Notes: Double upload because as I said, Ao3 is (now was) a week ahead! Kind reminder that you can request the link for the book playlist either via PM here on good ol' Watty or DM me on Twitter at the same username. And if links work in the comments... too bad, I want friends bye.
____________________________
The next day, Bakugou woked up in a pissier mood than normal. All that was heard throughout the apartment as the sun cast its orange glow through the windows were the slamming of doors, heavy footsteps, and muttering in between. The blond had just finished showering, a towel draped across his shoulder, hair dripping, and black shorts hugging his waist. The wrinkles in his forehead were more prominent in today's scowl, and when he re-entered the room he shared with Kirishima, he noisily slammed the door again, causing the redhead to stir in his sleep.
With a yawn, Kirishima's arm emerged from beneath his comforter, patting at the floor until his hand made contact with the cool surface of his phone. Dragging it to him, he picked up his head drowsily, eyes droopy. He squinted as the bright screen lit up, showcasing not only the time of day but a couple of missed notifications. Bakugou shuffled to his clothing bin and, like the days prior, fished out the first shirt and sweats he saw. Instead of his usual black shirts, today's in particular was a shirt that the whole gang had gotten custom made, the word 'BakuSquad' printed in big red and orange bubble letters. Pulling the shirt over his head and slipping into his dusty red sweats, he padded over towards his phone, which was charging in the wall behind Kirishima's laptop.
"You're up early, bro," Kirishima yawned as he rubbed his eyes. The blond stayed quiet at first, peeking at his phone's lock screen.
"Didn't you say the furniture comes in the mornin'?" He mumbled a reply.
"Yeah, but not the ass crack of dawn."
"Tch, quit whinin'."
Kirishima sat upright on his futon, another quiet yawn escaping his lips. "Alright, alright."
As Bakugou watched the redhead from the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but think back to what they talked about last night. He didn't care too much about what Pinky said, but Kirishima clearly felt some type of way about the situation, and though Bakugou wouldn't admit it out loud, he too felt the same way. However, the blond has issues with letting people get so close with him, even throughout his schooling years. There were plenty of people he'd hung out with in the past, but it always seemed like they never stayed as long as he wanted. The friends he had in elementary school weren't the same friends he had in middle school, and the friends he ended up meeting in high school were completely different from the ones he had in middle school. The only one who really bothered to stay around was Midoriya, though, Bakugou didn't consider the green-haired boy a friend—not like he did with Kirishima and the rest, at least. He'd grown tolerant over Midoriya's presence in his life, his persistence to befriend the blond evident no matter how harsh things had gotten between them.
These days, he could hold down a small conversation with him, but he didn't feel the same way about Midoriya as he did with Kirishima and the rest of his squad. It was obvious, of course, he was rooming with them! His parents were ecstatic when he brought up the idea of rooming with his friends. They'd half expected him to come right back home or just move out on his own, so they were in for quite the surprise when he told them he was moving in with his friends.
There were people who liked him, of course, yet those people were just fans—complete strangers. The only people who he'd really allowed into the layers of his life were his classmates, then his squad, and finally, his best friend, the closest of them all.
Eijirou Kirishima.
"Hey, Blasty," the redhead spoke up suddenly, a bright grin on his face as he stared down at his phone screen. "Don't hate me, but I posted about watching Adventure Time last night and someone literally updated me with the whole plot. Beginning to end."
"The fuck?"
"They said Marceline and PB finally kiss at the end!"
"Tch, no point in watching the damn show now..." The blond ran his fingers through his hair. "But it was obvious they liked each other."
"Yeah, man. All those theorists on YouTube were right. That means if we cosplay as Marshall Lee and Prince Bubblegum for Halloween, we're gonna have to kiss," the redhead joked, sticking out his tongue with a wink. Bakugou frowned, a warmth rising to his cheeks.
"Just because the genders are swapped doesn't mean everything's the same, Shit Hair."
