Work Text:
Bakugou collapsed on the couch in a pout, crossing his legs on the couch cushion he was on.
“Nice to see you could make it, Blasty,” Ashido smirked. He scowled and rolled his eyes. What-fucking-ever. They’re lucky he was feeling generous.
“I know, right!” Kirishima beamed as he walked in, plopping himself on the cushion right next to him, no obvious sense of self-preservation. “It didn’t take as much convincing this time!”
Aoyama literally twinkled. “How thoughtful!”
“That’s really kind of you, Bakugou,” Todoroki said.
“Shut up, Half-and-Half!” he snapped.
“But Aoyama said something too.”
Bakugou drowned Todoroki’s comment out with mini explosions popping from his hands. “Are we gonna fucking do something or can I leave?”
Uraraka held up her hands placatingly. “Yeah, yeah, calm it down-”
“What the fuck did you just say??”
“We’re playing Seven Minutes in Heaven!” she continued, ignoring him and slowly sinking to the floor where the table in the middle had been. “So you guys have to gather around so the bottle will reach all of you.”
Yeah, fuck if he was doing that. They got him here. No way was he going to no secondary location. He scoffed and crossed his arms harder.
Feeling a nudge on his shoulder, Bakugou looked over and noticed Kirishima giving him a soft smile. “C’mon, man. I meant what I said. It won’t be fun without you.”
That bastard always knew where to fucking hit him. Bakugou took a second to really look at him. God, his eyes were so pretty. The same red as his own, but lighter. Softer. Prettier . Big and fucking beautiful. What the fuck? Is that even legal? He could tell he’d just come out the shower when he’d knocked on his door earlier; his hair was down and soft, lips jutted out in a slight pout. He was so goddamn close . Bakugou flushed and looked away. Damn it, Shitty Hair. “Yeah, okay. Whatever.”
Kirishima brightened, his pout stretching into a smile. “Awesome!”
He started sliding down onto the floor to sit and Bakugou uncrossed his legs, preparing to do the same. Just before he could begin moving to the floor, Kirishima paused midway, spinning around and kneeling between Bakugou’s legs, fixing him with a serious look.
“I know it’s close to when you usually go to sleep, so if you really don’t want to, I can make an excuse for you. I just think it might be good for you!”
Bakugou tried to focus on what he was saying, really, but the almond eyes drilling into his own were really making it difficult. And the elbows on his thighs? Bakugou should’ve been at least vaguely aware of how he was borderline gaping like a fish but his brain was not currently online right now.
Kirishima, noticing he hadn’t responded and getting a little worried, replaced his elbows with his hands and moved them to Bakugou’s knees, resting his face on one of them. His cheek squished against the back of his left hand as he peered up at him through his eyelashes, his eye contact never wavering. “Bakugou?”
Yeah, so, if words weren’t coming before, they certainly weren’t now. He immediately broke eye contact and focused on a single spot on the wall to the left of him, ignoring the heat spreading across his face. Yes , no eye contact makes speaking a lot easier. “I said yes, didn’t I? I don’t ever do shit I don’t wanna do.”
It was silent for a little bit and Bakugou chanced a glance at Kirishima’s face. His eyes were, surprisingly, still trained on Bakugou in an unfocused stare, a soft smile on his face — even softer than the one he was just giving him. He almost felt like he wasn’t meant to see it.
“If you guys are done flirting, we’d like to get this show on the road,” Kaminari called, a lopsided smile on his face.
Kirishima’s face exploded with color. He spun around and rubbed the back of his neck, saying whatever-the-fuck to explain the situation and most likely apologize for nothing, knowing him. Bakugou just grumbled curses and shooed Kirishima off his knee, stepping around him to plop in between Shoji and Tokoyami.
“I’m assuming most of us know how to play the game, but just as a refresher, whoever’s up first will spin the bottle. The person that the top of the bottle points to has to go in the closet with the person who spun it for seven minutes.” Ashido paused for dramatic effect, allowing the rest of the class to ‘ooo’ and giggle for a few seconds. Bakugou rolled his eyes and scoffed. This was gonna be torturous.
“And make-out!” Ashido added, throwing her hands in the air.
Uraraka flushed and blabbered, waving her hands and assuring them they didn’t really have to if they didn’t feel comfortable.
