TWO WEEKS FLEW BY IN A FLASH. Before either one of them knew it, their punishment for not following orders during their solo training class was lifted and they were done being their dorm's resident cleaners.

Kirishima avoided Bakugo the entire time, using the excuse of scheduling their cleaning times so he doesn't have to end up working alongside him. He wanted to limit the amount of time he was around Bakugo until he figured out why the heck he gets so damn angry every time he catches him getting cozy with Midoriya.

His annoyance level was on its nth level even when it was just Midoriya sans Bakugo around. He decided to avoid being around the green haired provisional pro hero or else he might end up snapping at him and have to explain why he did that even though he wasn't even provoked.

Kirishima thought he was doing a good job of being subtle about keeping his distance from those two, but he wasn't quite as sly as he thought he was because Kaminari cornered him Friday night after he passed up – again – on joining everyone else in the common room for their ritual Game Night (it started nearing the end of their first year and kept it up until now).

"Okay bud, spill," Kaminari didn't bother to beat around the bush – nor knock, for that matter. He entered Kirishima's room and let the door close behind him.

"Don't you know how to knock?!" Kirishima sat up from where he was sprawled on his stomach on the floor of his room. He had a few of his games laid out on the floor and was in the midst of sorting them out to piles to see which ones he should get rid of and which ones to keep.

Kaminari ignored his outburst and continued with his line of questioning, "What did Bakugo and Midoriya ever do to you?"

"Excuse me?"

Kaminari walked to where Kirishima's gaming chair was and made himself comfortable, crossing one leg over the other and resting his arms on the armrests. He looked down at the fuming owner of the room he just barged in to unannounced and cocked a brow expectantly, waiting for him to give him an answer.

"Forget Bakugo right now since I can hazard a guess as to why you're avoiding him – he did drag you into detention of sorts after that stunt he pulled in class a couple of weeks back – but what I'm curious to know is, what did Midoriya ever do to you?" He wondered.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" huffed Kirishima. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, crossing his legs underneath him and leaning his elbows on the inner side of his knees.

Kaminari narrowed his eyes at his friend – his best friend, actually; well, one of his two best friends since Mina ranked higher than Kirishima.

"You've avoided joining in on our weekly Game Night this past couple of weeks," he pointed out.

"Can you blame me? I've been tired cleaning up after you assholes both here at the dorm and after training classes!"

"And so was Bakugo, and yet he still showed up to Game Night even though he hardly joins in on any of the games," he shrugged, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"Since when did Bakugo join in, huh?" Kirishima countered.

"Good point," Kaminari conceded and leaned back in his seat again. "But Bakugo's antisocial demeanor aside, why are you acting way worse than him when before you were Mr Social Butterfly, hm?"

"I wasn't a social butterfly!" Sure he was kinda the life of the party alongside Kaminari, Mina and Mineta, but he usually just went with the flow and followed the others' lead.

"I beg to differ," argued Kaminari, but he didn't give him time to make a counter by continuing on, "Lately I can't help but notice you looking less and less lively, ya know? Aside from the obvious fact that you barely hung out with Bakugo and I, you almost always beg to switch with somebody whenever you end up paired with either Bakugo or Midoriya during training."

"I do not!" Kirishima denied.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say," Kaminari didn't sound convinced. "It's clear to me that you're avoiding those two, now the question is: why?"

Kirishima couldn't think of an answer right away. He knows the answer, duh, but he just didn't want to say it out loud. He trusts Denki to not make fun of him, but he also didn't want him to think him weird when he himself wasn't sure why he was doing it. All he knows was every time he sees Bakugo and Midoriya – whether alone or together – he just felt this tightening in his chest and he can't breathe.

"It would be great if you can tell me that 'coz I honestly have no clue what you're talking about," Kirishima thought of fibbing his way out of this topic that he really didn't want to talk about. He wasn't sure himself why he was reacting the way he was whenever Bakugo and Midoriya were concerned, and the last thing he wanted was for somebody to pry into his business and ask questions about stuff he didn't want to dwell on at the moment.

Kaminari studied his friend closely, trying to get a good read of his emotions and probably what was going through in his head based on his expression and body language. Usually Kirishima was easy to read, but lately he was getting a buncha mixed signals and coming from the usually affable guy. He didn't want to put stock on what the others from their class were suspecting, but his actions as of late was adding fuel to the fire whether he was aware of it or not.

