Kirishima never had the chance to answer, Bakugou had stormed off before he could completely gather his thoughts.
The rest of the redhead's day was spent trying to find him in breaks, trying to talk to him in class, but it was all to no avail.
He had racked his brain many times over for a reason why Bakugou would act like that. Of course Kirishima knew he'd never intentionally mock anyone but Bakugou didn't know that and no matter what, he was going to make sure he did one way or another.
It was the third day. Third day of being completely and totally ignored, when he decided to reach out to other people in class for any kind of help. Kirishima considered himself friendly enough and he had definitely already made some friends so it wasn't too much of a task.
First, he asked the person who sat to his right in class, who's name he'd learned as Sero.
"Do you know where Bakugou lives, by any chance?" It was out of the blue at the lunch break, Sero cocking a brow as he tried to understand what the intent was.
"I know he's a bit of an asshole but you better not plan on hunting him down or something."
"I'm not! It's for a good cause, okay? I think it's been pretty obvious that I'm trying to befriend him." Eijirou insisted, unable to help the little chuckle that escaped at Sero's comment.
"Well I don't, but if you really wanna know then you're better asking Midoriya. Him and Bakugou are like, childhood friends. More like 'friends?' really but you get the point."
"I'll do that! Thanks, dude."
The way Kirishima visibly perked up was noticeably strange, Sero didn't even bother actually questioning it. He had his fair share of attempts at getting on Bakugou's good side but eventually gave up.
"I'm not covering for you if his body is found."
Kirishima rolled his eyes, jumping slightly as someone took a seat next to him.
"I will." Kaminari inserted himself without actually knowing who or what they were talking about, causing the other two to laugh.
Kirishima wasted no time. From what he knew of Midoriya, he was really nice. They got along quite well so it was really a surprise that him and Bakugou grew up together, since the latter was so... absolutely nothing like the former in every conceivable way possible.
But also, Midoriya didn't have the exact tinges in his accent that Bakugou did. Slowly but surely Kirishima had began piecing things together, noting multiple different things as strange that started connecting into a conclusion, it was just a fuzzy one at the moment.
"Hey, Midoriya! I was just wondering something about Bakugou. You guys are childhood friends, yeah?"
It was after school had ended and the class had slightly emptied. Midoriya waited for Uraraka and Iida so they could walk home together every night so as soon as Bakugou had left the room Kirishima made his move.
"Oh, yeah! I've known Kacchan pretty much since I was born. It's not often people ask me about him," his reaction was extremely similar to Sero's, suspicious rising on his face and in his tone, "so what's up?"
"Great, so, I was just wondering if you know where he lives. Before you ask, no, I'm not planning on hurting anyone." After the way Midoriya looked, he just wanted to make sure that seemingly obvious point was stated considering how Sero had responded earlier. Honestly, even if worst came to worst and this failed, Kirishima could still drop to the level of 'accidentally' following him. He really didn't want to have to reach that point, though.
"I know I'm practically a stranger, to Bakugou more than even you, but I did something that really hurt him the other day and he won't spare me the time so I can apologise properly. If I were to just give up at that then what kind of man would I be, y'know?"
Midoriya stared for a moment before smiling. Kirishima had a very similar fire to what Bakugou had. Fuelled by actions, stubborn as hell and very headstrong. It was clear he had no ill intentions whatsoever and his natural charming smile was maybe even enough to make Bakugou double take.
So he ripped a piece of paper out of the notebook that he had yet to put away and began writing something on it before handing it to Kirishima with a more relaxed and familiar smile.
"This is his address. I'm trusting this to you. Please, take good care of him, if he lets you."
The way he said it, the way his eyes matched Kirishima's, it almost made this a much bigger deal than it was in reality. It pumped Kirishima up, a subconscious new objective taking precedence.
"I will! Thanks, Midoriya."
The address wasn't one he recognised so getting there was pretty challenging, especially since he wasn't the best with directions and his phone could only help so much.
It was beneficial for him in multiple ways really, since he got to see more of the new area he lived in. It was a relief when he saw the street name that coincided with what was written on the paper and he ran down the street to the correct number.
He was more nervous than he thought. On the off chance that Bakugou himself would open the door and not immediately slam it in his face, he'd have to face a parent, most likely. Maybe even both.
Even through the nerves, he decided to just go for it. He'd never be able to predict what who answered the door was going to say so there was no point in trying to script something. He was great at befriending the elderly so some of that charm and way of holding himself would possibly come in handy.
The door was answered quickly, barely a few seconds after he knocked.
Who answered, although not the Bakugou he was acquainted with, looked so much like him. It took him aback for a moment as he stared at the woman.
"Hi! My name Eijirou Kirishima, I'm a friend of Bakugou's. Is he around?" Kirishima smiled as he spoke, feeling admittedly slightly awkward that he didn't use Bakugou's first name to refer to him in this situation.
The problem was that he didn't even know his first name anyway. Midoriya has called him 'Kacchan' but that sounded like a silly nickname.
"A friend? Did he invite you over?" Mitsuki opened the door a little wider and looked way more surprised than Kirishima expected as she scanned his appearance.
She was looking for any sign that he was in any way a threat. That was more likely than an actual friend of her son's showing up.
"Well no, not exactly..."
"That doesn't matter, come in! He hasn't ever had a friend round that isn't Izuku. Not that I'd expect him to tell us about his friends anymore." After slipping his shoes off, Kirishima took in the environment, appreciating how nice this house was and how it was clearly well taken care of. "Go right up, his room is the first on the left." She gestured to a staircase, smiling widely at him that only caused him to do so in return.
