WARNING : MANGA SPOILER AHEAD
From here on out, I'm gonna include contents from the upcoming 3rd Season of the anime
Sooo feel free to leave or come back later or just read anyway if you dont mind spoiler
Enjoy~
It was the same tiring day of school trip as the day before, if not worse. Which means every single soul in both class 1-A and 1-B of UA's hero department were ran down as hell. Yet, how on the living earth could one certain boy still capable of flashing his one-million-worth smile around, even nearing the end of the day. That should be considered one mysterious case of miracle. Oh, maybe the very existence of Kirishima Eijirou himself was already miraculous.
"Don't mind, Bakugou." Said a soft voice right next to the said teen, accompanied by a pat on his shoulder.
The blond teen jerked up almost immediately—dropping the knife on his hand to the basket full of perfectly washed potatoes in the process—and spontaneously shouted at his unwelcomed companion. "What the fuck?"
"When your crush is smiling so brightly, you can't help but stare at them. I do that too sometimes." Todoroki went on, acting as though he's completely used to the other's antics, turned out he actually had not.
"I don't need to hear that about you, you prick!"
"Oh… I thought it'd make you feel better to have someone to relate to." The half-cold and half-hot quirk user looked down, appearing to think of the matter more seriously than he should in that situation.
"Who cares about that shit? The hell has it got anything to do with me anyway." Bakugou grumbled as he picked the knife back up and snatched a potato with the other hand on the way, started peeling it right after.
"I thought you were staring at Kirishima? Am I wrong?"
Bakugou's red pupils widened in an instant. "What?! I was not! No, that's not—why him?"
"Because you like him?"
If Bakugou Katsuki had not learned to be extra skilled and careful in handling knives, he could have grazed one of his fingers by then. He turned his head to Todoroki with bewildered look, almost losing his speech. "Y-You… Of course, that Deku and his goddamn big mouth, huh?!"
Months have passed since Bakugou's silly 'heartbreak'. He had pushed away most of his feelings and worked on moving on the usual daily life. Though the only thing he came to conclusion was that once you realize it, those suffocating shitty feelings would not go away simply by ignoring it. It remains. For god knows how long. He tried not to, but more than often caught himself staring at Kirishima with longing eyes. It's laughable, honestly, to the point that Bakugou wanted to barf sometimes. By the end of the day, however, he did not think of those feelings as anything but pleasant. Though that doesn't necessarily mean he had make peace with them.
The busybody Midoriya Izuku had, again, noticed that something was not right between Bakugou and Kirishima, and attempted to stick his nose in the matter. But Bakugou wouldn't let him. Not anymore. Kirishima genuinely wanted them to stay as friends. So Bakugou will make sure his foolish wish comes true, even if it means killing his own feelings.
Bakugou might not be able to stop his childhood friend from being observant and sensitive, or beating him until he forgot everything, but no more people other than him should know of this. Even so, by all means, the blond just had to forget the ugly possibility of Todoroki Shouto hearing a word from Midoriya. Yes, those lovebirds who ran off their mouth to each other probably with the disgusting reason as for not wanting to keep a secret between them. How could those two not be dating yet is still an unsolved puzzle.
If Bakugou were to be completely honest, he truthfully does not hate Todoroki Shouto that much. He acknowledged him as a worthy opponent but was not at all fond of his half-assed way of fighting before, just like how his quirk is. 'Half-and-half bastard' is too perfect of a name he swore he could come up with for the guy. Sure, it is irritating to an extent when Todoroki antagonizes him one-sidedly for some seemingly ridiculous reason, but Bakugou couldn't care less about that. He was seen that way by most people anyway. One or two more doesn't really make a difference.
Bakugou is not the type to socialize and get chummy with people… okay, he might have made some exception, but Todoroki was definitely not one of them. That was the whole reason he didn't want to have idle chat or anything involved with the other teen outside of a rivalry relationship. In a healthy way. Not as a competitor for Midoriya's freakin' attention.
Despite all that, the son of the infamous number 2 hero, Endeavor just had to absorb all the nosiness from hanging around Midoriya Izuku and started pestering Bakugou as well. It escalated even more especially since around the time Bakugou had his little heartbreak. Although he hardly paid attention to it before considering the other guy did not mention Kirishima's name, but now that he had went and said it, Bakugou could finally put all the pieces together.
