Kirishima never regretted his life choices as quickly than he does now, in this very situation.
In the span of the ten minutes he had allowed Ashido and Kaminari to come along with him to the coffee shop, he realized that he might have made the wrong decision.
Unlike Tetsutetsu, they are far more outspoken about his crush on a certain barista and he learned that the hard way when-
"You're the guy Kirishima says looks good wearing his uniform!" Kaminari spouted, the first thing that left his mouth the second he so much as glanced at Bakugou.
Acting quickly, he slammed his foot down onto Kaminari's who had whined in pain at the stomp. It's too late though. People are already staring at Kirishima and he flushed at the attention he is getting. Ashido, on the other hand, merely seemed amused by the situation as she sent him some teasing glances.
"Is that so?" Bakugou's expression shifted to an unfamiliar territory as the blond's eyes roamed through his body, from the low ponytail he's wearing today to his shirt.
"What? No! Don't listen to him! He doesn't know what he's talking about!" He could feel the air around him growing hotter, as his embarrassment waged on.
"Yeah, sure." The barista appeared to have taken pity on him as he stopped pressing on, then he turned to address his friends. "What do you want? I don't have the time to deal with you lot of idiots so fucking order already!"
"Really?" Ashido began, sending Bakugou a teasing smirk. "You seem to have all the time for Kirishima over here."
"A-Ashido!" He called, a scandalized look making its way over his face.
"What? I'm only speaking the truth." Ashido nonchalantly replied.
"She's right." Sero walked over to them as he grinned. "Those two are always in their own world that it's almost disgusting. Let's leave them be and I'll take your orders today. What do you guys want?"
His two friends rattled off their orders to Sero as he was left with Bakugou, neither of them really meeting each other's eyes.
"Kirishima." Bakugou called. His expression, unsure and just a tiny bit of nervous "I'll text you later?"
"Of course, dude." He smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."
The blond nodded at his words, cheeks seeming to be a bit flushed yet the redhead knows that he isn't any better himself.
```
The sounds of guns going off blared across the battlefield.
In the midst of all the chaos, he found himself in the middle of it, surrounded by the lifeless heaps of bodies around him.
His breathing was ragged as he pushed his worn-out form to move-to run and find safety. Though, he couldn't move quite as fast as he would have liked with the wound on his chest dragging him down.
Blood coated his arms and they drip down the pavement as he hobbled along the path. Suddenly, his head couldn't quite cooperate with him. His knees gave out from under him, and he fell on to the cold hard ground, vulnerable and defeated.
"Eijirou!" He picked up on how his name was yelled out with such alarm and he turned his towards a panic stricken Bakugou.
He only had the time to turn his head around, and so he remains helpless when a bullet is whizzing its way past him. He closed his eyes, accepting his fate and waiting for death to come and take him away.
But then, his expectations were not met as death did not make an appearance. In its stead, was the body of another person taking the bullet.
His red eyes blinked disbelievingly at the scene and at the fallen sprawled body, currently coughing up blood right beside him.
His eyes widened as he took in the form — ash blond hair and blazing ruby red eyes squinting almost shut due to the pain.
"Katsuki!" He rushed over to blond, ignoring the way boomed throughout his body at the movement. Finally making his way over to Bakugou, he cradled the blood to his chest, uncaring of how the other is caked up in his own blood.
"Looks like… I made it on time. You should pay more attention-"The light in Bakugou's eyes withered away even before the sentence could be completed.
"W-Wake up!" He frantically tried shaking the other waking, to no avail. "Wake up! Katsuki … Please, don't leave me!"
He woke up with a start.
It's just a dream.
He gasped out a breath in relief, allowing his body to let loose off of his uncontained sobs. Tears clung to his face, falling rapidly to the sheets of his bed.
Kirishima could hardly breathe as the vivid imagery of his friend's death replayed over and over again on his mind.
Darkness. Gunshots. A cracked armor. Blood around him everywhere.
And then finally...
Bakugou's dead body
When that most recent image flashed before him, his mind seemed to have shut down and he finds himself growing desperate for any type of reassurance.
It's only a dream. They don't even live in that kind of universe where the possibility of death lingers with every blood that can be shed.
