A/N: This chapter is like, three separate ones smashed together + big changes I made so sorry for any pacing issues or weird jumps in quality jkhgkdjks
There's also a lot of art since I smushed several chapters together. Most are old (from 2020), three of them are new. I kept the old ones since I thought they held up okay. And also because I was too lazy to redraw them 🥴
BTW, if you're someone who listens to the soundtracks I provide as you read, there's two that are used this chapter! One of the scenes had a drastically different tone so I used a different set of music and if you see this 🎶🎶 it's a signal to switch soundtracks. I'll leave a comment on the emoji's with a link to the music :)
Anyway, happy holidays ✨
----------
Everyone at Bakugou and Hitomi:
(I MEANT TO PUT THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER BAHAHHAJDJF— I saved this in photos so long ago because I planned to put it in the last chapter but I completely forgot about it since I cleared my photos out and it wasn't there anymore lmao)
----------
Hitomi stirred awake at the rays of sunlight peeking through her eyelids, moving to try and stretch her limbs.
Wait.
She froze when felt her legs were tangled up with someone else's, someone's arm wrapped around her waist. Her eyes shot open, only to see Bakugou's face veeery close to hers, so close their noses were practically touching.
Oh my fuck.
Shit, what do I do?!
Hitomi started panicking, not daring to move a muscle for fear of waking up Bakugou.
How did we even end up like this???
Their bodies were extremely close to each other, their legs tangled underneath the blankets with Bakugou practically cuddling her because of how tightly he was holding on to her.
Hitomi tried her best to squirm her way out of his hold, freezing up as she felt him stir slightly. She gulped, her face flushing as she found herself unable to keep from staring at Bakugou's face.
It was so different. Like yesterday, when she'd seen him smile.
She stared at how peaceful he looked, how calm and serene he was, reminding her of when he'd fallen asleep during their movie night. But back then, he had only fallen asleep on her shoulder. Right here, right now, he was so close, so close she could practically kiss him.
Oh god.
This was really, really bad.
Unbeknownst to Hitomi, she'd unconsciously started getting more flustered the longer she stared at him, resulting in the air slowly getting hotter. Even though she hadn't moved a muscle, the rising temperature was enough to stir Bakugou awake.
His eyes opened only to find Hitomi's red face staring at him, the two locking eyes for a full second before Bakugou pushed himself off the bed onto the floor, screaming as Hitomi sat up abruptly and pulled the covers towards herself.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" he shouted, his face a dark shade of red. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING??!?"
"WH-WHAT WAS I DOING?!" Hitomi yelled back, her face just as red with her heart practically racing. She pulled the covers closer to herself, draping it over her head in a pathetic attempt to hide. "YOU WERE THE ONE THAT WAS SPOONING ME, IDIOT!"
"BULLSHIT!" Bakugou shot back. "YOU- YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WAS ALL UP IN MY FACE!"
"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU HAD AN IRON GRIP ON ME, YOU- YOU..." She closed her eyes, cradling the blanket against her chest. "BAKA-GOU!!"
Tick marks appeared on the explosive boy's face, insulted at the nickname. "HUH?!"
"You heard what I said!" Hitomi was so embarrassed she wanted to die. "I said BAKA-gou!! Because that's what you are! An idiot!"
Bakugou finally got up from the ground, his cheeks still aflame. "You little-!"
The door suddenly slammed open, Midoriya and Mina rushing into the room.
"Is everything okay?!" Midoriya exclaimed. "We heard yelling from the hallway, and-"
He stopped, taking in the sight before him. Hitomi was covering herself with the blanket, while Bakugou was standing by the edge of the bed.
And their faces were both very, very red, clearly embarrassed.
Midoriya's face went blank before Mina suddenly grabbed his shirt collar, dragging the curly-haired boy out of the room as she smiled an odd smile.
"Pardon the intrusion."
They promptly left, closing the door behind them and leaving Bakugou and Hitomi to yell after them, "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS!!"