Todoroki must have found out from none other than Deku that Bakugou was never crushing on the same guy as he does, hence the disappearance of all the piercing stares and nasty attitude from the red and white haired. For some unknown reason, that fact was what Todoroki assumed to be the sign of a friendship he had been wanting to build with Bakugou but was shielded by the wall of jealousy before. Oh, maybe that's too much of a speculation from Bakugou's side, but really though. He couldn't think of a lighter way to describe Todoroki's actions. They were just grossing him out to that point.
"Oh, did I hit the bullseye?"
"No, you did not!" denied Bakugou. Both Todoroki and Midoriya knew things, but it could stay as their imagination as long as the blond didn't openly admit it to their face.
Todoroki didn't respond immediately as he stole a glance at Bakugou's hands, all of a sudden speeding up his chore of peeling the potatoes for that day's curry dinner. His action spoke louder than his words. Todoroki at least understood that gesture of his classmate's.
"I did." He insisted.
"No, asshole! Listen when others talk!" Bakugou started scowling.
"I do. You're the one who don't most of the time."
"Why the fuck should I listen to you, halfie?"
"Then I won't too."
A vein almost visibly popped on Bakugou's forehead when he turned to Todoroki silently. He wasn't fast enough to give a comeback while the other teen ignored him and continued on.
"But you see, Bakugou." Said the red and white haired. "One-sided love sure is tough, isn't it?"
"Don't lump me in with your sorry ass." Replied the other boy indifferently. Though deep inside, he found the statement to actually be pretty relatable.
Albeit not flawless yet, Todoroki had more or less gotten used to and knew when to take Bakugou's words seriously or not. "Say, do you not plan on confessing?"
"Why should I?"
"...?" Todoroki tilted his head a bit in confusion. "Normally you'd want to go out with the person you like, right? Isn't it natural?"
"So what?" Bakugou asked back, showing no sign of interest as he skinned the potatoes faster and faster.
"...You know, Kirishima is a good guy. So—" Todoroki tried rephrasing what he wanted to convey, just to be cut short.
"Who said that this is about that shitty hair?!" Bakugou unintentionally raised his voice.
"Whoa." The icy-hot guy was quite surprised, but showing none of his emotions in the tone. "Careful, he might hear you."
The blond slightly flinched, took a quick glance at where Kirishima Eijirou was standing. He was at a distance. Close enough for Bakugou to identify his wide, shark-teethy smile though was hardly at where he had the chance to overhear their conversations.
"Or was that your intention?"
Just when Bakugou could exhale a relieved deep breath, the other boy just had to open his mouth again.
"You…! Seriously need to fucking stop that!" Conscious of his previous act, Bakugou tried shouting at Todoroki with a lower voice as he pointed the knife he was still holding in front of his companion—tossing the last potato he'd done working on in a separate basket while he's at it.
Todoroki bobbed his head backwards a little. Expression unchanging as he spouted, "Stop what?"
"I am not discussing whoever's shit-ass love story with you. And stop involving Kirishima. He's got nothing to do with this." Bakugou stated, somehow emphasizing him standing up for the redhead more than himself.
This time, a frown was formed on Todoroki's forehead and he grimaced. "I don't understand you, Bakugou."
"Well," the blond raised an eyebrow. "I'm not hoping for you to, bastard."
"Hey, the two of you over there with free hands, please stop chattering at once and do help for other preparations of our ultimate curry!" yelled Iida Tenya at both Bakugou and Todoroki when he happened to caught them from far away. "And please put down the knife, Bakugou-kun as it is extremely dangerous and we do not wish for an unexpected accident…"
The scolding went on, but Bakugou paid no more mind to it. He withdrew the knife from Todoroki's face and dropped it in the sink with an overly obvious tongue-clicking.
"Bakugou-kun, now—"
"Yeah, I fucking know, Four-eyes! Don't order me around!" One thing Bakugou couldn't stand was being told off when he's just about to do something. But he will still do it anyway.
"Hey, Bakugou." Todoroki halted him right before the blond went away. "One last advice from me, he's a good guy. So don't go and regret losing him later if you won't start taking this seriously."
"Later, then." Todoroki finished talking. He turned his heel away and left the blond stupefied.
"Ain't nobody asking for your advice, fuckface!" roared Bakugou when he came to his senses.