"Thanks!" He replied before heading up.
Before knocking, he stared at the door, taking a deep breath. A name tag on the door read 'Katsuki' so he figured that was his first name. Good to know.
The knocks were firm and confident. He was instinctively trying way too hard to stand straight, waiting for the door to open, or any kind of response.
However, it didn't occur.
So, he knocked again, accompanying it with a singular use of his name.
No response.
He couldn't just leave or let a door stop him. Maybe Bakugou was napping or something? Maybe he was in the bathroom so his room was empty anyway?
Kirishima was having trouble deciding what the manly option was here. Of course just walking in was a total invasion of his privacy.
But also, would taking a peak just to scope out the situation be as bad?
He decided to go through with it. Bakugou was definitely in this house and no matter how long he had to wait, he was going to get his thoughts across no matter what.
It was kind of a surprise to see Bakugou just sat on his bed, textbook in his lap as it looked like he was studying. There were headphones on his head playing music loud enough for Kirishima to hear clearly, so it made sense that his knocks weren't heard.
However, the blond's eyesight was completely fine, so naturally when he spotted something move in his peripheral vision his head snapped towards it.
"Hey!" Kirishima said upon being noticed, rushing to enter the room properly and start this before getting screamed at. If Bakugou shouted, his mother would hear and most likely get very concerned.
Quickly, before anything left Bakugou's mouth, although he looked as though he was almost ready to stab Kirishima to death with the pen he was holding, the redhead began signing, which surprisingly stopped Bakugou from verbally lashing out.
Instead, he focussed on what Kirishima was telling with his quick actions, quite intrigued at how and why he decided to do it this way.
Before you get mad and shout at me, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry.
I never meant to offend or mock you in any way.
I know the song from the TV show 'I-Island' and I can sign because my sister is very hard of hearing.
I don't exactly know why you would take offence but I'm not going to pry. As long as you know that I would never do that intentionally then I will leave you alone if that's what you want.
I'm sorry, Bakugou.
The blond sat back, scanning his eyes up and down Kirishima's body. Just like earlier in the week, he didn't seem at all scared or negatively phased. He was sure of every word he was saying and it was so calm and rational.
There he was stood under Bakugou's obviously judging gaze, patiently waiting for a response.
Bakugou sighed before responding, unable to ignore what he'd been told. He removed the headphones from his head.
"You learned to sign because of your sister?" He asked.
That one point already said so much about the redhead. His own parents were reluctant about learning at first as 'the hearing aids will make him hear better anyway' as if that was all there was to it.
"Yeah. I wanted to-" Kirishima started. He noticed how Bakugou looked back at his hands, cutting in after realising that they weren't moving.
"I didn't tell you to stop signing!" Bakugou cut in. Kirishima then continued, his hands following his words.
"I wanted to make things as easy as possible for her. What happened on the rooftop will just be because sometimes when I zone out-"
With an exaggerated eye roll, the blond sat back on his bed, not even attempting to look at anything else he would try to say.
"Shut up. You don't have to explain yourself anymore, damn it. I fucking get it." Of course the result was that.
Bakugou was mad, but not at Kirishima. His stupid in the moment lashing out had led to Kirishima standing in his room trying to explain himself. If all he did was hold himself a bit he wouldn't have to deal with this annoyance.
There was a splitting awkward silence in the room. Kirishima was still stood at the door, hands clenched by his sides and Bakugou was fighting with himself whether to tell him to leave or ask if he followed him to his house in the first place.
"Why did you come here?" He settled on asking, finding himself unable to just abruptly shove him off after all that.
"I just wanted to set the record straight. I don't know you and you don't know me, but I'd like that to change, which would mean starting on a good foot. So hi, my name is Eijirou Kirishima." His name was a rather tricky one to sign so he had to look at his own hands while doing it, leading Bakugou to glance for a second at his concentration face.
Due to that he actually missed some of the name and hadn't remembered it from when he joined the class. With a sigh, he grabbed a singular hearing aid from his desk and quickly turned it on, fitting it into the corresponding ear a second later.
The realisation very obviously spread over Kirishima's face. Bakugou's hair was long enough to cover his ears and he hadn't seen the devices sat on the desk next to his bed.
Of course he needs hearing aids! That explains it.
He didn't bring it up, though. He knew from experience with his sister that sometimes people pointing out when they noticed was tiring and just reminded her of her issues.
Bakugou may not have showed it, but he appreciated it.
"Say that again. Your name." The blond spoke lowly, the smile on Kirishima's face distracting from his hands yet again, but Bakugou could hear it well enough this time.
"Eijirou Kirishima."
Even his eyes were smiling. It baffled Bakugou completely, how this dork was looking at him like he was a sight to be praised, someone who made him genuinely happy. Normally smiles like that pissed him off, but not this one, not on Kirishima.
There was an alarming heat threatening Bakugou's cheeks that forced him to look away. There was no way in hell he was going to let Kirishima see him fucking blush.
Thankfully though, it brought him back to his senses a bit, kicked his regular façade into gear.
"Fine. Apology accepted. Get out."
Although Kirishima didn't quite understand the immediate change in atmosphere, he didn't bother complaining.
"See you at school!" He spoke loudly since Bakugou wasn't looking at him or his hands, leaving immediately afterwards.
He lingered outside of the door for a minute, celebrating quietly to himself for pulling that off. As far as he was concerned, Katsuki Bakugou was now officially on his list of friends.