Hitomi stumbled out of bed, wincing from the ache caused by her cut from the day before. She walked to the door, shooting Bakugou a glare. "You stay here and... get ready, or whatever. I'm gonna talk to Yaomomo about this, because I am not letting you blow up at her when we're supposed to be here to celebrate her birthday."
Before Bakugou could object, Hitomi had already left the room.
...
Hitomi marched down the hallway with purpose, walking past some of her classmates before bursting into the living room. A majority of the class was milling around, eating breakfast and chatting.
"Good morning, Kanetsukabe-kun!" Iida greeted her. He adjusted his glasses, staring at her clothes. "What are you still doing in your pajamas? It's already 10 am."
Hitomi gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Iida. I slept a bit late last night."
She scanned the room for Yaoyorozu, walking towards the vice rep before Iida could launch into another lecture about unhealthy sleeping habits. Yaoyorozu noticed the bluenette walking towards her, giving her a smile as Hitomi approached. "Ah, good morning, Hitomi-"
"Yaomomo." Hitomi sounded out of breath, abruptly grabbing her shoulders and staring at the ground. "Yaomomo, why..."
"Eh?"
"...Why did you put me and Bakugou in a room with only one bed?"
"What are you talking about?" Yaoyorozu asked, confused. "I didn't..." She slowly trailed off, a contemplative look on her face. Hitomi looked up at her for a few moments before Yaoyorozu suddenly blushed, wearing an embarrassed expression as she bent down in a bow.
"I'm so sorry!!" she stuttered, drawing the entire class' attention to the two of them. "I- there was only one room left- only one person is supposed to be there- I must've put you both there by mistake- ah, but there was no more room..." Yaoyorozu got up from her bow, her face a bright shade of red as she clapped her hands together. "I can move you two! ...Oh, but then I'll have to rearrange the entire class to make space..."
Hitomi stared at her friend, watching the girl splutter and mutter to herself all the while.
"I could always move one of you somewhere else... ahhh, but you'd either have to use a futon and sleep on the floor or you'd need to share beds- I don't want to make either of you sleep on the sofa in the living room all by yourself..."
This was supposed to be a simple, nice trip, and here Hitomi had gone embarrassing the person they were supposed to be celebrating...
...I'm so gonna regret this.
With a sigh, Hitomi placed a hand on the taller girl's shoulder, halting her muttering. "You... don't have to do that."
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry, Yaomomo... We're supposed to be here to celebrate your birthday, and now I've gone and stressed you out... That's the last thing I want, so... don't worry about moving everyone around."
"What do you mean? I have to, you and Bakugou weren't supposed to share a single room..."
Hitomi held her hands up, trying to reassure her. "Please, Yaomomo, don't worry over this. Just... focus on your birthday. Me and Bakugou will figure it out."
Yaoyorozu's eyebrows knit together in concern. "What? Are you sure... you're okay with that?"
"Ah..."
If I hadn't been trying to get rid of this silly crush, maybe I would have been...
"Don't worry." Hitomi gave her a small smile. "...We'll manage."
Right when she was about to leave, Yaoyorozu's eyes widened, as if she'd been caught like a deer in headlights. Before Hitomi could see what she was looking at, a chill was sent down her spine, like she'd been hit with a wave of...
Frost.
"You've got some explaining to do."
...
🎶🎶
Hitomi and Bakugou sat three feet apart from each other on the large bed, at the mercy of Nix's icy stare. They had been taken to the bedroom study their chaperone was staying in, likely for a scolding at best and a punishment at worst. The two teens were both looking down at their laps, completely silent. It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
"So, to recap," Nix began, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs, "Bakugou had been assigned the single room by Yaoyorozu according to the chart. Kanetsukabe couldn't find her name anywhere on it, and instead Yaoyorozu had told her directly that she would be staying there, on her own. None of you were aware of the mix-up, and didn't find out until after everyone else had headed to bed. You decided to share for the night, since Kanetsukabe didn't want to bother Yaoyorozu, and you both ended up using the bed since you kept fighting about who would sleep on the floor. Do I have that right?"
Hitomi nodded timidly while Bakugou let out a grunt, vaguely sounding like a "yes."