Taking love related advice from either Todoroki or Midoriya should be the last thing Bakugou ever wanted to do. As if they are one to talk when those blockheads could not even see what's in front of each other. Yet the both of them had done the same for the explosive teen more than just once. They were not in any way helpful, of course… Probably not. At least not this time.
The talk about 'love' between Bakugou and Kirishima had ended. He knew better than bringing that up and prolonging it again. For there is no future in advancing their relationship further than that of a 'best bud'.
"Yo, Tail-boy… Switch with me…!"
Bakugou wasn't really up to the test of courage thing already in the first place. People with too much wasted energy like the Black-eyes and Dunce-face looked forward to that activity really badly, but that wasn't the case for Bakugou Katsuki. Sure, the training that day was tough as hell but not quite enough to wear him down. He simply couldn't see the point of it was why Bakugou was not particularly interested in the supposed-to-be exciting activity.
Especially now that Kirishima was dragged away with the rest of the remedial idiots, there's seriously nothing to expect from it. Bakugou would rather go to bed earlier. And if those reasons weren't enough, it just had to be added up with his worst luck: getting paired up with Todoroki Shouto.
Honestly, anyone (aside from Deku) would do. Just why on earth should he be stuck with the half-assed bastard again? As if he hadn't had enough of Todoroki acting like his flippin' love guru the day before. Wow, fate sure enjoys toying with him.
"What do you take me for…?" replied Ojiro Mashirao, either questioning what merit is there for him to agree on switching or just how shallow his existence is for Bakugou.
Of course, even if Ojiro had agreed, the damn 'Pussy-cats', as camp instructors wouldn't let them have their way. What could Bakugou do besides stomping his way grumpily through the forest's route with Todoroki closely following behind.
"I would like to tell you that I am not exactly happy with this arrangement as well."
"Shut up, halfie!"
"Did you see how lonely Midoriya was? I could have gone over and pair up with him. Damn, this is the first time teachers are pissing me off." Rambled Todoroki. "Oh, no, I should not be disrespectful… I think. Besides, Midoriya would probably be fine by himself. He is strong after all. Yeah, I should believe in him."
"Who cares about shitty Deku. I just don't want to be stuck with you."
Todoroki peeked at the blond, who was a few steps in front and had not stopped pacing his way down the road. "I know. It's too bad that Kirishima isn't here."
Bakugou snapped, "Why the hell do you have to bring up his name?! This isn't about that fucking hair-for-brains."
"Oh, it isn't? My bad."
"Tch." Was the only respond Bakugou gave to end the exchange.
"Ah."
"What again, you dumba—" Bakugou got himself tongue-tied as soon as he turned around and witnessed a head slipping up from the ground behind him and disappeared shortly after.
"That gave me a shock." Said the red and white haired, sounded nonchalant.
Bakugou looked up, still with his mouth agape then screamed his lung out at his companion when he came into realization. The blond was not into the test of courage, but once he does something, he is going to best it. "Arghhhh! Fucking hell! It's all because of your nonsense chatting! We gave our points away to them!"
"Are we even counting points?"
A hand waved before Kirishima's red eyes. He came to his sense right after and turned his gaze to the owner of the said hand. One blond male with a stroke of black locks around his fringe stood there, just staring at him without saying anything, waiting for Kirishima to initiate the talking.
"What's up, man?" said Kirishima, giving in.
Kaminari Denki put down his hand, took a glimpse at the direction his friend was looking at, and came back to the redhead. Grinning, as he asked, "Still the same guy, huh?"
"W-Wha…?" Kirishima knew he'd been caught red-handed, though still putting effort in pretending he had not done exactly what Kaminari indicated—to no avail, obviously.
"Come on, dude." The other guy pressed on. "You know what I'm talking about."
Kirishima turned around, crouched down as he picked up the neglected firewood he was chopping up earlier to use for the stove and continued working on it. He was clearly trying to dodge the topic. "Uh, yeah..."
Seeing that, Kaminari kept his mouth shut for a brief, then opened it again, sounding a little more considerate this time. "Can't move on yet?"
"…" Kirishima was not sure what to reply at first, but then he spun his head to Kaminari with a wide, strained smile—which he thought he perfectly pulled as a reassuring one. "Oh, do you mean Bakugou? Nah, I'm all over that, of course."
A compassionate smile formed on Kaminari's lips. "Really?"