"Yes it doesss!" Kirishima sang, creeping towards the blond. Bakugou stiffened, a sliver of panic overtaking him, his heart beginning to beat a little faster.
"What're you doin', moron?" Bakugou hissed, backing away. The redhead pounced at him, tackling the blond and fighting against him to pin him to the floor. The two struggled, Bakugou dodging kisses and throwing explosive punches in return. Kirishima hardened his skin as a result, the punches being thrown at him feeling more like tickles, resulting in his grip on the blond to weaken from his laughter. Bakugou seized the opportunity and pinned the redhead by his wrists, barking, "THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR!"
Kirishima gasped, his eyes widening at the blond for screaming at him so early in the morning. Bakugou was heated, naturally, glaring at the idiot and wishing he had another hand to pummel his face in. He had just woke up after Bakugou had finished his shower, so how the fuck was he already wide awake as if he took a shot of caffeine straight to the artery?
Bakugou studied him, ignoring the fact he was practically straddling the boy, taking in his features. He hadn't gelled up his hair into the spikes he was known for, allowing those bright red strands to cascade about his face, and though he's been friends with the boy for a bit over four years now, he'd never realized how fucking large his eyes were. They were round and welcoming despite his fiery red irises with the little flecks of gold tangled in between. His nose was one that curved slightly upward, more on the narrow side, and far from bulbous at the tip. He couldn't prevent his eyes from drifting down to the boy's lips, taking in how they curved, how his lower lip was a bit plumper than the top, and a tad more flushed pink. His cupid's bow was faint, yet still noticeable, especially with him being so close. The redhead's lips were parted ever so slightly, the pink of his tongue visible in the golden rays of sun that trickled across his face. Suddenly, Bakugou's lips felt too dry, and he subconsciously flicked out his tongue. The two exchanged warm puffs of air, neither moving, gazes unwavering.
"Knock knock!" Called Kaminari from the other side of the door. The two fumbled to distance themselves away from each other as Kaminari helped himself to open the door. "Yo, the truck's out—whoa." Kaminari looked between the two boys on the floor, both panting heavily, both blushing. Hard. "Did I interrupt something?" He questioned, arching a brow. Kirishima quickly shook his head, scratching the back of his head as he forced a grin on his face.
"No no no, we were just talkin' about how hot I—I mean—let's just go get the furniture, yeah?" Before Kaminari could answer, Kirishima filled in the blank for him. "Yeah. Just let me put on my crocs real quick."
"Oh." Kaminari's eyes went to Bakugou next. "You comin' too, man?"
Bakugou snapped out of the little trance he trapped himself in, the pink hue disappearing from his face as if he had never blushed in the first place. Pulling his signature frown, the blond lifted himself from the floor and slid into a pair of shoes, following his other two friends out the room.
They had a lot of shit to bring in: four bed sets, complete with their own dressers and chests; desks, sectional pieces of a couch to replace the one they literally picked up from the street their first day, a dining table with matching chairs, and a small bookshelf they agreed would store their old CDs, DVDs, manga, and whatever else they could squeeze into it. A couple more of their old classmates came to help that day, those being Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki. Jirou and Mina had gone out grocery shopping so they could finally fill the fridge with more than just pizza and takeout while the rest of the males worked on piecing together every bit of furniture. Some already came pre-built, but other pieces, like some of the desks and bed frames, had to be done separately.
Iida made sure that things weren't going to just fall apart as soon as they were used, and by the time evening rolled around, every room was furnished, every bed was made, dresser stuffed, and floor free from wood chips, plastic, and extra screws. The girls had returned with enough food to supply a small restaurant, and the group settled on making and having sandwiches for dinner prior to heading for bed. The days that followed were mostly them still getting things settled, like setting up their WiFi and cable, doing hero work, and making their apartment more homey with decorations, old school pictures, and posters. By the time they'd reached the weekend, their apartment looked as if they'd live there for a couple of months.