"And you just happened to wake up the way you did? No funny business?"
"N-No ma'am!" Hitomi blurted out almost immediately, blush spreading across her cheeks. Bakugou had noticeably stiffened at the embarrassing topic. "We went straight to sleep, we swear!"
"Is that true, Bakugou?"
"Yes," he coughed out, looking away. The tips of his ears seemed to be a subtle shade of red.
"I see," Nix said curtly, crossing her arms and bending her head down.
There was another long stretch of silence as Bakugou and Hitomi waited for their chaperone to say something, anything. A scolding, a punishment, something that would put this mortifying situation to an end already.
Eventually, there seemed to be a sound. Hitomi saw Nix's shoulders twitch, holding her breath. Was she going to ban them from activities? Relegate them to chores? Send them back home, even?
Hitomi's rampant thoughts paused when Nix seemed to snicker, before the snicker turned into a giggle. That giggle turned into a chuckle, and then a laugh, until Nix was full on cackling, holding her stomach and covering her mouth.
"Are you laughing?!" Bakugou choked out, staring at the older woman in disbelief.
Oh.
She was laughing at them.
Laughing about their situation. About the unbelievable romcom scenario they'd found themselves in.
If Hitomi hadn't been the one in this situation, well... she couldn't say wouldn't be laughing a little, either.
But she was the one in this situation. With Bakugou. The person who actually happened to be her crush.
And the adult responsible for them was laughing about the ridiculousness of it all.
Kill me. Burn my remains. Throw them into a volcano, and let an asteroid hit the earth, because I don't think I'll ever be able to live this down.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Nix wheezed out, wiping the tears in her eyes. Oh god, she was laughing so hard she was crying. Bakugou growled next to Hitomi, obviously trying to keep himself from yelling. Even if Nix wasn't acting like one at the moment, she was still an authority figure.
Once she'd gotten out every cackle, laugh, and chuckle, Nix leaned back in her seat with a sigh, scrubbing away the last of her tears. "Well, now that I actually have a grasp on the situation," she said, glancing at the two of them, "we can figure this out."
"So what should we do?" Bakugou huffed.
Nix shrugged, running her fingers through her black and white hair. "Aizawa entrusted you all to me for this trip. And generally, under his rules, he wouldn't want a guy and a girl sharing a room on their own, especially when there's only one bed to use. I would have offered for Kanetsukabe to stay here with me..." Hitomi stiffened at that, mortified at the thought of practically being babysat by their chaperone. "...But I get that can feel a little embarrassing for kids your age," she chuckled.
"Besides, I still have a lot of paperwork and stuff I'll be doing while we're here, so it wouldn't really work out anyway.
So we've got about three options.
One, one of you can move into one of the other bedrooms of your gender, but you'll either have to share a bed with someone else or sleep on the floor with a futon. Keep in mind that we're pretty much at maximum capacity here.
Two, one of you can take one of the non-bedrooms, like the extra study upstairs. Although, you won't have your own bathroom, dresser, or bed, and you'd also have to use a futon.
Or three, you can both keep sharing the room and just figure it out for yourselves."
Bakugou and Hitomi's eyes both widened at that last one, surprised it was an option.
Nix blinked at their shocked expressions, smiling cheekily. "What? Aizawa wouldn't allow it, but based on what you've told me so far, it doesn't really seem like much of a problem as long as you both agree on some rules with each other." She rose from her chair, rolling her neck until there was a quiet pop. "Kanetsukabe was insistent about not wanting to trouble Yaoyorozu and everyone with rearranging the whole class anyway, so those are your choices."
She walked to the door, yawning as she grabbed the handle. "You guys talk about what you wanna do and tell me later. I'm starving." She then left, the door clicking softly behind her.
...
Hitomi followed Bakugou into their shared room, her eyes lingering on the knob after she'd closed the door.
They'd opted to continue sharing.
Hitomi had been insistent on making sure Bakugou got to stay in the room, since he had gotten it first. There was no way she could kick him out of there now when he'd already settled comfortably into it.