"Yeah, it's just that… it's not easy to forget, right?" Whether consciously or not, Kirishima's gaze altered back toward the explosive teen a few metres away from them again.
Silence filled the air between them as Kaminari followed Kirishima gaze and stared at Bakugou as well. The guy was busy multitasking in peeling potatoes with ungodly speed while bickering with Todoroki Shouto, which is a not-so-rare sight, but still pretty unusual.
To put it bluntly, Kaminari had never understand what precisely in Bakugou Katsuki that Kirishima find attractive. They had discussed something similar around the infamous 'BakuSquad' before without the core himself. Kaminari made his point clear when he stated that he doubts that thing will be easy for Kirishima even if they somehow started going out. Although he knew and needless to say, acknowledged Bakugou's strength and intelligence, he still couldn't wrap around his head what charm does he hold as a potential lover. What makes Kirishima so head over heels about him?
Even so, as long as his buddy likes the guy, Kaminari had decided to question nothing and support Kirishima with all he's got. Unlike Ashido—who claimed to trust in her woman's intuition and was absolutely sure that Bakugou in one way or another, magically likes Kirishima as well and the redhead's feeling will be reciprocated no matter what—Kaminari didn't have that kind of thought. He didn't know how things would end up, but for some reason, he was not truly surprised when months ago, Kirishima came up to his friends bringing the news of his heartbreak.
Like the idiot he is, Kirishima tried to keep everything to himself and insisted that he was totally fine, when everyone knew he was not. 'BakuSquad', they're called, but lately even Kaminari could sense that they've been more and more distant from Bakugou himself. It's like the explosive lord was trying to hide things from them, closing a part of himself up. Though simultaneously, he had mysteriously started treating Kirishima gentler than how he had been before, which contradicted his other action. And around that time as well, he had been interacting with Todoroki and Midoriya a little bit more than he used to be.
No, Kaminari has never been that attentive, nor was it specifically toward Bakugou Katsuki. Those were all the content of the reports Kirishima told him from his observation of a certain blond which intensified after he was rejected. Evidently, the redhead had not been able to move on from then.
"Yeah, right." The future Stun Gun Hero honestly had no idea what's better to say in that situation. "Well, give it some time, bro."
The redhead only responded with a mute smile, before moving on to another topic, yet still revolving around Bakugou Katsuki. "You see, they're kinda close recently, huh?"
"I guess?"
"I wonder why…"
Not only that he had not move on, the fact that Kirishima was still showing sign of jealousy towards Todoroki Shouto couldn't mean anything else. He was still in love with the guy.
"Ah… I dunno, but I don't think anything is going on between them."
"Y-You think so?"
"Uh… not really sure, though. I'm gonna ask Ashido to find out later, haha." Kaminari winked as he raised his thumb.
Kirishima let out a small laugh. "But, there's nothing deep, okay? I'm just worried of a buddy."
"Of course, man!"
The sunshine child needed time and support to properly give up on Bakugou. Kaminari vaguely realized that his friend was not exactly doing the right thing in order of that. But he didn't have the heart to break it to Kirishima either. He just couldn't when the redhead put on that sorrowful, yet still holding some glint of joy expression whenever he brought Bakugou Katsuki up.
"Don't you want to ask him personally, though?"
The Red Riot paused for a while then confessed with an ounce of hesitant. "I want to… but, I can't seem to find the right timing."
"With our hellish training and remedial lessons that is, huh." The line sounded even more depressing as soon as it left Kaminari's mouth.
"I know, right." Kirishima agreed. He then stood up with a pile of chopped woods on his hands and added. "Well, maybe I'm just gonna do it right after the school trip."
"Sounds good."
"Gotta focus in training, dude!"
"Urgh…!"
The two laughed it off as they hurried to finish their chores before Iida found them being carefree and landed one of his lectures like he did to everybody. Kirishima peeked at Bakugou for one last time then ran off the opposite direction from the blond. He would ask him later. It was nothing urgent. Bakugou would not go anywhere unreachable just in two days or a little more. At least that was what he thought. Until Mandalay, one of their training instructors relayed the message from Midoriya to everybody through her telepathy. Kirishima had just learned a new fear then. That he could lose Bakugou Katsuki anytime possible.
I think I've reverted back to my old way of writing Baku. lol i dunno. any thoughts?
Imma work hard to complete the next chapie asap too :3
Thanks for reading~