bakugou spends his whole first two years at UA thinking that he and kirishima had been dating the entire time until he accidentally walks in on kirishima making out with denki in the locker room after training.

and he.. /isn’t/ mad,,

#kiribaku

bakugou wasn’t really sure when or how it had started. his relationship with kirishima, that is. all he knew was that there was /something/ there. because they acted different with each other, different than how they acted with anyone else. different whenever they were alone.

it had been like that since a few weeks into their first year. kirishima initiated it, obviously. bakugou wasn’t there to make friends, he was there to become a hero. number one. of course, kirishima’s bubbly personality and wide toothy grin had to ruin it.

the cheeky bastard.

the first few times kiri decided to throw his arm around bakugou’s shoulder or pat him on the back after training, the redhead was immediately met with an explosion to the face. katsuki wasn’t here to make friends and he sure as hell didn’t want some stupid extra /touching/ him

but then, kiri wasn’t like all those other dumb extras, was he?

he proved himself quickly to bakugou, gaining his trust in just a matter of weeks whereas people in the past had tried for years and still failed. there was just something about him. bakugou couldn’t quite place it

it drove him crazy how fast his entire being gave into kirishima, putting his full trust in him without a second glance. it didn’t take long before kirishima started climbing up in his status.

from extra, to tolerable, to somewhat bro, to best friend. all in the matter of weeks.

and again, bakugou wasn’t really sure how it had all happened.

but now he didn’t try to shrug kirishima’s arm off of him anymore and honestly didn’t mind being the one to cook him breakfast in the morning (not that that stopped him from complaining about it) and it felt kinda..

nice.

yeah, nice. bakugou katsuki could begrudgingly say that he actually really enjoyed kirishima’s presence. so much so that he /actually/ started inviting him to hang out. just the two of them. alone.

maybe it was then that bakugou realized the reason he started to trust him so easily.

stupid shitty haired bastard must have put some sort of spell on him or some shit because /fuck/.

bakugou katsuki absolutely does /not/ get crushes, okay?

ever.

but he didn’t know how else to describe the sudden change in his heart rate and the struggle to hold in explosions as his palms started to sweat more and the way his face heated up whenever kirishima sat a little too close and-

fuck, okay, so he has a crush

but it wasn’t a big deal, right?

i mean, kirishima sure doesn’t seem to mind when bakugou’s arm brushes his in the middle of a study session. or when bakugou leans his head on his shoulder after a hard workout. or when bakugou always insists on fixing kirishima’s tie for him.

if anything, the pretty idiot /loves/ it. and bakugou has half a mind to ask him why it always makes him smile so fucking big when he does that stuff for kirishima but part of him is scared for the answer.

“cause you’re my best bro!!”

god, bakugou hates that word

yeah, sure, he should be used to it by now. kirishima calls everyone bro, dude, man, whatever. but holy hell does it piss katsuki off.

he doesn’t /want/ to be kirishima’s ‘best bro’. he /wants/ to be kiri’s.. whatever the fuck you wanna call it.

he just wants to kiss him.

he isn’t all too sure when /that/ thought first crossed his mind, either.

but on a rainy afternoon as him and kirishima are running back towards their dorms and kiri pulls him under a little slab of awning in between some buildings and he’s so close he can count his eyelashes-

he really /really/ wants to kiss him.

kirishima seems oblivious to bakugou’s staring, eyes trained forward as he holds bakugou close to keep him out of the rain, no doubt waiting for the down pour to slow before they continue their trek back to their dorms.

bakugou is so caught up in admiring the boy that’s pressed against his chest that he doesn’t hear it when kiri first asks him the question, and he has to shake his head loose of it’s trance.

“huh?”

“i asked if you were cold,” kirishima repeated, still staring out at the rain

bakugou wanted to lie, pretend he wasn’t absolutely freezing his ass off as he stood there soaked to the bone, but his proximity to his new crush had his thoughts all sorts of jumbled. so he nodded.

“kinda.”

kirishima’s eyes darted to him and it looked like he finally realized just how close they were too. he pushed bakugou back slightly, but when the movement only shoved the blonde straight into the rain, he instantly pulled him back into his chest.

“hey! watch it, dumbass!”