So... she'd made the decision to keep sharing. Sleeping in one of the non-bedrooms just seemed unappealing, especially in such a big house, and Bakugou had acutely pointed out that the other bedrooms barely had space for an extra person, anyway.
And when he said it wasn't a big deal to him if she decided to stay, since he "couldn't give less of a shit as long as he had a proper room to sleep in," Hitomi had made the decision to share the room.
Like a complete. Idiot.
She was starting to notice a pattern. Making dumb decisions or acting like a dunce whenever Bakugou was around.
It was ridiculous that she had the nerve to call Bakugou the Japanese word for "idiot" when she was the stupid one.
Hitomi rested her forehead against the door, letting out a quiet groan. Stupid.
Behind her she heard a scoff. "If you're gonna act like that you can always change your mind," Bakugou huffed.
Hitomi took a deep breath, turning away from the door. "It's fine. We already told Nix-sensei anyway."
It's fine, she repeated to herself, like it was a mantra. It's fine.
She watched as Bakugou shrugged in indifference, the blonde walking over to his suitcase. She made her way to the bed, taking a seat on the mattress and watching timidly as Bakugou rummaged through his things.
It was only gonna be for three days, anyway. Hitomi could survive! Totally. She'd be fine.
"Fine" is starting to sound less and less like a word.
Hitomi leaned back, resting her head against the headboard. "Hey, Bakugou...?"
A grunt acknowledging he was listening.
"So... how are we going to sleep?" She bit her lip, her cheeks a soft pink. Her foresight was becoming piss poor because of this stupid crush. "I'm not letting you take the floor, but you won't let me take it either. What do you think we should do?"
Bakugou's shoulders rose and fell with a sharp intake of breath, before he closed the suitcase and stood up from the floor. He ran his fingers through his hair hastily, eerily quiet.
"...Damn it," he cursed out after a few moments. He turned to her, crossing his arms. "Why'd you have to be so stubborn? Coulda just taken the bed instead of arguing about it..."
"I could say the same to you," Hitomi huffed, hugging her knees to her chest.
Bakugou observed the large bed with a gruff sigh. "It's a Queen-sized bed, so it's not like we'll be shoving each other for space. All we can really do is try to sleep far apart enough that... that shit from this morning doesn't happen again."
Hitomi nodded slowly, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Then that's what we'll do. As for when we have to change clothes, we take turns in the bathroom with the door locked."
"Duh," Bakugou snorted.
"I'm just making sure we're on the same page. No interrupting the other when they're using the bathroom. No banging on the door, no yelling to hurry up. Agreed?"
Bakugou let out a grunt that vaguely sounded like an agreement. "Fine. But no hogging it for insane amounts of time either," he added on.
"TV rights?"
"Don't care. Just don't watch anything when I'm trying to sleep. I know you like staying up late, like a fucking weirdo."
Hitomi looked away sheepishly, beginning to fiddle with her hands again. "I'll try going to sleep at the same time as you," she mumbled, her lips pursing in a pout. "Or I'll try to be outside of the room if I end up staying awake."
"Fine. Just don't make a lot of noise when you go to bed."
"Speaking of which..." Hitomi glanced down at the blanket she was sitting on top of, the one she and Bakugou had used last night. "This should be big enough to cover both of us. You're not a blanket hog, are you?"
"No," Bakugou said with a roll of his eyes. "Are you?"
Hitomi shook her head. "Not really. That's everything, right...?"
Bakugou shrugged. "Probably. We done here or what? Because I'm fucking hungry."
"I think so..."
Bakugou turned away, making his way to the door. Before he could leave, Hitomi realized one last thing. "Ah, wait-!"
Bakugou paused, looking over his shoulder. Hitomi blushed, gesturing to the dresser against the wall. "Uh... that. I didn't put my clothes away last night because I wasn't sure if I was gonna move, but now that we're actually sharing, um..."
Bakugou blinked. "My clothes are in the top drawer. If you even think about opening it I'll kill you."
Hitomi nodded quickly, feeling her blush deepen. "Right, right! I- I won't. I'll put them in the bottom drawer, then... You have to promise me you won't look in there, either."