“Do we have to stay in there for all seven minutes if we decide not to, uh, kiss?” Deku asked, fidgeting with his fingers.
“Mhm,” Ashido said smugly. “It wouldn’t be fair to everyone else that does decide to!”
Bakugou zoned out through the other questions, and picked at the fabric of the carpet. He only noticed they’d started playing when Shoji got up from beside him.
“You really dodged a stress-inducing seven minutes, eh Mina?” Sero snickered from beside Kaminari.
“Shut the fuck up, Tape Face,” he sneered, no real bite to his words. Ashido walked in front of Shoji down the corridor to the supply closet right next to the laundry room. As the door shut behind them, Kaminari set the timer and the room immediately erupted in whispers.
Eventually Kaminari went to get them and they came out, both tinged a bit more red, and the game continued. Uraraka and Asui, Shinsou and Kaminari. Deku’s turn was next and just watching him spin the damn bottle rose Bakugou’s blood pressure.
He was obviously nervous and it took him two tries to spin the bottle fast enough that it would remain still and not slide all over the place. While it was spinning, he kept glancing at Half-and-Half out the corner of his eye and Bakugou rubbed his temples at how studiously the thick bastard was watching the bottle, as if readying himself to jump in front of wherever it might choose to land.
It finally came to a stop in front of Momo and the stony look on Todoroki’s face, who sat directly to the right of her, was actually comical. Bakugou shot his head up to Kirishima putting on an exasperated face and nodding towards where Todoroki was eyeing the distance between himself and Momo with a thoughtful look on his face.
Kirishima faced Bakugou from across the circle and raised his shaking shoulders in a shrug, his mouth barely repressing the chuckles that were dying to fall out. In the efforts to hold his laugh back, the deep dimple on his left cheek popped out. Bakugou had to look away before he fucking passed out.
The seven minutes that Deku was in the closet with Momo passed quicker for him than it did for Todoroki and soon they were both out and back in their spots. Half-and-Half’s turn was next, no doubt hoping for a redo.
A focused look on his face, he gave the bottle a few test spins before completely going at it. It passed Deku five, six, seven times before...
Oh. Oh fuck no.
“Oh fuck no.”
The blue cap of the bottle was unfortunately nowhere near Deku. Instead, it pointed straight towards…
“Bakugou!!” Ashido looked way too excited for someone who was, like Deku, likely also hoping for it to land on them. “In the closet you go.”
“Absolutely not. Switch with me.”
“No can do,” she said, grinning harder and shaking her head. “Goes against the rules. Up you go!”
Deciding he didn’t want this drawn out any longer than it already was, he stomped down the hallway, hands in his pockets. Todoroki followed behind him and closed the door to the supply closet once they were both inside.
The closet had obviously housed people before them as there were brooms and mops splayed across the floor. Bakugou crossed his arms and sat in the corner farthest away from Todoroki, decidedly not making eye contact. He could hear his footsteps and stuff being pushed around the floor before an ‘ oof’ was heard followed by silence. Once he’d sat down, the quiet lasted for a few blissful moments, allowing Bakugou to hope that this was how the time would be spent. Shuffle shuffle.
“So…” Todoroki trailed off, bumping his knees together. “Wanna make out?”
“The fuck did you say, bastard?? Hell no, I don’t wanna make out with you.”
It was silent for a little bit before his shuffle s started up again. Bakugou sighed, “Besides, I thought you liked fuckin’ Deku.”
Todoroki looked genuinely surprised Bakugou knew that. “Midoriya? Is it that obvious?”
“Obvious enough for everyone to know but you and Deku,” he scoffed.
“Do you think he likes me back?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty fuckin’ sure.” Bakugou could feel his headache from earlier start to creep up. He did not sign up to give relationship advice to anyone and especially not fucking Freeze Flame.
“What do you think I should do?”
He choked. “The fuck are you askin’ me for??”
“Because we’re friends.” Todoroki blinked at him. “Is this not what friends do?”
Bakugou nearly blew the door off its hinges. “We are NOT friends, Icy Hot! Get it through your thick skull!”