During this time, however, Bakugou gradually strayed away from Kirishima. He couldn't avoid him completely, seeing as they shared the same room and all, but he kept their chats short and sweet, stayed out later than he normally would, and even then, went to bed earlier than usual too. Naturally, Kirishima started to take his behavior to heart, as would any friend who felt their relationship was withering away, and as he swiped away at his sketchbook practicing his hair strokes on a rough sketch of a dog, he couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips wishing his best friend was watching him on the other side of the table.
Mina emerged from the bathroom drying her hair down to the tips of her yellow, crooked horns when she paused, noticing that Kirishima was all by himself, looking less than entranced by the work of art he was creating. She was already dressed in magenta leggings and a teal quarter-zip sweater, white canvas sneakers topping off the look. She tossed her towel onto her shoulder, pacing towards Kirishima and bending over, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Hey big guy," She spoke softly, "You okay to dance today?"
Kirishima stiffened slightly, but the downcast expression never left his face as he shrugged. "Yeah, just let me put on my crocs, I guess." Mina backed up as the redhead shut his laptop close and followed him into his room.
"Crocs have too much grip on the floor, remember?"
As if he was hit in the head with a book of knowledge, he groaned, facepalming himself and furrowing his brows. "Ugh, you're right..."
Mina rested a hand on her hip as she watched Kirishima drag his bare feet towards the shoe rack him and his roommate shared, slipping into a pair of white canvas sneakers. In a few minutes, the two were out the apartment and heading down the elevator, and once they reached the lobby, the metal doors slid open to reveal the blond that had been borderline shunning him the past few days. Bakugou looked just as surprised to see them. "Oh, hey Bakugou!" Mina beamed, lifting her hand to wave at him. Kirishima just averted his gaze to his shoes. Bakugou nodded.
"'Sup." Glancing at Kirishima for a second, he greeted him with, "Hey, shitty hair."
"Hey man!" Kirishima returned rather loudly, a nervous, but unwavering smile stretching onto his face. At this, the blond huffed, exchanging positions with them so that they were outside the elevator and he was in it pushing the button for their floor. An unreadable expression took over his face as the two dumbly waved at him until the door closed them off. Immediately, Mina snatched Kirishima by the wrist and dragged him outside. The cool late summer breeze greeted them, and Mina started off their journey to the gym nearby, eventually linking arms with her crestfallen friend. Tilting her head so that her face was visible to him, she poked his cheek with her free hand.
"Sooo, you gonna tell me what's up with you two?" When the redhead stayed quiet, she stopped. "Did something happen that I should know about?"
She waited until the boy could muster up the courage to look her in the eyes, but even then, he struggled to hold his gaze. "Yeah, you could say that."
Egging him on, she leaned towards him a bit. "Mind elaborating?"
Kirishima sighed. "It's just stupid..." Taking the lead in the walk, he stuffed his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. Mina skipped to catch up with him until she was shoulder to shoulder with him, waiting for him to continue. "Remember when you were telling us how we're single and stuff?"
Mina sucked her teeth. "Really? I was joking!"
"Yeah, I know, but he asked me how I felt about what you said and I told him though I wasn't going to get bent out of shape over what you said. You were kinda right, I guess?" He groaned, shaking his head. "I said somethin' like it would be nice, y'know? Not feeling like I was missin' out and stuff..."
"Annnd? How did he respond to how you felt?"
Kirishima sighed, glancing up at the sky, which was a picture-perfect mix of orange and purple, a couple of thin, long clouds slowly gliding across the skyline. "He kinda brushed it off and said I really shouldn't feel that way because I have you guys."
"Mhm, mhm. Go on sweetie."
Kirishima waited until they reached the other side of the street where the gym was. Holding the door open for her, he followed behind the pink haired girl to the bored looking receptionist not too far away. After they checked in, they headed upstairs to a small, empty studio. Mina flicked on the lights as they entered, peering at herself in the mirror and striking a vogue-like pose. Kirishima cracked a small smile and shook his head. "Anyway, he went to bed early-ish, and in the morning he just seemed... angry?"
