Summary: Since they're running out of time to do it, Bakugo is interested in taking a day off from the school campus in order to go out and hike for a bit. There's a good area nearby, and Katsuki decides to invite Kirishima, under the guise that he simply wanted to get out for the day.
"Oy. Eijiro. Let's go hiking before we run out of time." Bakugo stated. Kirishima looked back at him, an eyebrow raised. The two of them were sitting in the kitchenette of the dorm, with Kirishima kneeling in front of the fridge and Bakugo standing against the counter, his hands placed on the countertop.
"Hiking?" The redhead asked, standing up and shutting the fridge door. He had two bottles of water in his hands, one of which he quickly passed to the other boy. "You think we can get out there around now?"
"Why wouldn't we be able to?" Katsuki asked, only a sliver of malice in his voice. "The trail I have in mind is open year-round, except in the winter, and they don't really care too much about how long you're out there as long as you come back."
Kirishima rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter across from Bakugo.
"That's not what I meant," He retorted, twisting the cap off of his bottle and taking a short drink. "Classes start up again tomorrow, Katsuki. How long do you expect us to be out there?"
Bakugo crossed his arms, though the water bottle in his hand was surprisingly completely intact.
"Does it matter?" He replied. "Eraserhead gave us a curfew, sure, but it's not like anyone follows it."
At Eijiro's furrowed brow, Bakugo groaned.
"Fine! If we leave in an hour, we can have a couple hours on the trail and I can get us back before curfew." He scowled, his eyes narrowing as he watched the redhead. "Is that good enough for you?"
Kirishima drank from his own bottle again and noticed that, even with his little show there, Bakugo hadn't harmed the bottle in his hand at all. He smiled his usual sharp smile and nodded.
"I was gonna agree anyway, Katsuki," He said, leaning up off of the counter. "It's like you said. No one follows the curfew anyway. I mean, except maybe Iida."
Bakugo smirked and stood up as well, finally uncapping his own bottle to take a drink from it.
"What, Glasses?" He asked. Just the fact that he'd responded to his name was enough to show that he knew everyone in their class. He was just an asshole about it. "Think again. I've seen him out after curfew before."
Kirishima looked back to Bakugo with amazement on his face.
"What? Really?! Iida, of all people?" He asked, incredulous, though still with his shark-like grin on his face. "What was he out doing?"
Katsuki shrugged. Thinking back on it, he remembered it pretty well. After all, it was pretty hard to ignore the pink fucking hair his girlfriend had and the fact that she was loud and proud made it even easier to remember. There was no way he'd tell Kirishima that, though.
"Fuck all if I know," He responded instead. "I saw him come back in pretty late, but that's about it."
Eijiro wasn't falling for it, though.
"Aw, come on Katsuki!" He complained, tapping the other boy's shoulder with his closed fist. "You had to have seen something, right? Spill it!"
"Dammit, Eijiro, I told you I didn't see shit!" He yelled back. "Ask him yourself if you wanna know so damn badly!"
"But he won't tell me and you know he won't! Share the details, Katsuki, C'mon!"
"How many times do I have to say it, fuck off!"
"It's a lot easier getting out here than I thought it'd be," Kirishima commented, listlessly from the side, as Bakugo walked on ahead.
"It's really close," The blond responded, his voice eerily calm. "A lot of people don't ever pay attention to how close we actually are to the wild."
The boys had quickly changed into much more fitting clothing -shorts with plenty of pockets, t-shirts, and hiking boots- and had grabbed two bags, filled them with necessities like food and equipment, and were gone from the dorms in under thirty minutes. Bakugo led Kirishima the same way his mom would take him when he was younger- they took the train back to Bakugo's neighborhood, where Eijiro demanded they stop to say hi to his parents first, and then they took the familiar, beaten, trail off of the playground that Katsuki used when he was younger into the woods and then up to the small 'Hayama's Hiking Service' booth.
It was about the size of a living room. Three closed, red walls, with one open side where a worker sat. She looked only a little taller than them, with brown, straight, hair. Her face was buried in a magazine.
"This is the place you usually come to?" Eijiro asked, looking it over with wide eyes. Bakugo mumbled a 'yeah' before walking up to the booth and ringing the small bell on it. The girl behind the counter perked up, dropping the magazine off to her side, before standing up. She had blue eyes and young features, looking no older than the two of them. She first saw Kirishima, who smiled at her, and then she saw Bakugo, whose glare had softened over the years.