“sorry, sorry,” kirishima quickly mumbled, eyes looking anywhere but the blonde right in front of him.

bakugou smirked as he noticed kirishima’s nervous tells, his teeth biting the corner of his lips, his jaw hardening ever so slightly.

cute.

“what’re you nervous about, shitty hair?”

“excuse me?” kirishima squeaked, caught off guard by bakugou’s question

“you got your scared puppy face on,” katsuki smirked, leaning in so there was absolutely no space between the two, kiri’s back to the wall, “what’s got ya nervous?”

bakugou was just teasing, really. he just wanted to pick some fun while they waited out the rain, maybe make kirishima squirm a little bit from his jokes and comments.

what he hadn’t expected was for kirishima to lean forward and /kiss/ him.

it was messy, sloppy, inexperienced. kirishima’s teeth accidentally hooked on bakugou’s lip and for a moment he worried he might’ve cut it. it was obvious this was most likely kirishima’s first kiss too, but bakugou didn’t really seem to mind

he was too busy internally screaming

kirishima, the boy he had somehow hopelessly started falling for, was kissing him. kissing him in the rain like some shitty romcom he refused to watch on tv. and god he loved every second of it.

this meant something, right?

well, after that moment, bakugou wasn’t so sure.

because shortly after, the rain stopped. and kirishima pulled away with a flushed face and did nothing but offer bakugou a small smile before darting off towards their dorm building. and bakugou was left on the sidewalk alone.

kirishima avoided him for a few days, and katsuki was fed. up.

it was one thing if kiri had decided he really didn’t want to kiss him and actually /told/ him that, but bakugou would be damned if he was going to be avoided like a fucking plague

he wanted answers.

so that’s how he finds himself on a saturday night —when he really just wants to be in bed— bursting into the stupid redhead’s dorm room.

and poor kirishima looks like he’s seen a ghost.

“get up asshole,” bakugou snaps at him, walking over his closet and tossing a tshirt to the shirtless redhead. “we’re going for a training session.”

“wait- right /now/?” kiri asked, grabbing the shirt that was thrown in his face. “it’s nearly midni-“

“did i ducking stutter?!”

kirishima knows that tone, and he knows better than to question it. so he quickly slipped on his shirt and followed katsuki out the door. he stumbled a little bit and katsuki grumbled to him to be quiet so he wouldn’t disturb the others on their floor.

bakugou was glad the hall was dim because his face was flushing from how kirishima kept bumping into him as they walked. kirishima stuttered in his steps when bakugou didn’t go to the elevator but instead towards the staircase.

“oi, stop your lagging, idiot.”

kirishima quickly follows, matching bakugou’s quick steps down the stairs, and before he knows it they’re standing in the training room, no more than ten feet separating them as bakugou stares him down. it’s obvious what this is.

it’s a spar.

but kirishima /knows/ that glare that bakugou is giving him. it’s a glare that has never been directed at him but still gave him chills when he saw it being pointed at other people.

bakugou was about to push him to the ends of hell, and he wasn’t going to be allowed to protest.

before he could even think to prepare himself, bakugou was lunging toward him and firing off an explosion. kiri dodged just in time, coughing at the sudden smoke.

“just gonna run away? you’ve gotten damn good at that, haven’t you?”

kirishima is speechless and wide eyed as he stares at bakugou, who just fires off another explosion. and again, kirishima dodges just in time. he doesn’t know /why/ he isn’t using his quirk, but he’s not and maybe that’s his fault.

“you can’t be a man and keep running from me!”

fuck, kirishima /hated/ when he said shit like that.

this time, kirishima doesn’t dodge. and when bakugou leaps forward to fire off another bomb, kirishima delivers a hardened punch to his stomach, knocking the blonde back a few steps.

“what’s this really about, man?” kiri hardens again at another explosion. “just talk to me!”

“i’ve been trying to talk for the past week, shitty hair!” bakugou shouts, an explosion far more powerful than the others firing up in his hand.

kirishima doesn’t think he can take it.

“just calm down!”