It’s too late. They were already having a conversation. Sitting in silence challenge failed. “Why didn’t you just use your quirk and freeze the bottle when it passed by Deku??” Then he wouldn’t be stuck in here, having this conversation. He would be free, free…
“Ashido said no using our quirks-”
“Fucking spare me. You could’ve been in here with Deku or what-fucking-ever and I coulda been out there-”
“Staring at Kirishima?”
A vein throbbed on Bakugou’s forehead. “Fucking come again, bastard??”
Todoroki was sat cross-legged on the floor, hunched over and looking around at all the clutter in the closet. Completely innocently. Dick.
“That’s who you have a crush on, right? Kirishima.”
“And what would your dumb ass know about it.”
“Midoriya told me. And you look at him a lot. And you’re always smiling around him whi-”
“He fucking WHAT? ”
“Well,” he paused, completely invulnerable to Bakugou’s quickly approaching loss of temper. “Not on purpose, I don’t think. He managed to let it slip while he was rambling that you came to him a little while ago for advice.”
“Deku, you absolute asshole,” he groaned, getting up to pace what minimal closet space they had in an effort not to blow Todoroki up.
“So what did you give him?”
Bakugou froze mid pace. “Hah?”
“Midoriya said he recommended that you maybe give him something. So what did you give him?”
“What makes you think I’d share that information with you?”
Todoroki opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and just shrugged. “We’re gonna be stuck in here together for a while, I think.”
Bakugou groaned. The asshole had a point, and honestly, Deku wasn’t much of a help. “Fine. Fine .” Stomping back to his side, he mentally prepared himself for having this conversation.
“I bought him a pull-up bar,” he mumbled, fixating on the wall opposite of him.
“A pull-up bar?” he frowned. “Like one of those things used for lifting?”
“Yeah, and?” he sneered.
“And you thought that was the best way to woo him,” Todoroki said slowly, trying to fully grasp Bakugou’s thought process.
“He likes manly shit like that. Fuck off,” he scowled, immediately regretting his decision to allow this conversation to continue. What the fuck does Icy Hot know? Kirishima’d liked it when he’d given it to him. Right? Shit.
“I thought manly just meant living life without regrets?”
Bakugou’s face erupted in flames. “Whatever, bitch. What do you do for Deku, then?”
Todoroki paused for a second to think. “Well, I like to talk to him.”
He blinked. “...You talk to him?”
“Yeah. During training I’ll tell him that he’s doing well or that his hair looks nice.”
“Have you guys ever gone on a date?”
“No, we’re not dating,” he frowned, shaking his head.
“Yeah, no shit. I mean, have you guys ever hung out alone?”
“We are in a study group together-”
“But with other people.”
“Yes. With Uraraka and Iida.”
“But has Deku ever specifically asked you to hang out. Hang. Out. In those words.” Clearly he wasn’t the one initiating these things.
Todoroki looked even more confused. “Sometimes. But whenever we ‘hang out,’ we study. I thought that’s what that meant.”
Bakugou cackled. He got the distinct image of Deku asking Todoroki to chill in his room or something and all of a sudden, he’s slamming through the door with a stack of textbooks. Deku, being Deku, says nothing and resigns himself to a night full of homework he’s already done. Ooo, that sounds like torture. Does he really wanna clear this up?
His smirk must’ve been incredibly evident on his face as Todoroki glared at him. “Bakugou.”
Sigh. “Fine, fine. When he asks to ‘hang out,’ he means doing something fun together, by yourselves. You do understand the concept of fun, yes?”
“Yes, I grasp the notion,” he deadpanned.
“Friends can ask you to do the same thing, but in this case Deku, surprisingly ,” he muttered, “is into you.” Then again, they’re both idiots. Maybe they were meant for each other.
“You never as-”
“We’re not friends.”
He huffed. “Do you hang out with Kirishima often?”
Bakugou frowned, not knowing where he was going with this. “...Yes.”
“Even without the, uh. What’s it called? Bakus-”
“God, don’t call them that.”
“I thought that was the legal title?”
Bakugou seriously considered slamming his head into the wall. Surely the seven minutes were up? They were probably keeping them in there longer just to spite them, the bastards.
“Yes, we hang out without the idiots!” He purposefully ignored the last comment. “We’re friends or whatever.”
Todoroki raised his eyebrows. “So you are physically capable of saying the word. We had a bet going that it was just something you were born with. My vote was that it was a traumatic childhood accident-”
“I’ll kill you, asshole. Have you noticed how many brooms there are in here? I’ll make it look like a fuckin’ traumatic childhood accident.”
