A/N: This class 1-A inclusive part is loosely inspired by a work of kirishimaunbreakable called "Squad Goals," where the bakusquad plays strip poker (as adults, just to clarify). I recommend you go check it out after reading this, but be warned, it is NOT for the feint of heart. High key horny, unlike this. Anyway, happy reading, BNHA bitches 💕
Kirishima and Bakugou had been invited to a Class 1-A reunion weekend at the beach house of Yaoyorozu's family estate, which had apparently been gifted to her when she landed a job at the hero agency of Uwabami. Momo has arranged a hotel for anyone who would RSVP by the 23rd of April, and being the ever-efficient and money saving people they were, they had RSVPed long before the date they were due: two weeks before the weekend kicked off. Bakugou and Kirishima had been getting calls and texts from their class friends, and even receiving some DMs and private messages over social media from the ones who had drifted the most. While Bakugou was reaching the point of total annoyance with all the people who had been blowing up his phone for the past couple days and even weeks, Kirishima was elated with the idea of visiting all of his former classmates.
Finally, on the day of the event, the two were polar opposites of each other as they drove to the location. Kirishima bounced his leg that wasn't methodically placed on the gas pedal as they flew across the highway, whereas Bakugou, on the other hand, held a grimace, trying his best to conceal it in his hand as he stared out the window. They were only fifteen minutes away from their desired location, as could be seen from the GPS that was attached securely to the floor of the cove beneath the radio.
"Excited to see anyone in particular?" Kirishima asked, clearly attempting to alleviate his own anxieties.
"Well, I could tolerate earphone jack at least," he switched to a more reminiscent tone, speaking just audibly, "so it won't be so bad to see her again."
He went silent, waiting for Kirishima to pipe in, but a response never came. "What about you, Kiri? You've been bouncing in your fuckin' seat the whole time, you've been so excited," Bakugou prompted.
"I have been excited, I really have! But in the last fifteen minutes, I've been pretty nervous," Kirishima chuckled. "I miss them all, I really do, it's just that... we've changed. A lot, honestly." Bakugou glared at him in abhorring puzzlement. Why would Kirishima be nervous about that? It's not like they needed to be liked by all those extras. They liked each other, they had their close group of friends, and that's all they needed. Kirishima caught on quickly, and rushed to explain further.
"Don't get me wrong, we haven't changed in a bad way, not at all! I just don't want to have too much of a different vibe with them that this visit gets awkward, you know?"
Bakugou sighed heavily, crossing his arms and looking at his lover in the rear-view mirror. "Yeah, I fucking get it," his usual fierce front softened the smallest bit, and after a pause, he continued, "we haven't changed as much as you think. You're damn right, Eijiro, we haven't changed in a bad way. If anything, we're more stable now." Kirishima took his eyes off the road for a moment, catching Bakugou's eyes in his own. Bakugou peered back, confusion clear in his face, but set it aside quickly. With his ferocity all but gone, he replaced it with a cocky smile. "They're your friends, Ei, you'll be fine."
Kirishima smiled at the nickname, and looked back at the road. "Our friends, Kats," he corrected, a new confidence fitting into his own sweet tone. "We will be fine."
~
When they finally arrived, they were surprised to find that several others from their class had found romantic comfort in each other, as they watched the others walk in ahead of them on the low, winding dirt path. Izuku and Ochaco were no surprise, neither was Hagakure and Ojiro, but Tsu and Tokoyami, after Tokoyami amd Shoji had been together almost 2 full years? Neither expected the two, and non of the class seemed to, either. They knew that Sero and Ashido had been together, on and off, for quite some time by that point, but the rest of class had no clue, and were taken aback by that as well.
Some from their class who had dated others at U. A., Kaminari still going strong with Shinsou and Tsunotori from class 1-B still with Satou, had arrived with one another. It seemed that some other Yuuei alumni had girlfriends and boyfriends at home, but decided against bringing them with. Kirishima thought it a bit strange, but Bakugou was glad for the lack of strangers. The less, the better. Bakugou wasn't the happiest that pikachu had dragged along Shinsou, nor was he gleeful at the thought of another 1-B student being in their midst, but both were kind enough and didn't stir much trouble. If anything, the two dimmed down their 1-A chaotic energy, and he was grateful for that.