“fuck calm! i’m tired of it! what? you think you can just kiss me then act like that shit didn’t happen? just gonna toss me to the side like i’m some- some-“

he doesn’t get to finish before kirishima is cutting him off.

this time, his lips are soft. his hardened fingers nearly hurt against katsuki’s cheeks but he doesn’t move away. well, until an explosion pops out of his hand. kiri jumps back on instinct and laughs as he notices bakugou’s flushed expression.

well, there was katsuki’s answer.

they became inseparable after that, attached at the hip. bakugou never blatantly asks what they are, but he’s heard enough of his friend’s gossip to understand that what he and kirishima are doing /is/ considered dating. and he doesn’t mind the thought of kiri being his boyfriend

as time goes on, they only get closer.

kat helps kiri dye his hair. make his quirk stronger. push him to do his best. kiri comes over on the holidays. they go shopping on the weekends. go out to eat after class is over. watch movies in each other’s rooms. spend time together.

i mean, /everyone/ thought they were dating. bakugou certainly did. kirishima never tried to debunk anyone when they said as much, so bakugou didn’t either. in bakugou’s mind they were dating and that was that.

though he hated admitting it, over the next two years bakugou had wound up falling in love. it seemed kirishima had too. he stayed over more, kissed him harder, held him longer. that’s what you do when you’re in love, right?

well, that’s what bakugou thought.

but apparently he was wrong.

he didn’t know what the hell was taking kirishima so long in the locker room, but he was getting agitated. they were supposed to study for their big exam coming up after this, like they always did. but kirishima was taking too damn long.

so bakugou decided to go drag his ass out

he shoved the locker room door open, thinking to himself about all the things that he was going to have to tutor kiri for as they got to his room. maybe that’s why it took him a second to register what he was really seeing whenever he rounded the corner.

“is your slow ass-“

oh

they didn’t look up at first, it’s like they hadn’t even noticed his presence. but then denki’s eyes cracked open just a bit and he pulled back from the kiss in horror, shoving kirishima off of him as he tried to sink further back against the lockers.

and bakugou wasn’t mad.

he blinked as he watched the redhead —the guy who he had been claiming as his boyfriend for the past two years— twist around in confusion. the look on his face said it all, a pitiful cry on the tip of his tongue.

“kat, i-“

bakugou left before he could finish.

he wasn’t mad.

he wasn’t mad. he wasn’t mad. he wasn’t mad. he had to keep repeating it to himself over and over in order to control the explosions popping in his hands as he ran as fast as he could from the locker room.

no, he wasn’t mad.

he was /crushed/.

fuck, how could kirishima /do/ that to him? how could he go off and kiss someone else as if bakugou was- as if he- as if /they/ were nothing? how could he be so damn cruel?

bakugou wasn’t /mad/. he was hurt and devastated and broken and shattered and /fuck/ now he was crying.

“k-kacchan?” izuku mumbled as the blonde ran past him and todoroki, nearly knocking his shoulder. “hey, kacchan, wait!”

deku and todoroki both ran after him, following their friend as he darted out of the school and towards the dorms.

they’d never seen him like this.

in fact, /no one/ had ever seen him like this. because bakugou katsuki didn’t get upset and he sure as hell didn’t cry like some dumb extra. he was strong and brave and ei always told him that he-

no. fuck eijirou. he was the reason he was like this. fuck him. fuck him. fuck hi-

bakugou let out a slew of curse words as he tripped over the sidewalk, catching himself on his hands and knees and trying to suck a breath in. his palms were definitely scraped, but he didn’t care right now.

fuck eijirou.

“bakugou, what’s wrong?” todoroki asked as him and midoriya finally caught up to him, their own breathing heavy.

“go to hell, icy hot!” bakugou snapped.

“kacchan, we just want to help!”

“you can’t!” katsuki screamed, chilling the other two to their bones. “..you can’t.”

it was the truth, they couldn’t help him. there was nothing they could do to fix this.

bakugou felt pathetic. used. betrayed. and above all, he felt /so/ fucking stupid. stupid for letting himself believe that kirishima actually loved him back. actually cared.

fuck eijirou.

katsuki was so out of it. screaming and crying and clutching his chest through his shirt. and there was nothing else deku or shouto could do but watch, offer a light touch to the back or the shoulder. it was killing them to see their best friend like this.

so.. vulnerable.

yeah, katsuki might have not been mad. but deku?

oh, deku was /livid/.

because, look. deku has known bakugou their entire life. and yeah, they were never really on the best terms, but that didn’t make izuku stop caring about him. and things /were/ getting better between them recently. katsuki wasn’t trying to blow his head off every five seconds.

izuku would like to think that he and katsuki had finally become friends. katsuki wouldn’t admit it but he trusted izuku more than just about anyone. even if he was just some shitty nerd getting in his way. and the fact that deku /knew/ he had bakugou’s trust?

let’s just say, izuku felt a lot more protective over him than he used to.

