Eijirou Kirishima had a tradition. One that he had ever since last winter, and one he promised to keep up until...forever, basically. And he was doing pretty well, to be honest.
Katsuki Bakugo didn't mind the tradition. Of course, he refused to say something like that out loud, but it was true in reality.
"Good night, Baku," Kirishima mumbled, caressing his boyfriend's cheeks in his hands, sprawled across his chest. He gazed up into the blond's crimson red eyes and grinned, pulling his face down for a soft and sweet peck on the lips. It didn't seem to bother Bakugo, but he turned his head away, clearly embarrassed.
Now Kirishima sat up and sat on his boyfriend's lap, turning Bakugo's face back to his. He ran his fingers through the spiky blond strands of hair and tucked some behind the boy's ear before leaning forward and kissing his cheek once. "I'm not letting you go until I get every one of your freckles," he muttered, placing another soft kiss to Bakugo's skin.
The boy seemed indifferent of the redhead's actions at first, but with each and every peck, Kirishima's lips made his cheeks and nose tingle more and more. It was only a matter of time before he was holding in laughter, trying desperately not to crack a grin at how much it tickled.
Kirishima, barely paying attention to anything but each and every little dot on his boyfriend's face, didn't notice Bakugo squirming under him.
"...shima."
The redhead continued, kissing back to the blond's ear, giggling a bit as he trailed back, cupping the boy's cheeks in his hand as he kissed each and every little freckle on Bakugo's nose now.
"Kirishima," Bakugo repeated, frowning now as he had regained his composure.
"Hm?"
There was a pause, and silence followed. For a moment it worried Kirishima, as he feared something bad was about to be said, but when he leaned back to get a better look at his expression it was clear that Bakugo was just too embarrassed to say whatever he wanted. His face was dark red; it could've even been darker than his red hair.
This caused the redhead to laugh again. What could he possibly be trying so hard to say?
Bakugo's face looked silly now; his chin was pointed forward, lips pursed as if he was trying to push the words out of his throat. His cheeks even puffed up a little, showing off those adorable angel's kisses that donned his skin.
Kirishima loved them so much; Bakugo was already an extremely attractive person, but for some reason they added an extra little thing that just was so...cute, yet also sexy. It was hard to describe.
"I—I fuckin' love you..." He finally grumbled out, causing the redhead to blink in surprise. Honestly, he had never heard Bakugo say that to him so bluntly. There was only ever roundabout ways like 'you should already know what I mean' or things similar to that.
Kirishima teared up. "H-huh...?" He sniffled, tackling the blond in a tight hug. There was no way he was getting away, even if he used his quirk. "Bakugoooooo!"
"H-hah?!" The blond flinched and his hands started to heat up as his quirk began to show. He was just about to blast the poor boy away from him when he noticed the moistness that seeped into his shirt. First of all, gross, but second of all, Kirishima must have been pretty happy to hear that, huh?
Bakugo clicked his tongue and hesitantly wrapped his arms around Kirishima in return. "It's not a big fuckin' deal, okay? Don't go blabbin' about it later..." He grumbled, nuzzling his face into his boyfriend's bright red hair.
"Bakugo," Kirishima squealed out weakly, sniffling once again.
"Hah?"
"I love you..."
The blond paused and let out a sigh. "I know, shitty hair."
•••
The next morning was a hassle. Neither of the two were exactly great at keeping to themselves while sleeping; simply put, they were tangled together between the blanket and their own limbs upon sunrise.
"Fucker—!" Bakugo hissed, staggering as his foot got caught on the blanket when he tried to get out of bed. It was lucky that he didn't fall flat on his face.
Kirishima flinched at the sudden raise of his voice. "B-Bakugo, are you alright?" He asked worriedly, untangling himself from the blankets and getting up to check on the blond.
Bakugo waved him off with a huff. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he grumbled, kicking the blanket off his foot. "Fucking blanket..."
The redhead laughed apologetically. "Sorry... I shouldn't have fallen asleep on top of you."
There was barely a reply from the blond other than a click of his tongue as he headed into the bathroom to get ready before they were late.
Following suit, Kirishima watched how Bakugo moved; it seemed different for some reason, but not exactly worrying. Just...more delicate, maybe.
He smiled to himself. Seeing this soft side of Bakugo was a perk, definitely. He was almost glad that no one else saw it; it made him feel special and he was sure anyone would fall in love with him if they saw it too.
The redhead leaned on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Hey, Baku?"
"What now?"
Kirishima pursed his lips in thought for a moment. He debated on whether or not it was safe to ask the question, but then went for it: "Will you say it again?"
Bakugo raised a brow. "Hah? Say what, shitty hair?"
Wincing at the nickname (though it didn't hurt as much anymore because Bakugo had begun to say it in a more affectionate way now), Kirishima huffed. "That you love me. Can you?"
Bakugo stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at Kirishima. The redhead thought he was going to be hit or something, but Bakugo pulled a complete 180° on him.
A soft kiss pressed against the side of Kirishima's head, slowly but affectionately. He still didn't know how to say much, but he was learning; that was for sure.
"...I love you, Kirishima."
Kirishima processed that, then let out a laugh. It was a roller coaster ride being Bakugo's boyfriend, but he loved every minute of it.
"I love you too, Baku."