"Yeah, the ass was slamming doors and shit. He woke me up!" She whined, poking out her bottom lip at him.
"He woke me up too." The redhead scratched the back of his head, heading towards the stereo plugged up in the wall. As he pulled out his phone and opened up Spotify, Mina came and sat down next to him. "Then I told him this spoiler for Adventure Time, y'know, the whole thing about Marceline and Princess Bubblegum kissing?" Mina nodded, so Kirishima continued. "Well, I made a joke about the gender-swapped characters, Marshall Lee and PB, having to kiss too. And then... well I tried to kiss him? I mean, not like a kiss kiss, but like... jokingly."
"So you were never really intending on kissing him."
"N-no! I wasn't! I mean, I want to, but..." Kirishima pressed his closed fists into his sneakers. "I knew he was gonna run when I started coming towards him, so I was egging on a fight. The usual, y'know?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Mina bit her bottom lip, thinking over everything the redhead was informing her about. In the meantime, Kirishima opened up their shared playlist and linked his phone to the stereo via Bluetooth. Looking over all the songs on the list, he thought back to where this whole dancing thing started.
Mina always had a knack for dancing, but immediately following their cultural festival as first years, Kirishima took a liking to dance, too. Mina fit teaching Kiri how to dance into their schedules, and by next summer before the gang was set on moving in together, Kirishima was at the same level of skill as she—if not better.
Kirishima's favorite style of dance had to be contemporary. It was a vessel that he could channel all his emotions into and speak without ever having to move his lips. It was a silent epitome of manliness—the ability to express how you feel...
Even if he was the biggest hypocrite when it came to expressing feelings.
"Hey, you think maybe he thought you were really going to kiss him and he had that whole 'gay panic' moment?"
Kirishima blinked a couple of times, coming back from his trance. "Dunno, maybe? But if he felt that way, why would he just stare at me after he pinned me down? He's never done that, and we've fought plenty of times before."
Mina perked up as if she'd been slapped. "Hold up, he just stared at you?"
He shrugged, scratching his chin with the nail of his index finger. "Well, y-yeah. I don't know how long it was, but he was just looking at me as if he was painting a picture of me in his head, and—" Kirishima huffed, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks all over again. "Gosh, he even licked his tongue out over his lips and—" Kirishima cut himself off again and let out a groan as he covered his face. Mina just stared at him, mouth gaped open.
"Kiri!"
"I never felt so fucking exposed!" He whined, his voice muffled by the sleeves of his hoodie. "I thought he was really about to kiss me! And then," he paused, gasping for air, his throat feeling tight. "Kaminari totally killed it just barging into the room like that, but... we totally forgot about the furniture..."
"Kiri—" Mina yanked the boy's sleeves away from his face, instead pressing her hands into his cheeks and puffing his reddened face. "—shima! I just got the craziest idea!"
"Well, don't just leave me hangin'," he managed to garble out, his eyes nearly squeezed shut.
"I'm breaking a promise by telling you this, but what if I told you he liked you?"
Kirishima grunted, then pulled the girl's hands away from his face. "Eh...There's no way. Besides, I don't want to get in the way of him becoming the number one hero. You know how much that means to him."
It means a lot more than you, his brain snickered sarcastically.
Mina frowned at both his denseness and the lack of enthusiasm, but it was quickly replaced with a grin as an idea popped into her head, and she folded her arms over her chest. "I have an idea that'll change all that, dude. Dance with me and I'll tell you all about it. Put on the one we've been practicing."
Getting up, Mina headed a couple of feet away, straightening up her posture. Kirishima scrolled down until he found Esta Rico. Tapping on it, he rested his phone on the wooden floor and positioned himself in front of his pink friend. Kirishima led the dance, and as they glided across the floor to the beat of the song, Mina told her what she deemed an infallible plan.
____________________________
Notes: If you're reading this, leave an F here because I've been working on my laptop all day without wearing my reading glasses an now I have a migraine.