The two walked hand in hand through the front doors of the two-floored, full basement having beach house, greeted by a large lounge, with an even grander, diamond-cut kitchen in the far right corner. Paintings the length and width of their bodies stretched across the large expanse of the pale blue walls, with three large chandeliers hanging from ceiling, each with differing arrays of gemstones and lights. Beautifully shaded and designed lamps were bolted against the walls at particularly secluded corners of the house, making the place seem as warm and welcoming as the beach behind it. Seashell decor and ocean-themed banners, blankets and mats were scattered throughout, making the place truly live up to its name. A spiral staircase came down at the center of the room, fairy lights strung loosely along the railing. Finally, at the far left corner, was a small, cute office, where Jiro sat among her interments. It was a nice contrast to the absolutely pacific feel of the rest of the house.
She got up, swung the guitar to sit across her back, and jogged over lightly, careful not to move the guitar too much. She smiled excitedly, beaming ear to ear, and offered a hug to whichever would take it. "Hey guys, it's been forever-"
She was cut off quickly, as Bakugou took her offer with frenzied feet, making her step back several paces. Jiro chuckled, hugging him back with a joyful expression, eyes closing as her smile widened. "I missed you, too," she whispered. They held each other tightly, smiling like idiots into each other's shoulders, happy sobs soon coming from Jiro.
Kirishima marveled at the reunion, glad to see that Bakugou really had missed some members of his class. Jiro was introverted, much like him, and after discovering that both of them struggled with sexuality in their second year, the two became very close. Bakugou taught her several percussion instruments, and in return, Jiro showed him some basic piano, guitar and ukulele. Besides Kirishima, Jiro was someone he trusted more than everyone else.
"Glad to see you're alive, goth girl," he said, smiling narcissistically as they parted from their hug.
"I'm glad, too," Kirishima added, happy to at least say 'hi' before they ran off to catch up with each other. It had been over a year since they'd seen one another, so Kirishima knew his partner had quite a bit to catch up on. "You two go on without me. I figured I'd go catch up with some people, too," Kirishima told his lover, smiling reassuringly and waving them away to the kitchen, where Momo waited at a long, wooden table with tea, joined by Uraraka and Tsunotori.
The two waved back, and walked off to the kitchen, where Bakugou and Jiro separated themselves at a far corner of the table and discussed more serious topics, hunched over the smooth, brilliantly cleaned surface and speaking in hushed voices. Kirishima shook off their demeanor. That's their business, whatever it is, not mine, he lectured.
Kirishima wandered the room, saying hello to those he passed and exchanging hugs and other affections. He passed Satou, giving him a firm hug and waving to Tsunotori, gave both Ojiro and Hagakure hugs, and ended up shaking hands with Tokoyami, a strange contrast to the French greeting he stared with both Tsu and Aoyama. He ran into his own group, seeing Sero, Mina, Kaminari, and Shinsou all gathered in one corner.
"Hey, you!" Mina called out to him, grinning wildly from ear to ear and waving her hand above her head to pin point her location, in case her volume wasn't enough.
Sero and Kaminari joined her with wild grins of their own as Kirishima trotted over. Shinsou just watched, the smallest, pleasant smile sitting on his face.
"Forget my name, Mina?" Kirishima teased as he sat down among them, between the corner of the couch and Kaminari, who had Shinsou arm draped across his shoulder from his other side.
"Of course not, Eijiro Kirishima. There's no way I could just forget the number six hero: Red Riot!" She teased back. "It's only been two weeks for us, after all."
"No way," Kaminari refuted, "it has to have been at least a year since I've seen any of you."
"Even me?" Shinsou asked with the same small smile, raising an eyebrow with the question.
"Yep. Just happened to pick you up on some street side on my way up here," Kaminari teased, donning a playful smile as he did.
"How was the ride up, anyway?" Sero asked Kirishima.
"Not bad, just kind of long and nerve racking," Kirishima informed with a laugh, "what about you?"
