Wintery Wonderland

Kiribaku. Fluffy drabble. Ice skating

There's been another threat to the UA students, and a campus lock down was put into effect. Not surprisingly, the students weren't at all happy about being holed up in their dorms. It was the weekend! The snow and clear weather outside was perfect for snowball fights, ice skating, making snowmen and snow angels, or just diving into the fluffy white drifts. They were teenagers with a lot of pent up energy. But the teachers refused, safety being more important.

As if that would stop the students of Class 1-A.

They played on All Might's heartstrings, and Iida reasoned with Aizawa, until finally their teacher relented on two conditions. First All Might, who offered to supervise, would stay with them, and two, they could not leave the gymnasium. At first, a few were confused because being stuck in the gym was no different than their dorms. That was until Iida explained. Todoroki has offered to turn the gym into a winter playground.

"Tch, show off," Bakugou sneers.

Kirishima bumps Bakugou's shoulder with his fist. "Come on B, it's still better than nothin, or would ya rather go back to the dorms."

"I didn't say I wouldn't go!" Bakugou turns and starts walking towards the gym with the rest of their class. But Kirishima doesn't hop to his side quick enough. He huffs, stops, and without turning yells. "Oi! Hurry the fuck up shitty hair!"

That makes Kirishima jump, but he follows orders, getting to his friend's side in seconds.

"So," Bakugou mumbles as they walk, "they said half n half is gonna make a skating section... you wanna skate with me?"

"I… yeah sure, I guess..."

"You don't gotta! If you don't wanna..." Bakugou's voice trails off. He turns his head sharply to look away, as the heat rises on his cheeks. "I just like skating, okay?! It ain't like me asking ya means anything special!"

Kirishima chuckles at his friend's back peddling. He didn't understand what Bakugou meant by the last part, but figured it was to save his pride. "Don't worry, I'll skate with ya B."

As the pair reach the gymnasium and enter the building, they're greeted with a chorus of very enthusiastic whooping and hollering from their classmates, egging on Todoroki as he creates a playground of snow. It reminded Bakugou of their training simulations, where different sections held different conditions. Flat snow-covered sections, perfect for sculpting angels or building snowmen. Hilly areas with natural snow berms for an epic snowball battle. Icy slides and finally a faux lake, icy and glistening, just begging to be skated on.

"Wow..." the word slips from Bakugou's lips before he catches himself and clears his throat, pretending it never happened. "Tch, not bad from the twerp."

While Todoroki finishes his task, a few quick announcements are made, and rules laid out. Quirk use was a no-no, today was about fun and just living up a normal teenage experience. Anyone wanting to skate needed to check in with Todoroki who would create 'ice' skates for them.

"Any questions?" All Might ask's the students. When no one says a word, he releases them.

The students rush into the room, spreading out into each area. Bakugou and Kirishima, along with a couple other's head to the ice lake. Todoroki outfits them with skates, warning them that they'll hold up to normal use, but trying to pull off stunts like jumping might crack them.

Bakugou didn't pay much attention to what Todoroki was saying since he didn't plan on doing any stunts. He just wanted to skate. Ever since he was a young boy, there was something about the freedom he felt while on the ice, gliding along its surface, and letting his cares float away. But it could get boring skating alone.

He notices Kirishima putting his earphones on to listen to music. "You gonna share?" Bakugou questions the man. He didn't invite his friend to skate only for it to be a one-sided enjoyment.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, here." Kirishima hands him one and smiles. It was going to be awkward sharing a set of wired headphones, but he didn't want to upset his friend. "Got any requests?"

"Nothin' too loud, like that metal shit." He feels his face reddening, "got any softer stuff?"

Kirishima pauses, blinking. 'Soft stuff?' "Um, I think so."

Realizing what he was requesting, Bakugou clarifies, "I don't mean sappy, just not too loud."

His friend laughs, "okay I think I understand."

Once the music was sorted out, the pair shove off, joining into the circular strides of the other skaters. It was only then that Bakugou realizes sharing the headphones wasn't the smartest idea while trying to skate, but he doesn't want to stop. Instead, he slows his glides in order to keep pace with Kirishima.

It would have been easier to just tell Kirishima not to use the headphones and eliminate the problem. Maybe a part of him wanted a logical reason to keep his friend close. They were just listening to music. No big deal. It's not like he'd planned on his friend bringing his wired set. And it wasn't the first time they're shared headphones to listen to music. Sometimes it was his set, this time it was Kiri's.

But after a couple of rotations, and one or the other's side pulling out a dozen times, Bakugou grows frustrated and needs to make a new decision. He looks away while reaching out and grabs hold of Kirishima's hand. His cheeks burn, flushed from the frigid air swishing past them, mixed with the nervous embarrassment he'll never admit to. Bakugou pretends nothing new or odd was happening. So, what if he was holding his best friend's hand, he silently dares anyone to try and say a word about it, cause it did the trick. No more lost ear buds.

A tiny trickle of electricity sparks through Kirishima when Bakugou takes his hand. His eyes peer over and notices his friend purposely looking away. The red flush of Bakugou's face was endearing. He grins but dares not acknowledge what he sees. This hothead was so cute in this moment! Kirishima feels his own face heating up at the emotions and thoughts flowing through his mind.

As they stroll along, it was like magic had descended in this wintery wonderland of snow and ice. All around the air was filled with joy and laughter. Their classmates enjoying the gift Todoroki had given them. It was easy to forget why they were there in the first place.

They hear a couple of snickers and Bakugou's quick to react. "Shut your faces and mind your own damn business!"

A slight skip of Kiri's heart sends a rush of adrenaline through his core at his friends attempt to protect them. He keeps his eyes facing forward, but squeezes Bakugou's hand tight, communicating his desire to not let go.

Bakugou tenses from Kiri's reaction, but returns the gesture. Fuck what anybody else thinks. This was between him and Kirishima and if he wanted to hold his... is friend really the right word anymore? Ahh, fuck labels. All that mattered was having Kiri by his side. Anything after that was just a bonus.