Since speculation about Bakugo and Midoriya secretly dating was currently running rampant amongst the 3-A students, there was another low-key speculation that started right after that impromptu sparring fight between the usually thick as thieves duo. Due to his closeness to Eijirou, he was appointed by the girls to go talk to him and ask him to confirm their speculation: was he jealous 'coz Midoriya and Bakugo are secretly dating?

"I think you know what I'm talking about, dude," he said after a while. He hung his head forward and let out a slow, ragged sigh before pushing himself up and walking to the door. He wouldn't get any answers from him, and he didn't want to pry too much and risk getting into a fight with an obviously moody Kirishima.

"Whatever, man," Kirishima waved him off.

"Just keep lying to yourself then," he chided and opened the door, jumping when an unruly blond haired guy almost fell on him.

For the second time in under a month Bakugo nearly face-planted on the person that opened the door to Kirishima's room. He was just damn unlucky knocking on the shitty haired redhead's door.

"The fuck, man?" he barked angrily to a surprised Kaminari.

"The hell's your problem, bro?" Kaminari barked back.

"You," he snarled without skipping a beat.

"Me?" Kaminari echoed, his forehead creased to a frown. "Whatever did I do to you?"

"You fucking yanked open the door just as I'm about to knock."

"Seriously?" Kaminari made a face at that lame answer. "It happens, bro, don't blow a gasket over it," he added, reaching out to give the hothead's shoulder a light pat. "Anyway, I'm leaving already so no need for you to knock, just slither on in," he invited, stepping aside and holding the door open to let the blond in.

"Oi!" Kirishima yelled from inside. "This is my room, Denki!" he reminded the blond with a black lightning-shaped streak on the left side of his hair.

"Whatever, bro. He's coming in anyway so might as well let him in," he shrugged and stepped out before Kirishima could throw something – anything – at him.

"Damn fried brain," Kirishima grumbled, glaring at the closed door imagining he was skewering his friend who was probably still on the other side.

"What's Sparky doing here?" Bakugo asked, tiptoeing his way around the game cases littering the hardening hero's floor to sit on Kirishima's bed.

"Uh, that's my bed, dude," he pointed out after the blond settled himself.

"Yeah, so?" he sounded offended that he was being called out for using someone else's bed.

"There's a perfectly empty chair right over there—" he pointed at the gaming chair Denki was using moments ago "—so why are you using my bed?" he demanded.

Bakugo squinted at the red and black leather gamer chair, contemplating on how comfortable it would be to sit in, then he wrinkled his nose and plopped himself down on the bed.

"This is way comfier than that chair," he replied. He lifted his head just a fraction off the bed, turned it to look at his glaring friend and grinned, "Feel free to use it if you want, but I'm staying right here," he added.

"Unbelievable," Kirishima rolled his eyes skyward and muttered under his breath. He uncurled his legs from underneath him and laid on his stomach on the floor once again.

He ignored the blond who invaded his personal space and picked up where he left off with what he was doing before Denki interrupted him. He doesn't know why Bakugo was here, and after the somewhat cold shoulder treatment he has been giving him since they got detention for sparring in class, they haven't really hung out much nor talked much either except when they discussed the cleaning schedule times at the dorm; it was hard to schedule cleaning times for after their practical training classes so they cleaned there together.

Although everybody stopped harassing him about the real deal between Midoriya and Bakugo after the two of them got into a sparring fight, Kirishima still felt annoyed every time he saw the two of them together or individually. He shouldn't be affected, especially now that he really doesn't have any reason to be involved 'coz everyone in their class stopped asking him what he knows about those two, and yet he still was affected and that only made him not want to hang around either one of those two let alone talk to them unless he absolutely have to.

At this point there was nothing for them to talk about really.

"You still not talking to me, huh?" Bakugo was the first to break the silence.

"Huh?" Kirishima lifted his head from the two game cases he was debating on whether to keep or dispose.

Bakugo propped himself up on his elbow and laid sideways on the bed, cradling his head in his hand as he looked at Kirishima.

"You haven't talked to me since we landed in detention," he pointed out.

"What is there to talk about?" Kirishima shrugged, breaking the eye contact and instead concentrated his eyes on the cases in front of him.

"Something's been riding up your ass this past couple of weeks. I know it's bugging the hell outta you, but you don't fucking wanna talk about it."

"I already told you, it's nothing." He can't really tell him it was him that was bothering him. He'd just ask him to explain and right now he doesn't think he can freaking explain it not even to himself!

"Bullshit!" Bakugo snapped and pushed himself up to a sitting position on the bed. "I thought we're friends?"