Bakugou pushed his hands into his pockets with a huff. "I already told you I'm not like that fucking grape shit. I'm not gonna go snooping around where my nose doesn't belong."
"That's all I wanted to hear," Hitomi breathed out, watching as Bakugou finally left the room, closing the door behind him.
...
🎶🎶
After establishing their room-sharing rules, Hitomi avoided Bakugou like the plague for the rest of the day. She may have resigned herself to sharing the room with him, but that was all. She could still at least try to maintain her distance, and at the very least, most of the time they would spend together in that room would be spent unconscious.
Well, technically, that wasn't the right word, but... you get the point.
After it was decided on and dealt with, Hitomi ended up sheepishly explaining the situation to Mina and the rest of their friends, as well as Midoriya (oh, poor Midoriya; he'd looked so shaken by what he had seen... Then again, seeing your friend who you've known since childhood— who has always been abrasive and brash— in a compromising scenario that could easily be seen as indecent would definitely do a blow to someone's psyche... Hitomi felt for him).
Nix and Yaoyorozu had also explained everything to the rest of the class, clearing up any misconceptions they may have had on why Hitomi and Bakugou would be sharing a room. Some of their classmates had tried offering them a space in their own rooms at the news, but they'd both denied the offers. Bakugou couldn't be bothered and Hitomi just wanted to move on from it already.
Mineta had had a few things to say, before Bakugou shut him up by setting off an explosion in his face. Hitomi appreciated that Bakugou cared enough to save her from the small boy's crude remarks.
But I'm sure he'd do that for any of the girls... Hitomi thought sheepishly. Not just me.
Although, since she was making the effort to keep some distance between them, she hadn't noticed Bakugou's seemingly more aggravated than usual expression when he'd heard Mineta's comment.
----------
It was now nighttime and the class had decided on a test of courage to end the day, because the last one had... well, they didn't need to talk about that. But they'd missed out on the fun of what it could entail, and had decided to do it to sort of make up for the last time.
Not to mention Hitomi had still never done one before, so she was excited, to say the least.
Being a class of 21, Iida announced they'd split into teams of three. Hitomi looked around as the class started to form groups, wondering who she should group up with. She and Kirishima made eye contact for a brief moment, and then the redhead began making his way towards her.
Hitomi paused, stiffening when she saw Bakugou trailing behind him. She could guess that Kirishima was going to invite her to join their group. So before he could ask, Hitomi made a dash for someone else.
Which happened to be a certain heterochromic boy.
"Todoroki!" Hitomi exclaimed, grabbing the boy's arm. "Will you be on a team with me?"
Todoroki looked just slightly surprised. "...Okay. But why-"
"Aoyama!" Hitomi interrupted, calling out the person who was the next closest. She grabbed his arm, dragging the blonde to them. "You're on our team now."
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Kirishima giving her an odd look, probably wondering if something was up with her. She avoided looking at him, dragging Todoroki and Aoyama with her to line up to take the route.
Everything would go back to normal once this crush disappeared.
At least, she hoped so.
----------
Kirishima walked at the front of his group, shining a flashlight as they walked down the trail. His team comprised of him, Bakugou, and somehow, Mineta. The remaining members of their friend group had teamed up with each other, and by some unlucky hand of the universe, they'd ended up with him instead.
He'd hoped Hitomi would be on their team with them, but...
"Hey, Bakugou..." the redhead spoke up. "Have you... noticed if Hitomi's been acting... weird, recently?"
"How should I know?" Bakugou grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Well, you're roommates right now, aren't you?"
Bakugou rolled his eyes. "So?"
Mineta wore a sly look. "It means you can-"
"If it's inappropriate I'm going to fucking murder you," Bakugou growled, shooting him a glare.
Kirishima shined the light around, lighting up some of the trees ahead. "Yeesh, Mineta, do you ever even think about anything else?"
Mineta tsked, wearing an expression of sympathy. "Please, don't you understand the lucky man Bakugou is right now? He's sharing a room with a girl! You can't tell me nothing's happened so far." He elbowed Bakugou, wagging his eyebrows. "Huh? Huh?"
