University was a fucking scam. Only three weeks into the September semester, first year bio-engineering student Bakugo Katsuki knew this to be true. The workload wasn't the problem, nor was the tuition, with his scholarships. No, the thorn stuck in his side were his peers. He'd thought high school was filled with idiots. Since the start of the semester, the professors handed out group assignments left and right, group discussions, and as of today, mandatory peer studying sessions. It was sucking the life force from him. How these people got into the program was beyond him.

By the end of his group study session that afternoon, he was ready to commit some kind of icide at any moment. Homi or sui was to be determined. He felt like he lost IQ points just breathing the same air as these people.

Standing against the library's outer wall, Bakugo scrolled through his Spotify for the loudest and most aggressive music he had. He didn't usually listen to this kind of music, but it seemed only the worst of Korn and Beartooth were the only things that seemed to calm his soul-crushing frustrations.

He looked at the street before him. There were two options home, neither optimal for his mood. One being the main street route, which took nearly double the amount of time- triple, maybe, now that his stupid group study session ensured he'd be travelling with the rush hour crowds. The other was a path through the community centre's park. To some, that would be the clear choice. But for Bakugo, screaming children running amuck was one of the many banes of his existence. He wasn't fond of people to begin with, but children and their pretentious parents were even worse.

Though, the thought of sweaty, stiff collared assholes pressing up against him made his skin crawl more than the screeching children. He was just ready to get the fuck home to his AC.

The park was especially busy that day.Of fucking course. Bakugo trudged along, squinting in the bright sunlight. Fuck, it was hot. He pulled his phone out to change the song, when his phone screen went black.

"Oh, you are fucking kidding me." He stopped walking, "Fucking seriously?"

Bakugo snarled at his unresponsive phone, spam-pressing the power button to no avail. With a flurry of inventive phrases, he pulled out his earbuds and switched the cable for his portable charger. That was just the fucking cherry on top. The once faint sound of playing children and chatting passersby were now at full volume.

Fuck. This. Day.

He returned the nasty looks mothers threw at him for his less than child friendly language. Just as he put his book bag over his shoulder again, two screaming children ran past him, almost knocking his phone and charger from his hands.

"Hey! Watch where you're fucking going!" He hollered after them, but as he saw where the kids were going, his mood took a sudden jump. A vibrant red haired guy grinned ear to ear from behind a quaint, old-fashioned ice cream cart. He was chatting up a storm with the patrons around his cart, laughing with the horde of kids as he scooped out their frozen treats.

Bakugo cleared his throat and looked around nonchalantly once he realized he had been staring directly at this stranger. His eyes kept falling back onto him. It wasn't exactly hard with that bright red hair, all spikey and loud. Bakugo definitely had never seen this dude before on his walks to and from school. He must be new.

Suddenly, Bakugo had a craving for ice cream.

Before he could overthink everything, he found himself waiting on the edge of the crowd, chewing on his cuticle. The guy looked like he'd jumped out of an American '50's diner with the red striped apron over the crisp white button up and bowtie. Bakugo's eyes fell to the red head's name tag on his old-fashioned uniform. Kirishima E. was scribbled in sharpie. Bakugo was so enthralled in this warm, vibrant stranger, he hadn't noticed the crowd had dispersed, leaving just him standing by the cart.

"Hey man, what can I get you?" Kirishima grinned, grabbing Bakugo's attention. His stomach flew into his throat.

"Huh?" Bakugo could only squawk. It earned a chuckle from Kirishima.

"Ice cream! You definitely look like you could use a pick-me-up. Come on, what's your flavour?" He beamed, opening the sliding top. "Come in closer so you can get some of this freezer air, it's brutal today."

Bakugo's body acted on it's own, taking a few steps closer to the cart. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Fuck, this wasn't my plan. What even was your plan? Stare at him until someone calls the cops?He inwardly scoffed at himself. It didn't matter now, the interaction had started. He cleared his throat and looked down at the tubs of various flavours and then back at Kirishima's expectant face.

"Uh, chocolate, I guess. Just a small scoop. In a cup." He said, much drier than he had wanted to. Shit. But Kirishima didn't seem to notice. Instead, he just grinned wider and began to make a perfectly round ball.

"Chocolate, a classic." He said as he placed it in a small cup. "Here you go, hopefully this can cheer you up a bit."

Bakugo furrowed his brow at that comment. "What makes you think I need to be cheered up?" He asked, snatching the cup from Kirishima's extended hand. Kirishima laughed again.

"Call it intuition. Or the fact you looked ready to kill a man a few moments ago." Bakugo felt his cheeks warm. Fuck, when was he watching me? What was with this fucking guy?

"Ice cream has a way of making people's day, y'know? Figured I could try to help you out there." Kirishima shrugged, his lips still curled into a grin.

"Oh." Bakugo finally said, looking down at his cup. "Uh, well, thanks." He looked back to Kirishima's warm smile. His heart was fluttering a little. What the fuck was that? Fluttering?

Shaking his head clear of the increasingly loud thoughts, he fumbled for his wallet. "Uh what do I owe you?"

"No, no, on the house, my dude." Kirishima said as he leaned onto the cart. Bakugo furrowed his eyebrows again. How was this guy so… nice? It didn't even feel like a fake customer service smile. It was almost like he was genuinely happy. What the fuck?

"Oh!" Kirishima stood up. "I almost forgot a spoon. There you go!" He chuckled as he handed Bakugo a bright green spoon.

Bakugo had never been at a loss for words before. All because of this guy. A part of him didn't want to leave, like he wanted to stay there and listen to him talk and laugh, and just be around him and his shitty, stupidly big red hair.

Of course, another crotch gremlin had to come in ruin everything.

"Strawberry please!" The little girl asked, squeezing between Bakugo and the cart; a bill clutched in her little hand. Kirishima gave Bakugo a wink before turning to the kid.

"Absolutely, little miss, now is this gonna be in a cone or a cup?"

Bakugo stepped back a bit, still processing what had happened. That stupid toothy grin kept him locked just a few steps from the cart. He winked at him! Winked! He watched the little girl take her ice cream cone and run off, just then realizing he had forgotten all about his foul mood. He wasn't totally sure of the expression on his face during that whole interaction, but he could tell it was not the scowl he had donned for the rest of the day.

Bakugo lingered another moment off to the side of the cart as he gathered his thoughts, finally forming an actual sentence to say to this impossibly nice man. Of course, as that moment came, as did another crowd, keeping Kirishima's attention. Bakugo found himself actually disappointed.

What the fuck?

He looked down to his little cup of chocolate ice cream. It was making his mouth water. He couldn't recall the last time he had chocolate ice cream. Probably when he was a kid. He took a bite and immediately the last of his frustration melted away. Maybe today wasn't as despicable as he thought.

He had just turned to start home again, when Kirishima's voice made him turn right around.

"Hope that helped. I'll see you around, yeah?" He smiled, waving after Bakugo. Caught off guard, Bakugo just waved back before walking again.