“i told you not to fucking worry about it!” bakugou shouted as they walked out of his dorm room.

it had been a few days since the.. incident. bakugou had avoided kirishima at all costs, avoided /all/ of the bakusquad at all costs. he didn’t want to talk to them. had no need to.

“i’m not going to sit back and watch you be miserable, kacchan!” izuku huffed at him as he stomped through the hall, making a beeline for the common room.

he was going to settle this and he was going to settle this now.

kirishima smiled from his spot on the couch between sero and mina whenever izuku walked up to him, but his smile fell when he caught a glimpse of katsuki over his shoulder.

“h-hey dude, what’s up?” the redhead squeaked out.

“why’re you a cheater?”

fuck, real graceful deku.

“wha—“

“you made out with kaminari in the locker room even though you’re dating kacchan. why would you do something like that?”

now everyone within the vicinity was staring, murmuring amongst themselves as they watched it all unfold.

“dude, it wasn’t like that,” denki mumbled

“wasn’t /like that/?” deku scoffed, fists clenching at his sides. “then tell me, what was it like /dude/?”

this was weird. izuku never acted like this. so- so.. so much like bakugou? i don’t know, it was off putting. him not being his usual sunshine self. he seemed /pissed/

“just drop it nerd, i told you it wasn’t-“

“he loves you, you know,” izuku spat out at kirishima, who was doing his best to hold back the tears welling in his eyes. “he loves you and you just went and kissed your best friend! how could you do something like that kirishima?

you preach about manliness all the time, yet you go against every man’s moral code in just five seconds! men aren’t cheaters. heroes aren’t cheaters. do you understand just how much-“

“that’s enough, deku!” bakugou snapped at him, stepping between him and a now crying kirishima

sure, bakugou was upset, but he would have /never/ had this conversation so publicly. it was uncalled for. it was ridiculous what deku was doing. and it seemed he finally realized that whenever kirishima pushed past them and walked out of the room crying.

okay, /now/ bakugou was mad.

“if you /ever/ get into kirishima’s face like that again i swear to god i will not hesitate to kill you,” bakugou snapped at midoriya, making him flinch back slightly.

“kacchan, i didn’t mean to-“

“just fuck off, alright? i’m done.”

the common room went quiet after his outburst, izuku clearing his throat and slinking away into the kitchen. a movement caught in the corner of katsuki’s eye, a flash of blonde hair.

“i’ll go check on-“

“sit your ass down, sparky,” bakugou warned, “i’ll handle it.”

bakugou did his best to try to choke his anger down —as well as his growing nerves— as he walked over to the elevator, stepping in and smashing the button to his floor. as the door dinged to shut, bakugou suddenly realized something.

he didn’t know what the hell to say.

he hadn’t planned on ever speaking to the stupid shitty haired idiot ever again. (a tad dramatic, he knows. but he was really hurt, okay) but he just.. couldn’t watch him run out like that and not do /something/. ‘cause whether he liked it or not, he still loved him

so damn much

he was still trying to wrack his brain for the right words to say whenever the elevator dinged again, the doors sliding open so he could step into the hall and-

oh.

there, right in the middle of the damn hallway curled down on his knees, was kirishima. sobbing, gasping, fuck he was nearly screaming.

“hey,” bakugou called out, his feet nearly moving too fast to carry him. “fuck, ei, hey. hey it’s okay.”

but it wasn’t. it wasn’t okay.

because kirishima had made a mistake. a mistake that had cost him everything that he had ever dreamed of. and he couldn’t help but cling onto bakugou as soon as he crouched down in front of him. it was selfish, so selfish, but he couldn’t help it.

eijirou was mad at himself.

“i’m sorry,” kirishima spluttered, words muffled against bakugou’s shirt. “i-i’m so fucking sorry ka- bakugou. i’m sorry. i’m so sorry.”

bakugou didn’t say anything, just held kirishima as he cried into him. arms wrapped tightly around the redhead’s shoulders.

because, really, what could bakugou say? i’m sorry? it’s fine, i forgive you? don’t worry about it, everything’s alright? no.

he wasn’t going to lie. he wasn’t going to spit of some fake shit just to make kirishima feel better. he was going to be real. more real than ever.