Bakugou paused, only to remember what had happened that morning.
He had opened his eyes to Hitomi.
And he'd been... hugging her, in his sleep. Had an arm around her. Intimately.
As if they were a couple or some shit.
Mineta gasped at his expression, letting out a yelp. "Wait-! No way!! You mean something actually-!"
Bakugou shoved his face aside, recovering from his momentary stupor. "No." Kirishima raised a brow at him questioningly. "Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Bakugou scoffed, rolling his eyes at Mineta. "Nothing fucking happened, you piece of shit."
Kirishima shrugged, turning back to face the path. "Well, back to what I was asking earlier... Did you notice anything off with Hitomi? Anything at all...?"
Bakugou took a moment to form a proper answer, the fallen leaves crunching under their feet as they walked. He recalled the day before, when the class was down at the beach. She'd asked him that odd question of if they were friends, and she'd seemed timid. Contemplative.
Bakugou shrugged, keeping his eyes on the trail. "I mean... maybe. Moon Face did seem like she'd been quieter lately. Not that she isn't usually, though."
Kirishima nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's what it was feeling like to me too. I mean, it could just be that I've been busy with my work study and everything, but... it just feels like she's been kinda distant. I don't know..."
"Isn't it obvious?" Mineta suddenly interrupted, waving a finger around. "She wants a change of pace."
Normally he would've been ignored, but his comment caught the other two by surprise.
"A... change of pace?" Kirishima asked.
"Yeah. Don't you two know?"
"Know what?"
"Girls' attitudes will change at the drop of the hat," Mineta answered, walking to the front of their group with his hands in his hips. "Think about it. Kanetsukabe's a quiet person. I'm not surprised she hasn't been hanging out with you as much."
Kirishima's eyebrows furrowed, feeling worry build in his stomach.
"Huh...?"
"You guys are all high-energy people, and for someone like Kanetsukabe, she must not have been able to handle it anymore." Mineta shrugged, shaking his head matter-of-factly. "Hanging out with you guys must've finally tired her out. Why do you think she's been hanging with the brooding Todoroki of all people?"
Kirishima faltered, recalling the last few weeks.
I suppose she has been talking with Todoroki and Midoriya and the others a lot more lately...
"You don't think... you don't think she's mad at us, or anything?" Kirishima asked Bakugou.
The ash blonde was silent, staring at the stray leaves as they walked down the path.
Bakugou tried recalling her behavior over the last few weeks, only for him to realize he hadn't seen much of her lately. Not since he got off house arrest. It was only during this trip so far that she seemed to be around more recently.
And... there were those weird looks he'd catch from her sometimes. Those looks that made it seem like she didn't want to be near him.
But... Bakugou thought to himself, there's no way fucking grape shit is right about something, let alone whether Moon Face is mad at us or not.
...Right?
He shook his head, not wanting to let Mineta's words hold any weight. Surely, Bakugou could rationalize things better than him.
So he pushed the bothersome thought away, dismissing it as her simply being preoccupied. That seemed plausible. Besides, she seemed to have been acting like her normal, stubborn, way-too-nice-for-her-own-good self last night, as well as this morning.
"She seemed... normal around me today and yesterday," Bakugou muttered as they continued down the path. "So... maybe not."
The crease in Kirishima's brow relaxed ever so slightly, but it didn't completely disappear. "Right..."
----------
Hitomi walked through the shrubbery, the light of Todoroki's flashlight lighting the pathway ahead.
"Can I ask you something?" Todoroki's deep voice sounded behind her. "Why didn't you join Kirishima's group? He looked like he wanted you with him."
Hitomi stopped, internally panicking.
Oh no. Please don't make me talk about this.
"Wha... what do you mean?" the bluenette stuttered. "Can't I hang out with different people once in a while...?"
"No, it's just... I thought for sure you'd join his team."
"It's because she couldn't stand to be away from my sparkle!" Aoyama exclaimed, striking a flamboyant pose.