In a few hours, he'll be living life as he knows from the back of his hand: working out in the gym, hanging out with his friends and then visiting the coffee shop to taste the delight of its Hot Chocolate Latte as well as seeing his certain favorite blond barista.
Everything will be fine.
The redhead willed his eyes shut and waited for sleep to come. Except, sleep never did come and he was left to stare up at the ceiling as a feeling of unease remains.
Selfishly, Kirishima knows that what he desires is comfort and reassurance. He finds himself guilty at the thought of wanting someone to hold him and never let him go.
He'd be lying if he says that he doesn't know who he wants that someone to be. He chuckles bitterly at that.
Somehow, his brain decided to entertain the thought as he scrambled to reach over to his phone by his bedside table.
A couple of rings passed by, then a groggy and irritable voice responded with a rough "What?"
"Never mind." Instantly, Kirishima regretted everything…He didn't know what he was thinking. To be disturbing the sleep of others isn't manly. "I accidentally rolled over in bed and called you."
"You're lying." Leave it to Bakugou to be the blunt one. "Don't take me for an idiot. I know a lie when I hear one. Tell me the fucking truth."
"I-uh- I had a nightmare that you died." The words fell from his mouth a bit more casually than he had expected to.
From the other end of the phone, he could hear how the other's breath had hitched and he cursed himself for making things awkward between them at what looks to be 4 in the morning.
When the blond stayed silent, Kirishima took it upon himself to say something "It was stupid. It was just a dream, but it's so freaking scary, bro. There was blood and everything, and you protected even when you ended up-"
"Kirishima." The almost tender way in Bakugou said his name brought about a sense of comfort to crawl up his spine. "Breathe."
"Bakugou, I'm so sorry, man. For such a dumb reason, I woke you up-"
" 'Not a dumb reason."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Bakugou's voice got softer then as he said. "Nightmares are a fucking pain in the ass."
"Bakugou." Carefully, he decided to broach on the next question that he is about to say. "Do you get nightmares too?"
The silence on the other end of the phone served as his answer. He bit his lip in frustration. Shit. He made things weird between them again.
"Sleep." Bakugou spoke next. "There's still some time before the sun rises."
"Bakugou?"
"What now?"
"Promise me that you'll still be around, the next time I see you."
" 'Course I would." The familiar snark was back as Bakugou said. "Like I said, your ass wouldn't stop showing up at the coffee shop."
"I guess you're right about that." Kirishima chuckled. "But I can't help it you know?"
"Yeah, yeah." Bakugou agreed. "You like my hot chocolate too fucking much."
His body relaxed at the reminder of the hot chocolate. Even without drinking it, he could still remember how he felt after drinking it- warmed and comforted.
"Get back to sleep already." Bakugou's voice boomed and he envisioned what the blond might have looked like, face eased out from his scowl and a tiny smile which he tried to conceal. "I ain't going anywhere."
The blond's words and voice right at that very moment, soothes him and calms him down in a way the hot chocolate never did in the past.
It's a change of pace, but he likes it just as much.
Kirishima can't remember what happened next; just that he was lulled to sleep by that comforting presence.
```
"Morning, Bakugou!" Kirishima arrived to U.A coffee shop, early in the morning. He most certainly hadn't slept so well with the nightmare that he had experienced the night before.
"Morning." Bakugou appeared to be busying himself with checking the inventory, though there seem to be a bit of awkwardness as he said "Got enough sleep?"
"Yeah." Kirishima sheepishly rubbed the back of his head at the reminder of the events that took place earlier that day. "I think I fell asleep midway."
"For like a couple of fuckin' minutes." Bakugou looked up from what he was doing to face him. "Then you hung up on me right after."
"O-Oh, I didn't know that." Kirishima averted his eyes in embarrassment. He never should have even called Bakugou to begin with. He should have dealt his nightmares on his own.
"Kirishima. I don't give a damn that you woke me the fuck up. I fucking slept again after you hang up on me anyway so it doesn't matter." Bakugou chided, as if he had sensed his inner self-deprecation.
Kirishima blinked at that, having expected a far more explosive response from the blond. He couldn't pinpoint why. Maybe it has something to do with nightmares. After all, judging from the other's earlier reaction, he seemed to fully get just how hard nightmares can really hit.
