Here we are again, Bakugo just messed with you in laser tag, but you can't really be mad. As for the song, I picked "Just the Two of Us" by Grover Washington Jr (slowed). I thought it was kind of ironic lol.
Also, if yall have seen Turning Red, I'm so impressed with 4 Town. Their music is an absolute bop.
Enjoy~
(y/n)'s POV
My feet took me along with the group out of the laser tag arena. I found myself alone with Kaminari, at a skee ball lane.
"Hah, 250 points," he said, nodding me towards the lane. "I'd like to see you top that."
"You only sank 1, hundred-pointer."
"Okay so maybe it wasn't the sexiest game of Skee Ball, but I need to see you prove your point," he said, shaking his head. I rolled quite a few 100s, ending up with a total of 530.
Kaminari stared at the lane, his lips pressed firmly together.
"I should've bet something," I said.
"I'll buy you a soda," he replied and I smiled, agreeing to the terms. "I'm actually really thirsty now anyways. I'll be back."
"Okay," I said, giving him a soft wave before glancing around all by myself. I had some time to calm down. Hanging out with Kaminari, as high energy as he was, was actually a great distraction and helped me calm down a great bit.
"Hey," Sero said, strolling up to stand beside me, hands in the pockets of his jeans. I nodded as a greeting to him, standing idly next to him. "You mind if I ask you something?"
"Uh...sure."
"You might not know, that's totally cool, but would you happen to be aware of how Kaminari feels towards me?" Sero asked, leaning up against the metal netting of the Skee Ball machine. I looked his way, chewing at the inside of my lip. "You don't have to tell me either, it's cool."
"Oh...well..."
"I just noticed you guys hanging out over here and figured you might know. I just...don't feel like making a fool of myself. Kaminari is notoriously bad at flirting, so I can't really tell if he's being serious or not. All the no homo jokes kind of get lost on me, you know? He's obviously not uncomfortable with like--you know. Eh, it's kind of weird of me to ask now that I think about it."
"No, that's really alright," I replied. "Uhm, well I don't think it's any of my business to say. I guess I could just tell you that Kaminari...may be bad at flirting for a reason."
"Huh?" Sero asked.
"Here you go madam," Kaminari said, handing me a cup with a straw in it. I didn't even know what kind of soda it was, I hadn't gotten the chance to tell Kaminari what I might want. The cup was already sweating when Kaminari handed it to me. "Ah Sero, if I had known you'd be here I would've gotten you one. We can share, if you don't mind--ahem--indirect kissing me."
I gave Sero a knowing glanced and he understood exactly what I meant.
"Thanks for the drink and letting me kick your butt, but I'm feeling a little tired. I'm going to sit out for a few minutes while you guys hang out," I said. Kaminari nodded and watched me walk past for a moment before turning to Sero. I smiled slightly. I was getting better at the whole wing-woman thing Kaminari was trying to instill in me.
I sat myself down at a food court table, using the tip of my finger to spin the straw around in the place it had punctured the lid. I took a sip, recognizing that it was some kind of lemon lime soda. It was a safe bet by Kaminari. There were whirls and dings of the different machines going off and I sat with my elbows on a table.
A figure sat directly across from me and I looked up immediately to Kirishima. It seemed like he was always there.
"Hey."
"Hi Kirishima," I said, eyes falling back to look at my cup. My finger had slowed in stirring the ice around my drink, feet sliding subtly underneath my chair so that I might not brush feet with Kirishima.
"How are you?" he asked.
"Tired. I was running a lot," I stated. Understatement of the century.
"Me too. You did good," he pointed out.
"I wonder what that says about my character, that I'm good at handling a weapon like that."
"I don't think it's that deep," he shrugged. "Did Bakugo talk to you?"
My mouth turned downwards at the corners and I ran my tongue over the bottom of my top teeth. I only nodded in response, pulling the cup in towards me to hold it with both hands. I shifted to get a view of Kirishima.
"I hope he didn't freak you out," Kirishima stated, "I don't know why he...feels so intensely."
"It's fine," I said, clearing my throat when it didn't come out right.
"It's...really not a big deal to--uh--be avoiding me," Kirishima said. "I know I come on strong sometimes, clearly Bakugo does too."
I listen to Kirishima let out a breathy chuckle.
"If you need to be alone or anything, you can just let me know," he said, "you don't have to, like, skirt around me."
"It's, uh, not that," I replied. "You shouldn't feel bad about being expressive."