Hitomi let out a sheepish laugh, resuming her walk down the trail. As the two followed after her, Todoroki recalled the conversation the class had witnessed between Hitomi and Yaoyorozu earlier that day. Before his team had left to travel down the trail, he remembered seeing Kirishima had Bakugou on his team with him. "Kanetsukabe..."
"Hm?"
"Bakugou didn't do anything with you last night, did he?"
"What?!" Hitomi gasped, swiveling around to face the dual-haired boy. "What are you suggesting?!"
"Well... you two are sharing a room-"
"Nothing happened," Hitomi interrupted, her face flushing at what Todoroki could be referring to. "Bakugou's not someone who'd do something... like that."
Todoroki tilted his head. "Like 'that?'" he asked. "Ah... I guess you're not difficult to share a room with for him, then."
Now it was Hitomi's turn to be confused, her shoulders loosening slightly. "Huh...?"
"It's just... back when the boys were sharing a room at the training camp, Bakugou would scold anyone who made the room messy or yell at us if we were too loud when he tried to go to bed early."
Aoyama nodded solemnly in agreement. "His volume got so loud when he ranted about crumbs left on the floor."
"I just thought maybe something like that might've happened and he upset you or something."
Hitomi was going to slap herself. "...Oh. No, nothing like that..."
Why did your mind even go there when Todoroki asked?! Of course he didn't mean that, you idiot...!
Hitomi huffed, about to turn back towards the trail before Todoroki continued.
"If it's not Bakugou, then is something going on with Kirishima?"
She groaned, rubbing her face in frustration because this conversation still wasn't over. "I just... wanted something different, that's all," she tried to explain.
"It's hard to imagine you would run away from him like that, unless you wanted to avoid him or something..."
"Come on," Hitomi started, finally continuing down the trail. "There's nothing going on, I swear."
Todoroki and Aoyama shared a look before Aoyama finally spoke up.
"...Are you in love with Kirishima?"
"WHAT?!"
A look of realization slowly dawned on Todoroki's face, causing him to nod along. "Of course, that makes perfect sense..."
"IT DOESN'T AT ALL!!!" Hitomi yelled, their test of courage forgotten.
"Why wouldn't it?" Aoyama asked, shooting her a wink. "You're in love, but you don't want him to know, so your best way to hide it is by avoiding him."
"That isn't- it's not-"
"Not what?"
Hitomi's mouth snapped shut, her eyes moving to stare at the ground.
It really wasn't like that.
Kirishima was absolutely adorable, a ray of sunshine, her emotional support rock, but...
He'd always just be a friend to her.
Not that that was bad, because he was an absolutely amazing friend. But...
It wasn't him she had feelings for.
At times, she wished it had been him. Then this whole avoidance-is-the-best-solution thing probably wouldn't have been happening in the first place.
But. It. Wasn't.
And she had to get that through her classmates' heads. She didn't want them to misunderstand.
"I'm being 100% honest when I say that I will never be able to see Kirishima romantically."
Aoyama looked like he didn't believe her, but Todoroki was more easily swayed. "Then are you upset with him?"
"No! No... why does it even matter that I'm not with Kirishima?"
Todoroki shrugged, walking past her down the path. "I just found it odd, is all."
Aoyama followed after, stopping to pat Hitomi on the shoulder. "Denial really doesn't make you sparkle, mon amie," he said, before following Todoroki.
"FOR THE LAST TIME!!!" Hitomi yelled, running after them. Her mouth was moving before she could stop it, saying something she'd regret later.
"IT'S NOT KIRISHIMA I LIKE, IT'S BAKUGOU!!"
----------
A/N: Okay in hindsight I realize this is an absolute monster of a chapter being 4000+ words due to me smushing 3 separate ones together so I apologize for that 🫠
Also I hope them deciding to share a room... makes sense? That was always the original plan, and originally Nix was never part of this arc (because she didn't exist until late 2021), but I hope Hitomi and Bakugou deciding to keep the room makes at least SOME sense and you can follow their logic. I had a friend read this chapter to give me their feedback and help me figure it out but even with it finally posted I'm still not completely solid on it. Oh well...