He could hear light giggling erupting from Todoroki’s side and Bakugou shook his head, playing with his lips to fight his own smile. Once the chuckles died down, Todoroki was the one to speak up this time.
“Are you ever gonna ask him on a date?”
“Fuck no,” he blurted out. “...Maybe. I don’t know. Probably. Just not right now.”
“Well, I think Kirishima might like you back. He seems to genuinely enjoy spending time with you.”
Bakugou snorted.
“Definitely more so than anyone else does.”
His eyebrow twitched.
“So if anyone has a crush on you-”
“I’m gonna stop you right there, Icy Hot. I don’t give a shit what anybody thinks of me.”
“You care about what Kirishima thinks of you,” he said, tilting his head to the side.
“Yeah, well,” he turned his head away. “Kirishima’s different.”
“How so?”
Was that all a ploy to get him to talk about Kirishima? Honestly, he wouldn’t put it past him. “I don’t know.”
That’s a fucking lie. He does know, he just haaates putting his feelings into words. It’s fucking annoying. He guesses, albeit reluctantly, that practice would be at least somewhat helpful if he ever was, you know, planning to tell Kirishima.
“Is it because he can put up with you so well?” Todoroki asked.
Bakugou sighed and rested his head back against the wall behind him. Where to fucking start.
“Yes and no.” He thought back to the conversation they just had in the living room, Kirishima making sure Bakugou was okay with being around so many of them for so long.
“He’s considerate. And knows when to call me out on my bullshit. He’s a fucking badass who can take a hard ass hit and keep coming back and he’s strong as hell, too. He won’t just stand there and get hit, he’ll hit you back even harder.
And he gets that sometimes I need to figure things out for myself. I don’t need anybody’s help to be the greatest hero. I’m going to be the best. But I feel like I can be better with him. I don’t know. He makes me want to be better. I want to be better with him. Whatever. Shit like that.”
Todoroki was silent again for a little bit and Bakugou could slowly feel the heat spreading up his neck. When he spoke, it was thoughtful. “A relationship as equals.”
“Hah?”
“That’s what Midoriya said. That night at Kamino. That you guys had developed a relationship as equals.”
Bakugou thought about that. It wasn’t a question of if he thought of Kirishima as an equal — he knew the answer to that had been a resounding yes for longer than he cared to think about. Since the Sports Festival in first year, probably. Battling Kirishima then had sent a thrilling jolt up his spine, the same one he’d gotten every time he’d sparred with him since then. Seeing Kirishima improve and get stronger over the months they’d fight together excited Bakugou. He remembered the first time Kirishima’d managed to knock him on his ass; Bakugou still knew he couldn’t chalk up the breathlessness solely to the pin he’d managed to make. The hair dangling around his face like a halo, the sharp grin.
No, it wasn’t that. It was how obvious it was. And for how long? Bakugou realized how much he liked Kirishima the moment he rocketed across the sky to grab his hand. Seeing his dumb face flying above him filled him with so much of The Feeling that he’d be an idiot not to realize it. In that moment he knew — he knew — that he should’ve been thinking about how they’d even gotten there or spared a thought for All Might, but as soon as he’d held his hand and seen Kirishima’s stupid shark teeth smiling back at him, hair flying in the wind, all he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss him. He thought it was then, but Deku noticed from before. How long had he been in love with Kirishima? “Yeah, I guess so,” he mumbled, deep in thought.
Todoroki hummed and stretched his legs out in front of him. “I feel the same way about Midoriya. He’s helped me through so much and continues to help me everyday, expecting nothing in return. He’s kind and thoughtful and I really enjoy being around him. He’s going to be an incredible hero someday soon and I want to be standing beside him when he does.”
It really says a lot about Bakugou that he can sit and listen to Todoroki’s ramblings about Deku and not flinch once. Okay, so maybe he has grown a little.
“Also, there are times where I can’t look at him? Like, in the face. Without getting all… weird. Is that, uh, normal?”
Bakugou frowned and shot up, almost sincerely worried for his health before he remembered that Todoroki was even more emotionally constipated than he was. Sighing, he said, “You mean when he,” gag , “smiles?” Ah, well. He almost made it.