“get up,” bakugou mumbled once kirishima had finally settled down, rising to his feet.

he held a hand out for eijirou, which he kindly took, and helped him up as well. ei had expected bakugou to let go then, but he didn’t. he kept their hands together and led him to his room.

neither said anything as they walked in, bakugou shutting the door behind them. it was then that bakugou let go of his hand, and kirishima wanted nothing more than to reach out and grab it again. but he didn’t. he knew better.

bakugou wasn’t his anymore.

the silence was damn near suffocating as bakugou took slow steps to his bed, sitting down in the edge of it, staring down at his hands. he needed to get it out, push the question into the air before he could coward out of this. so he lifted his head to meet kirishima’s eyes.

“i just want to know why.”

and eijirou stopped breathing.

“shit, what do you want me to say, bakugou? that it wasn’t what it looked like? it wasn’t, but you’ll just see it as an excuse. which is so fucking unmanly of me and i’m not sure that i could ever—“

“ei,” bakugou says, making the other’s heart stutter. “just be honest with me.”

bakugou isn’t sure when he became so calm, /how/ he became so calm, but he’s glad that he had. blowing up on kirishima was the last thing he needed to do right now. he had to make sure to keep breathing.

kirishima nodded, feet dragging as he walked over and sat down next to katsuki on the bed, leaving an unneeded amount of space between them. he was quiet for a moment, obviously thinking of how to start, until he let out a sigh and dropped his head into his hands.

“god, i don’t know, dude. i love you, a lot. kinda hard to believe that right now but it’s true. but we’ve never really /talked/ about whatever it is that we have between us. we never really talked about anything involving our feelings and i just- shit, bakugou. i was scared.”

bakugou knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty at that. it was true, they /hadn’t/ talked about their feelings for one another. bakugou had just assumed and figured ei would do the same. looking back, he realizes he should’ve said something.

“i know i shouldn’t have done it but-“ kirishima’s cut off as another wave of guilt hits him, flooding out of his eyes in salty streaks. “denks is just really messed up right now over sero. and he needed someone and- god i know it was wrong! we hadn’t meant for it to happen! but

it just /did/. and i /hated/ it because i didn’t /want/ to kiss kami. i only ever want to kiss you. only you. all the time. and i’m so sick with myself over this. there’s no excuse, i’m not going to deny anything. i’m not going to lie. you don’t deserve that. you don’t.”

bakugou felt his own tears drop off his eyelashes as he stared at the redhead beside him. it was taking everything in him not to reach out and grab him like before, comforting him and gently whispering sweet words of reassurance. but bakugou couldn’t, he wouldn’t. no way.

“you’re right, i don’t deserve it,” bakugou said lowly, before standing up from the bed.

kirishima nodded his head, trying to bite back his tears as he stood up from the bed as well, fully expecting katsuki to tell him to get the hell out of his room. he attempted to steady his breathing as he went to walk away, but a hand grabbing his wrist made his breath hitch.

“i don’t deserve it, but that doesn’t change that it happened,” katsuki mumbled, staring directly into eijirou’s eyes. “i don’t forgive you. i don’t know if i ever fucking will. but i can’t deal with all these other shitty extras if you don’t stick around.”

kirishima’s heart fluttered with an inkling a hope before a sad smile fell on his face and he shook his head.

“bakugou, you don’t-“

“i know,” he nodded, “i know.”

things were different after that. not necessarily better, but bakugou didn’t feel like dying anymore.

they weren’t back together, or whatever the hell you wanted to call it, but they did spend time together. as friends. they didn’t kiss or hug or anything like that.

but they were there for each other and -after a long talk with kaminari, explaining exactly what went down that day- kiri was slowly starting to build up bakugou’s trust again. they weren’t a thing, but in a sense they were. what ei did was wrong, but he was trying to fix it.

it was strained at first, but it was okay. because kirishima decided he would do things the right way this time, voice his feelings and opinions like he always should have. bakugou was thankful for that.

it took a lot of time. a lot of hang outs and spicy curry bought and hiking trips to bakugou’s favorite mountain range. but slowly and surely kirishima made it up to him. and bakugou was finally content with whatever relationship they had now.

and, really, he wasn’t mad.

- end of thread ༄