"Earth to Shitty Hair!" Bakugou snapped and sent him a glare. "Stop spacing the fuck out!"
"Sorry, bro. 'Didn't mean to."
At his response, Bakugou huffed and returned his focus back to the inventory.
"Bakugou." Kirishima started and the man stopped what he was doing once again. "Thanks."
It's amazing how much flustered Bakugou got, face burning a bright red as he muttered a "Whatever."
It's almost scary how hard his heart pounded against his chest, when he received his drink which now sports a different latte art than usual.
The art, a barbell this time around, is just as exquisite and awe-inspiring as the previous one. Just from laying his eyes upon the piece of art, his smile stretched all the way over his face to the point that he could have sworn his jaw had nearly dislodged from the rest of his face.
```
He yawned as he entered the nearby convenience store, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes as he trudged forward to the aisle. His growling stomach is what summoned him all the way to the convenient store.
Kirishima had merely been grabbing packets of instant noodles when that familiar voice he has come to like more and more, bellowed "What the fuck, Shitty hair?!"
"Bakugou! You scared me, dude! Give a man a warning next time. What are you doing here?" He jumped back in surprise at the sudden presence of his crush, and shamelessly let his eyes take in the other's appearance. Who knew that a tank top could look so good on someone until now?
"What reason would I be here if I won't be buying anything?" His friend scoffed, dumping some meat on the basket he was holding.
"Right, I forgot about that." He grinned a little at the familiar scenario. Thoughts of that rainy day entered his mind, and butterflies fluttered around in his stomach.
"Idiot." Bakugou berated, almost fondly and the butterflies intensified further. At this rate, Bakugou will be the end of him and he won't even really mind.
However, before his possible death, he would like to at least go on a little date with the blond.
"You didn't answer the damn question."
"What?" He snapped himself out of the fantasies his brain was beginning to conjure.
"The fuck, are you buying?" The blond gestured his hand over to the instant noodle packets that he was holding.
"Instant noodles."
"I know that. I'm not fucking blind, after all." Bakugou spat, scowl tight on his face. "What I meant was, why the hell are you buying them? Those shit are unhealthy as fuck."
"Dude, what the hell, they're not." Kirishima defended and the blond leveled him with a look of utter disbelief at that.
"You stupid or what?"
"Okay, so maybe they're not completely healthy," Kirishima acquiesced. "But I don't have the time to learn how to cook, and it wouldn't be convenient to always be eating out every day."
"Bullshit." An irate Bakugou growled. "You go to the coffee shop almost every fucking day."
"It's different." He argued.
"What? All for some hot chocolate?" Bakugou snarled. "It's more convenient for you to keep coming to some coffee shop for a drink than for you to actually prioritize your damn health?"
"It's not just because of the hot chocolate." Kirishima didn't like the tension in the air, not one bit and Bakugou isn't helping things as he pinned him down with his stare.
"The fuck is the reason why then? If it's not the stupid hot chocolate, why'd you keep coming back to the same fucking shop?"
"It's because I want to see you!" The admission flew from his mouth, before he could even begin to consider the consequences of what he just said.
At his words, the blond's mouth clamped shut in shock. His friend didn't say anything, merely studying him like he was sensing to see if he was saying the truth.
Finally, after what appeared to be an eternity, Bakugou took the packets from his hand and returned back to the shelf. And then, he grabbed the redhead's hand and started tugging him along.
"Bro, what?" Kirishima questioned, eyes going wide in alarm. "What are you doing, man?"
"We're going to my place." Bakugou answered, handing over some wad of bills over to the cashier. "I'm going to make you dinner."
His brain began swirling with many questions at the blond's answer, yet there isn't any time to dwell on his confusion as his hand was caught in vice grip and he was lugged along to the direction of Bakugou's home.
Eventually, he smiled and decided to go along with what the other had proposed. However, in spite of his compliance, Bakugou still held his hand tightly in his.
'This is almost like a date.' The delusional part of his brain decided to made itself known at that very instant, an entire repeat to his earlier fantasies.
Realistically, though, he knows that in no way is that true in any sense. Bakugou is probably just being a good friend.
Still, against all odds, he allowed himself to hope. No matter how unlikely it could happen; One can always dream, first and foremost.