Todoroki’s eyes widened and he nodded vigorously. “ Yes , especially then. And his cheeks get all,” he brought his hands up to his cheeks and mimed squeezing a ball, “and his eyes get all squinty? I always feel like I’m gonna throw up.”
Bakugou could very, very much relate to the feeling. “Perks of liking fucking sunshine incarnate, I guess. Kirishima’s got this fuckin’ dimple.” Just saying it makes him woozy. He can barely even acknowledge the existence of the damn thing.
He shakes his head as if saying a silent prayer for their sanity. Bakugou thinks he really must be losing his mind in here; he can’t believe he actually talked to Todoroki about liking someone for this long and only considered homicide twice.
“So,” Bakugou started, standing up and banging on the door, “not to say that this hasn’t been fun, but it really hasn’t at all, actually. If I hear you talk about any of this to anyone else, I’ll deny it and murder you on the spot.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Todoroki blinked, not even bothering to react. Bakugou hated that about him; he was intimidating, damn it. “If word got out that you have feelings besides anger and pride, I’d lose my standing as class pretty boy.”
Did- Did he just..? Bakugou spun abruptly at the joke to look at him and laugh maybe? But just as he opened his mouth Kaminari slammed open the door.
“Time’s up, lover boys. Please find your way back to your seats.”
Bakugou turned back around and bumped Kaminari’s shoulder, brusquely walking past him back to the common room. “No way time hasn’t been up for a good fuckin’ while now,” he muttered.
He didn’t even have to look back to know Todoroki was closing the door calmly and walking back, right behind him just like he was before.
Bakugou quickly found himself approaching the circle and knew he was not gonna be able to do this shit anymore. Instead of moving to sit where he’d been before, he found his feet moving without his permission around the circle and stopped right in front of Jirou.
“Move or be moved, she-demon,” he growled, glaring at her as if her choosing to sit to the right of Kirishima was a personal attack on him. Everyone knows that was his designated spot. Even when he wasn’t sitting there, he was still thinking about sitting there. It was his spot, goddamnit.
She rolled her eyes at his dramatics but still scooted closer to Momo, leaving him his spot next to Kirishima.
“Or next time, shove the pining up your ass and choose to sit there in the first place,” she grumbled.
“Don’t pretend you’re not also happy with this set-up,” he bit back.
“You know, when thinking of the best people to sit next to, surprisingly, you’re not the first person that comes to mind.”
“No? Maybe Creati might know. Wow, she’s really close to you now. Huh,” he deadpanned, turning away from her and ignoring the flush of color on her face. Nope. No more relationship talk with anyone else tonight, thanks.
Kirishima raised an eyebrow at him, only really catching the end half of their conversation. “Everything good?”
Bakugou felt the tension seep out of his shoulders as Kirishima looked at him, his crimson eyes kind and inviting. Bakugou’s heart skipped a beat and he rested his head on Kirishima’s shoulder, partially because he wanted to but mainly to get away from those eyes that saw way too much. He wondered if Kirishima already knew how he felt about him. Probably. He saw through him incredibly easily.
“Yeah.”
Across the circle Bakugou could see Todoroki and Deku having a conversation almost as soon as he sat down. One that made Deku’s face get gradually more red as Todoroki kept talking. Apparently, next up with the bottle was Uraraka. He watched as it spun around and around...
“How was the closet with Todoroki?”
Bakugou could hear the smirk in his voice. He elbowed him. Kirishima chuckled but started running his fingers through the hair at the base of Bakugou’s skull as an apology.
Bakugou hummed, the steady, light raking of Kirishima’s nails causing his eyes to flutter closed. A wave of contentment washed over him and any hint of lingering headaches melted away.
“Enlightening, to say the least.”
“Oh yeah? You’ll have to tell me about it.”
Just before Bakugou’s eyes shut completely, he could make out Deku nodding at whatever it was Todoroki’d said, face redder than the hair currently tickling Bakugou’s ear. Todoroki had a soft smile spread across his face and looked up, noticing Bakugou looking at him. Todoroki nodded at him from across the circle before turning to Ashido to listen to whatever it was that was going on now. Bakugou honestly could not care less.
“Yeah,” he hummed, burying his head in Kirishima’s shoulder. “Maybe tomorrow.”