"Friends? Since when did Katsuki Bakugo have friends?" he mocked. He knew he was being salty, and he might actually end up hurting Bakugo's feelings – or piss him off royally (he thinks it would be more of the latter than the former) – by acting like this, but it was the only way he can think of to get him off his damn case.

"Dammit, Kirishima," he growled, glaring a hole right through Kirishima's skull.

"Whatever," Kirishima pushed himself up and off the floor. His chest was starting to hurt anyway and he knew he wouldn't get anywhere with his plan on getting rid of some of his games this evening now that his mood was ruined. "If that's all you came in here for, you can leave now 'coz there's really nothing bothering me."

"I don't believe you."

"I didn't ask you to."

"Why are you being stubborn?"

"Why are you suddenly so interested?" You have Midoriya already, dammit! Why not bug him instead of me? Kirishima bit his tongue before those words escaped his lips. He already made up his mind that whatever was going on with Bakugo and Midoriya was none of his concern; he'll deal with this annoyance he was feeling whenever he saw those two together on his own, he doesn't need anybody to help him sort it out.

"Because you're being a jackass," argued Bakugo.

"Yeah, I am a jackass for not wanting to tell you what is not bothering me at all."

Bakugo jumped off the bed and stomped towards where Kirishima stood, closing the distance between them and not caring if he was crushing the game cases scattered on the floor at the moment.

"Hey, watch it!" Kirishima made a dive for one of the games that Bakugo nearly stomped on and saved it before it got crushed. He straightened up and smacked the irritating blond with the corner side of the case.

"That hurts, Shithead," Bakugo growled.

"I don't care," Kirishima threw the case on the bed then decided he better remove all of the cases on the floor in case they become collateral damage to whatever might transpire in this confrontation. "Just get outta my room, Katsuki," he added, using his first name to let him know that he was serious.

Hearing him call him by his first name stopped the anger welling up inside him from erupting. Even though they both gave each other permission to be on first-name basis, they seldom addressed each other by their first name. Only when they were being serious did they actually refer to each other as 'Katsuki' and 'Eijiro'.

"I'm worried about you, Eij," he said, preferring to call him by the shortened version of Kirishima's name that Bakugo christened him with eons ago.

"Thanks for the concern, man, but right now I really don't feel like talking – to anyone," he emphasized the last word, letting him know that he really should drop the subject. "Why are you really here, Katsuki?"

"I already told you, I'm worried about you," he insisted.

"Really? Was that also the same reason why you dropped by unannounced in my room a few of weeks back?"

Bakugo's forehead creased to a frown. "You weren't shitty faced then," he answered after a few seconds of him recollecting what Kirishima was referring to.

"Gee, thanks, I feel real special now," Kirishima mocked, rolling his eyes and giving his back to him to dump all the game cases he picked up on his bed. "So why did you come here that night then?"

"I...I needed to clear my mind and wrap it around something I just found out," he answered. He sounded sincere too when he answered, and since Kirishima witnessed the conflicted look on his friend's face that night, he believed him.

"You asked me if I've been in a relationship. Why?"

"Because," he shrugged.

Kirishima looked over his shoulder at his friend. "That answer's not gonna fly, man," he warned him. "Either you explain to me now what was bothering you then or your ass will get intimately acquainted with my door after I kick you out," he threatened.

Bakugo looked conflicted yet again. Kirishima hated putting him on the spot, but for his own peace of mind he needed Katsuki to come clean and tell him so that he, in turn, can get shit straightened up in his head so he'll know how to proceed from here on out.

"I asked 'coz I've never actually been in a committed relationship," he confessed after a while, looking behind him to make sure the gamer chair was nearby before planting his ass down on it.

Again that painful, constricting pain threatened to crush Kirishima's breathing pipes after hearing Bakugo's answer.

"What brought that on?" He asked but he already knew the answer.

"Deku," Bakugo muttered.

Bingo! Kirishima dragged in a slow, deep breath before expelling it out as he sat down on his bed, pushing the cases he dumped on there to one side to make some room for him.

"Does this have anything to do with that conversation you two had that you told me to forget I ever heard it?"

"More or less," he shrugged.

"Which is it?" he insisted. "Giving me ambiguous answers don't really help at all," he pointed out.

"I don't know, man. I mean, I don't get the relationship, especially since I know he dated women before and even got serious with Round Face back in first year."

'Round Face' meaning Uraraka, and Uraraka used to date Midoriya back in first year. They were a couple until just before summer vacation of their second year when they called it quits but remained friends.

"I don't follow," he admitted.

Bakugo inhaled a sharp breath, held it for a second or two then exhaled.

"How can a guy who was a notorious ladies man end up committing to somebody who is not really his type in general?" he asked.

