about it. He wasn't.
And yet, he wondered if they'd be slightly dry like the rest of his body. Bakugo sweated because of his quirk, yet Kirishima was the opposite. He drenched himself in lotion—entirely because of Bakugo demanding he at least take care of himself—and yet was still lacking moisture. But Bakugo was soft, his lips were soft. He kept himself hydrated and used chapstick nearly constantly. It made him curious to see how Kirishima's lips would feel against his own.
"I'm gonna go grab some stuff, I'll be right back, bro."
Suddenly shocked out of his thoughts, Bakugo just nodded, aggressively turning his head away to stare at his balcony window. He heard the door click shut and relaxed a bit, furrowing his brows and wondering what he was going to do with himself for thinking such things. Vaguely, in the back of his mind, he recognized the feelings bubbling up inside him, and that scared him.
It scared him more than he liked to admit.
"Back! Hey, man!" Kirishima grinned, tossing down a sleeping back and a hairbrush. "I've already showered, no hair to brush this time."
Bakugo's head snapped up and he grumbled, thinking for a moment in a silent debate before patting the spot next to him. He ignored the happy dance Kirishima did, deciding it was too cute to acknowledge even in his thoughts, and gently tugged him to begin braiding his hair all over again. It had only been two weeks since their last sleepover, yet Bakugo felt his refusal for his feelings slipping away. He could just ignore them, of course. Kirishima probably liked someone else, probably a pretty girl who would be much better. It would just be Midoriya all over again.
He sighed aloud, tying the end of Kirishima's hair off and nudging him to turn around.
"Man, I'd totally return the favor if your hair was braidable. And if I knew how to braid."
"I'll teach you one of these days."
Kirishima giggled, standing to go to the bathroom and grab the face mask supplies.
Well, partially to grab the facemask supplies. The other part of him fleeing for that short moment was to get a moment to collect himself, his feelings overwhelming in the moment.
He wanted to say he was certain that Bakugo liked him. It certainly felt like it with the tender energy they'd conjured from the magic of rampant hormones and teenage trauma. And, yet, every time the line was toed, Bakugo would flinch away. As if he was scared. Of what, Kirishima wasn't sure. The boy was wonderful in many ways, yet, he wasn't one to trust. So, he wasn't exactly surprised, but it was conflicting and everything was leaving Kirishima confused and unsure.
"You dyin' in there, Red?"
"Nope! Just a sec!" Throwing on a smile, despite his sudden sadness, Kirishima made his way out of the bathroom to continue what had practically become tradition. He could ignore every instinct that told him he was only slipping farther in, that he needed to help himself, that Bakugo didn't like him back.
A/N
helllo hi tiny announcement
polaroid nights is almost done?? im doing a mass upload of chapters 10-14 and im in the process of writing 15, which, i think will be the finale? so, yeah, that's fucking exciting as shit