"Grabbed some food on the way up, and now we're both regretting it," he said, pointing across the room to a beautiful cheese and cracker tray. At the dining table were two more varieties of food trays; a salsa and guacamole plate with chips surrounding the two bowls and a dish made up with shrimp and cocktail sauce, perfectly detailed. The five of them were salivating over it all, even from the opposite side of the house.
They talked, and laughed, and talked some more, for what seemed to be only 10 short minutes, but ended up being almost an hour. Throughout their interactions, Kirishima's mind wandered to Bakugou's absence. While the others were fine without him, though they still felt the lack of someone important, Kirishima edging on miserable without Bakugou to join him, and the presence of his friend's lovers did not help. He ignored the ache he had to have Bakugou at his side again, in favor of just enjoying his time with his friends, but at some point, his friends conversation and jokes stopped being quite as entertaining. His yearning to enjoy this time with his lover overtook his need to relax with his friends, and it was starting to nag at him.
Finally, he excused himself from their stage, instead agreeing with himself to go find some others he hadn't yet talked to. He said hello to several other members of his class, making small talk and laughing with them as he went, before he found Midoriya and Uraraka standing side by side on the porch.
Past the glass sliding doors between the office and the kitchen, the large, oak porch gleamed under the sunset. Two tables, set up with 8 chairs each, reflected the sun into my eyes. Kirishima held his hand up to block it, squinting as he approached the two.
"Hey, guys! It's so good to see you two!" he greeted, beaming his sharp-toothed smile. He waved with the hand that was still held up to guard against the scorching rays, the two reciprocated the greeting. Glinting brightly in the sun as he made his way across were two shiny rings, a signal that they tied the knot already.
They're married? The red head hissed to himself. His mind was going mad with the idea. He and Bakugou had been dating for almost five years at that point, and neither of them had even brought it up past the whole living-with-each-other thing.
"Hey, Kirishima! It's good to see you too," Midoriya responded, smiling widely. Uraraka showed a similar face, her bangs tousled loosely by the wind.
"What's up? How've you been?" Kirishima inclined, leading to a long, long conversation about the past three or so years.
As they talked and talked, and talked, Kirishima couldn't bar his mind from wandering back to those rings. Their conversation had dabbled in the subject, but he most definitely had more on his mind about it, or more precisely, how it applied to his own relationship.
Their conversation did, eventually, come to an end, waving goodbye to each other as they went inside to escape the increasingly cold, dark deck to find refuge in their other friends. Of course, as soon as Kirishima ventured off on his own, he searched for Bakugou, first looking in the place he'd seen him last. Unsurprisingly, he was still situated at the end of the dining table with Jiro, this time, playing guitar.
As Kirishima walked over with light feet, he listened to the tune Bakugou played, focusing on remembering the sound. He smiled bashfully as he listened, gleeful that he would ever get the chance to hear it. It was the song they'd done for the culture festival their first year, and it brought up so many memories.
He began to hum as he got close, and covered his mouth when he realized he did. Bakugou stopped almost immediately, and snatched something off the table when he the idea that it was Kirishima behind him, specifically, registered.
"It sounded great!" Kirishima praised, wrapping his arms around Bakugou's shoulders after the guitar had been passed to Jiro. His heart sped up at their embrace, and the familiar warmth of their interactions returned. He sighed happily at the feeling.
"You fuckin' know it," Bakugou jeered as he nuzzled his head against Kirishima's cheek with small movements, "I learned it just now."
Jiro smiled, taking small peeks in Momo's direction, and faced them sheepishly. "I should probably go see how Momo has been doing as co-host. I haven't been doing my as co-host job too well," she said with a chuckle, nervously fiddling with her leather jacket.
"Alright. See ya, goth," Bakugou said as she walked away.
"See ya in a bit, blasty," she retorted in a playful tone.
Bakugou got up, taking Kirishima's hands in his own and setting his head on Kirishima's shoulder. Kirishima's head became light with his touch, his skin setting ablaze with the familiar contact, and he let out a content hum. They stood like that for almost three whole minutes, listening to one another so breathing as they did, happy to simply embrace each other. The two glanced around and saw their intertwined fingers, the beautiful night outside, and all their old friends: it made for a spectacular evening.