"Then what's up?" he asked. This was my chance to actually tell the truth. Bakugo wasn't here though and it felt too inappropriate of a time to mention anything. I didn't want to be so closed off either.
"I...kind of walked in on you and Bakugo...kissing? I didn't mean to I just...did," I said, averting my eyes and placing my forehead against my fist. I lowered my voice, but not so low that Kirishima couldn't hear me. "I'm sorry, I just...felt bad for intruding. I didn't want to say anything or--yeah. I just started avoiding you guys because I feel like I butt into your business, even though it was an accident. It's...stupid."
That was partly the truth, I did feel like I was intruding in on Bakugo and Kirishima's relationship. It wasn't exactly the way I described it to Kirishima, but at least I wasn't lying or 'avoiding' him anymore. It felt...shitty to have Bakugo disappointed in me...in his own way. I peeked up at Kirishima who was watching me silently, eyes soft with a slight smile on his face.
"What?" I asked. Kirishima raised his eyebrows in response, sitting up a little taller. He just shook his head, letting out a soft 'hah'.
"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "Uhm...obviously you have but could you keep that to yourself? We're like...barely anything at this point. We've got other stuff to deal with first."
"Uhm, yeah of course," I agreed. "Sorry again."
"It was an accident. Besides, it was in the middle of the hall."
"Middle of the night."
"I guess we're lucky it was you, you know? Not Mina or Kaminari. I love them, but they're a little crazy about this stuff," Kirishima said. I watched his fingers tug at the bottom hairs near his neck as he spoke.
"Yeah."
"Besides," I listened to Kirisima take in and let out a big breath as his mouth grew into a smile. I sat up a little straighter as I listened, admiring Kirishima for a moment. "I don't really mind you knowing."
"Hmm?"
"Bakugo and I actually care a lot about you," he said, lips closed in an almost cocky smile. The apples of his cheeks were round and slightly warm, one eyebrow slightly quirked. He was eyeing me with what my mind was constructing as flirtatious. I felt my lips part slight as he tapped the table once before standing up, my head following him with naïve eyes. "Wanna play a game?"
"Uh...sure," I nodded, grabbing my drink and following him towards the main area again. I could see Kaminari and Sero talking across an air hockey table, but watched the spread back of Kirishima's t-shirt as he weaved through the machines. I felt myself getting sort of warm and I gripped my cup, recognizing that the ice had melted. If I didn't know any better, the horrible tension between Kirishima and I had melted it at the table.
"I used to play basketball in middle school, whenever it wasn't too cold," Kirishima said as he stopped at a basketball machine. The point was to score as many hoops as possible. My aim was good but I wasn't the most sport-forward person in the world. "Come on, let's play against each other."
"Sure, I'm no good or anything," I preemptively warned, watching Kirishima set up to shoot a few baskets. He cued up the machine, grabbing a ball. He tossed it up and into the hoop. 1..2..3.. Kirishima just kept going, scoring point after point. I stood holding the drink that I won, almost sweating just watching Kirishima go. He had worn a hoodie that he tied around his waist after getting too hot. He was just in his t-shirt, so I could see how the muscles in his arms flexed and stretched as he shot the basketball into the hoop. The hem of his t-shirt had untucked from where his hoodie was tied, revealing a soft bit of muscle along his stomach each time he shot the ball. A buzzer sounded and he tucked one of the basketball under his arm.
"22," he said, flashing me a proud smile.
"Wow, you're really good at that," I said, smiling as well. He shrugged, pretending to be bashful when I could tell that he did enjoy the praise.
"You take a turn."
"How am I supposed to follow that?" I asked as he handed me the ball and shifted me in front of the machine, hands on either shoulder. He set up the machine for me and I tossed the ball, thoroughly missing.
"Little to the left."
A little? I missed the entire hoop. I shot again, flinching when the ball bounced back towards me. Kirishima stepped in and caught it.
"How did you even do that?" he asked.
"I don't know."
"Here, quick before the time runs out," he said, placing the ball in my hands. He quickly wrapped himself up behind me, hands over my hands as I held the ball. I could feel Kirishima's chest moving as he breathed, raising both our arms to shoot. He extended our arms before I could physically feel the gentle rumble of his laugh, Kirishima turning his head away. He turned back. "You have to let go of the ball, (y/n)."
His breath was on my neck and I could feel the goosebumps along my skin, turning my head away from where I heard his voice in my ear. He raised our arms again and I let go of the ball, seeing and hearing it swish through the hoop. I immediately stooped to get another ball, bumping back against Kirishima in doing so.