He was back to being vague now, but Kirishima could only guess on what Bakugo was alluding to. Why he doesn't want to just come out and admit that he and Midoriya are together he doesn't know, but he'll play along with him for now.

"You mean he hooked up with a guy?"

"Yes!" Bakugo sounded relieved when Kirishima cut through the chase and got straight to the point. "He's been asking me all these questions and I have no fucking clue how or what to tell him. Like I'd know how guys date each other."

So they are dating! Kirishima's heart felt like it was being crushed to tiny pieces, pulverized until it turns to dust and get carried by the wind to god knows where.

"You kinda gave him pointers on how to suck dick," he said, referring to that discussion Bakugo told him to forget.

"That was just me being a dickhead," Bakugo snapped.

"Still," Kirishima shrugged. "Besides, if the relationship is fairly new for both parties involved, then it's okay to stumble and find your way first – especially if one of the two people involved used to date women." He was just spewing BS right now. He doesn't know what Bakugo wanted to hear, and Kirishima doesn't feel comfortable continuing on with this conversation.

"I dunno. Maybe I need experience so the next time that damn nerd asks me something I'll know what to tell him."

"Excuse me?" Kirishima wasn't sure if he heard him correctly. What does he mean he needs experience? Shouldn't he be experiencing shit with Midoriya already?

"I can't answer all his annoying questions without basing it on any facts, ya know?"

"Oh-kaaaaay. Exactly what kinda facts are you talking about here?"

"Making out with a dude for starters," he deadpanned.

"What?!" Kirishima shot up from where he was sitting and stared wild eyed at the blond who was still sitting on his gamer chair and seriously contemplating on how to get experience level to go up. "C-can't you do that with Midoriya?" he suggested after a while.

"Are you kidding me? That nerd's a flab of nervous wreck he suddenly forgot how to make out even though he has done it countless times with girls he freaking dated after Round Face," he huffed.

They were talking about his boyfriend here, right? How could he talk about Midoriya like that when he was supposed to be the guy he hooked up with?

"Shouldn't that be reason enough to practice with him instead of making out with someone else?"

"Hell no! I won't learn anything from him since he was the one asking me all these stupid questions," Bakugo's irritation was starting to bubble up.

Kirishima sat back down on the bed, staring wide-eyed at the hotheaded blond and wondering exactly what kinda relationship does he and Midoriya have. He wasn't even making any sense at all to be honest.

"Kiss me, Shithead," Bakugo demanded out of the blue.

"Whaaaaaaaaaat?" Kirishima couldn't help from having his jaw drop on the floor. "Are you for fucking real?"

"You look decent enough."

Kirishima picked his jaw off the floor and cocked a brow at that comment. "Is that your way of buttering me up so I do what you say?"

"It's not like I wanna make out with a dude, alright?" Bakugo snapped, clicking his tongue and looked away.

"Then why even bring it up?"

"Because stupid Deku won't stop asking me for advice and shit and I'm running out of shit to tell him."

"Why don't you tell him that?"

Bakugo met his gaze once again and cocked a brow. "You think I haven't told him that already?"

"And?"

"Why do you think I'm telling you to kiss me?"

"Just make out with Midoriya," Kirishima insisted.

"I already told you, I don't fucking wanna!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's complicated and you're the only one I feel comfortable enough to even have this conversation with let alone help me figure out about guys making out with another guy."

"Wouldn't it be just the same as making out with a girl? The only difference is you're both dudes with the same appendage below your belly button," Kirishima tried to sound glib about it. Like Bakugo, he really wasn't at all that thrilled to be making out with a guy although for some reason his freaking heart started to pick up speed in the beating department the moment Katsuki told him to kiss him!

"That's what I told him, but he kept insisting it wasn't."

"Maybe it's all just in his head," Kirishima shrugged.

"I don't know. I told him this, I told him that but he still wasn't comfortable enough to move past the petting and snuggling and shit," Bakugo huffed, sitting back on the chair and pounding his fists on the armrests.

"Please don't take your frustrations out on my chair," he pleaded.

"Whatever. Just kiss me already," he demanded.

"Are you still on about that?" Kirishima was perplexed at how one-track minded the blond hothead was.

"I need to figure out something to help him get over his fear of moving past the petting and butterfly kisses."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, hey, hey! I ended the chapter where I did because...well, because I didn't want it to get way too long and draggy that people lose interest reading. But worry not 'coz I got the idea for the next scene all planned out & in the works on the next chapter. Thanks for reading this and let me know what you think so far in the comments.