~
As that evening neared it's conclusion, much fewer people were wandering around, those who were being either extremely jumpy and ready to keep it up all night or practically falling asleep in their seat. Kirishima and Bakugou, who lied on the couch beside one another with Kaminari, Shinsou, Mina, and Sero; were as happy as could be as they prepared to take their leave. They laughed at their jokes, or rather, Kirishima laughed and Bakugou threw out his signature 'Tch,' until the night grew too quiet to bear.
However, this quiet felt designed to Kirishima, as everyone looked at one another expectantly when it had come about from the chatter. Momo motioned to the dining table, full of wine glasses each filled halfway with a divine chocolate cherry red wine, by which everyone and their brother got up to grab a glass, including their own group of misfits. Kirishima looked over to Bakugou questioningly, yet when Bakugou returned his gaze, all he got was a shrug and a smirk. He untangled himself from Kirishima's arms and rose to grab a glass, Kirishima soon on his tail. They each grabbed a glass, waiting for the toast that would inevitably come.
"Thank you all for coming out tonight," Momo began, "it really is amazing to see you all again. I think it's safe to say that we have all gone beyond our expectations of the Heroes that we thought we'd become, going Plus Ultra as we usually do.
"But tonight, on the first night of several, I want to simply be thankful for each other. The friendships we've made," her gaze switched to Jiro, "to the wonderful relationships that kindled from it." Her gaze switched again, this time, to Bakugou, who was putting his wine glass back down on the table.
What the hell? Thought Kirishima, why's she staring at him?
"Kirishima," Bakugou announced, projecting his voice to the room with his boundless confidence, "I've loved you for a long time. I'm not the greatest with this sappy shit, you know that," his voice lowered to a whisper as he finished, "but I'm gonna try."
"From the beginning of Yuuei to now, I've always valued you. I called you shitty hair, I yelled at you, I did stupid me shit and your ass still loved me back. I can't be thankful enough." Kirishima reached up to brush premeditated tears aside, enough to get a clear view of Bakugou getting down on one knee.
"You've been there for me through all of the good times and the fucked-up ones, and you made every moment better. All the little things you do light up a room, and they... they light up my mood, too." Bakugou finally reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, blue box. He opened it along a horizontal slit, showing a dazzling ruby ring. At that point, Kirishima had stopped trying to push away the tears.
"Eijiro," he continued, small sniffles making their way through, "will you light up the rest of my life?" Bakugou choked quietly on a sob, hiding it and returning to his usual confident tone. His hands shook with his breath and his heart beat a million times what a healthy person should experience, but he didn't care. He hoped to spend the rest of his life with that man, and prayed that he would want that, too. Bakugou wanted him to hold for every moment after. He loved Kirishima with everything he was.
"Marry me?"
Kirishima shoved down the sobs, letting a breathy "yes" make its way out. Around them, clapping began, and Kirishima held his hand out for the ring as he put down his wine glass, and the ring was shoved on messily and followed quickly by a long, long hug, with strings of "I love you"s shared between them. They laughed into one another's shoulders, listening to the beautiful sounds of the other's laugh, and eventually came back to the familiar quiet.
The two took their wine glasses in hand, and raised them, still wiping their tears of joy. "To years of happiness to come!" Momo called, clinking her glass with all the other classmates around her. Kirishima and Bakugou followed suite, still smiling. They each took sips of their wine, and immediately as their lips disconnected from their glasses, they found one another's. They smiled into the kiss, wrapping themselves in one another as they did. Warmth filled their chests, and the most beautiful, unadulterated bliss came from that feeling and stretched into their kiss. When they finally parted, several of the group around them had found seats elsewhere, and their wine glasses were joined by many others that had traveled back to the table they came from.
Still wrapped in Bakugou, Kirishima asked, "why would you do that? You hate talking in front of people like that." He glanced around anxiously, shivering slightly as the low temperature finally got to him. He chuckled at himself. "And... and there's so many."
Bakugou thought a moment, his signature smirk appearing once again before he spoke. "Yeah, I fuckin' see that. There is a shit-ton of people. I fuckin' see that," he leaned his forehead against Kirishima, his words emphasized by his low tone, "for you, Eijiro? The more, the merrier."