"Sorry," I said, but just let him grab a hold of my hands and help me shoot again. The time was quickly run out and I had scored 2 with the most literally guidance from Kirishima.
"You're shit at basketball."
I quickly turned my head towards where I had heard Bakugo's voice, Kirishima turning the both of us as the machine spit out a measly 5 tickets. I was slightly distracted by the fact Kaminari had the tickets I had won at Skee Ball, but was brought back to the moment when Kirishima's arms slung themselves over my shoulders like a backpack, thoroughly pinning me up against him.
"Hey, she was trying," Kirishima said, standing up tall to place his chin on the top of my head. I scrunched down, cringing slightly before looking over at Bakugo. He was eyeing me, probably because he knew Kirishima had come to talk to me.
"...you did score 20 more than I did," I replied.
"Tch 20? You really are shit," Bakugo continued, smirking.
"Oh yeah? Why don't you try?" Kirishima provoked and Bakugo narrowed his eyes at Kirishima before walking around us and grabbing a ball. Kirishima took small steps to rotate us so we could watch. He made himself comfortable, elbows on either shoulder. Bakugo did well, as expected. I watched him for a while, his muscles moving like Kirishima's did. He ended up scoring 21, which was great but he was not number 1.
"What the fuck? This game is shit."
"No, you're just a sore loser," Kirishima pointed out and Bakugo glared at him.
"Whatever, you can win at one thing," Bakugo hissed and Kirishima finally let go of me, rolling his eyes. Kirishima picked up the tickets, counting through them.
"You're both very good at basketball," I said. Bakugo looked over to me, his eyes narrowing before Kirishima announced we had 50 tickets.
"We can get like...a bouncy ball," Kirishima said, exhaling a short laugh. "You want to pick? Seeing as you carried the games?" I realized he was looking at me and I just shook my head.
"No thanks," I replied, shrugging. "I already won a soda off Kaminari, it's cool."
"You sure? You could get a cool pencil topper," he pointed out and I smiled slightly, shaking my head again.
"Alright buddy, that means you get to pick," Kirishima said, gesturing to Bakugo.
"Don't fucking patronize me," Bakugo grumbled, snatching the tickets out of Kirishima's hand. I followed behind them, glancing around. I met eyes with Sero who gave me a friendly thumbs up. I recognized that all the girls, minus Toru, were all sitting in the food court chatting. I wondered if I should go, but I just trailed behind the boys as they made their way to the prize counter.
They ended up going for 3 small pencil toppers, Kirishima handing me a green one. I took it hesitantly before tucking it in my bag. We ended up hanging around the front for everyone else to finish. I looked around the area, sitting down on a bench they had near the front.
"So Bakugo," Kirishima started. "Things are all worked out, right (y/n)?"
I glanced over before I nodded, averting my eyes.
"(y/n) just felt like she was intruding on something, because she walked in on us," Kirishima said, clearing his throat. "You know."
"Oh..." Bakugo hummed. My eyes were slightly wide, wishing I were dead in this moment. I would rather be doing anything else. I even considered the idea of going on a date with Mineta instead of talking about this. That was truly saying something. "She did, did she?"
I had to stop from whipping my head around to look at them, slowly turning it instead. Bakugo was actually looking kind of smug. I considered leaping out one of the windows in here, but realized that all the light was coming from the neon signs and machines. There wasn't a ready window to crash through.
"I--didn't mean to. I just felt bad," I defended.
"It's fine," Bakugo said, eyeing me. I stared back at him, feeling my face grow redder and redder by the minute.
"What are you girls talking about?" Kaminari interrupted, plopping down beside me. I felt a sigh of relief come over me as Kaminari placed an elbow on my shoulder.
"Fuck off Dunce Face."
"Woah, so mean," Kaminari said, looking to me. "Isn't he mean?"
I just shrugged and looked behind Kaminari, out at the machines again. I placed one hand on his arm, just seated and watching the blinks of the machines. I could feel Kaminari give me a confused look before looking at Kirishima and Bakugo.
"Oh! Sero said he has something to talk to me about, so clearly I am either really in the clear or I'm in big trouble," Kaminari said, droning on as everyone made their way to the door. I eventually stood and Kaminari told me all about his vast knowledge of video games as we walked home. I held tightly to his arm for a while before Mina appeared and I latched onto her. I could tell she exchanged glances with Kaminari, but I was too focused on where Bakugo and Kirishima were walking ahead of us.
~Caly