"Bakugo?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. She had a name tag pinned to her shirt that said 'Yumi'. "You still come here, after all these years?" There was a hint of humor in her voice.
Katsuki groaned. "Yeah, I'm standing right in front of you, dumbass," He responded, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I like these trails, alright? Get off my back about it."
Yumi smiled and leaned onto the counter. "You know Dad would be offended if you didn't like them," She told him, flicking her eyes over to Kirishima. "You've been coming here since you were a kid. Lucky you got me instead of him, huh?"
"Yeah, he'd probably try to keep me here for eight years," The boy complained. "Whereas you'll only keep me here for four. Lucky fucking me, right?"
Kirishima chuckled before turning to Yumi.
"You'll have to excuse him. He's always this grumpy." The redhead explained. Bakugo turned on him, murderous intent in his eyes, before Yumi laughed, letting her head fall against her closed fist.
"I bet. Bakugo was always a lil hot-headed when he was younger," She responded, an easy smile on her face. "So who're you? Bakugo usually comes up here alone."
"Oh, I'm Eijiro. Eijiro Kirishima," He responded, having succeeded in calming the other boy down.
"Nice to meet you, Kirishima," She commented, sitting up. "I'm Yumi Hayama. My dad started this booth when I was a kid and Bakugo's been coming here since he was like six."
Kirishima grinned, throwing an arm around Bakugo's neck.
"Yeah, I bet. The way he talks about it, it sounds like he lived in these woods before coming to U.A.," The redhead replied. "You know, I've begged him to bring me out here but he always said no. And then this morning, he just outright asks me if I want to come with him like it's nothing. Crazy, right?"
The brunette laughed again, side-eyeing Bakugo while she talked.
"Yeah, I can see that." She replied. "I remember his parents tried to tag along with him once a few years back and he blew up. Luckily his mom can handle him, huh?"
Katsuki slammed his hand down on the counter though, surprisingly, he didn't blow it to high hell.
"Fuck! Can I just take my goddamn boyfriend onto the goddamn trails and get this shit over with?" He exclaimed. Before either of the other two could respond, He grabbed Kirishima's hand and stalked off toward the trail, which quickly descended into the woods. Just before they were out of sight, he turned around and yelled; "We'll be back before you're gone, fucker! Don't get any wrong fucking ideas!"
A second later, the couple disappeared into the woods. Yumi expected to hear the usual sounds of Bakugo blasting his anger away, but she was surprised to hear nothing in its place.
"Well, he is with his boyfriend, after all," She said to herself before slumping back down into her seat and picking her magazine back up.
"Your boyfriend, huh?" Eijiro asked, still being pulled along down the trail. Before they'd left U.A., Bakugo had told him the first fifteen minutes of the trail were pretty easy because they barely went uphill. They'd get a bit more exciting after all.
"Yeah," Bakugo responded, walking ahead of him by what seemed like pure muscle memory. "What's wrong with it?"
"N-nothing's wrong!" Kirishima quickly patched, holding a hand up in mock surrender. "I just...I've never heard you say it before."
The two of them slowed to a halt and Bakugo turned to face the redhead. He hadn't let go of his hand.
"...That must've been a shitty way to hear it for the first time then," Katsuki conceded, his voice growing low. "...sorry, Eijiro."
The redhead smiled and tightened his grip on the other's hand.
"You don't have to apologize, Katsuki," He replied. "It's not like I thought I wasn't your boyfriend."
"Yeah, but thinking it and hearing it are two different things," Bakugo responded, looking down at the ground between his feet. "...I'll make it up to you."
Kirishima smiled before leaning forward and pecking the blond on his cheek.
"Like I said, you don't have to do that," He said, clenching his hand as well. "But I appreciate it anyway. Let's get into the better parts of the trail, alright? We've got a couple hours left."
Eijiro walked forward and pulled on Bakugo's hand. After a moment, the blond sighed and turned to follow, a small smile slipping onto his face.
"...Sure. I know a path that's a lot more fun to take a bit further ahead. Follow me."
"Ehh? So spiky-hair and funny-hair haven't come back yet?" Mei asked, her head tilted in question.
"Exactly so. Midoriya told me that he'd seen them leaving in hiking gear, but that was hours ago," Iida responded, his arms crossed. "I hope they'll get back in time. Aizawa-sensei has been pretty upset about students breaking curfew lately."
The pink-haired girl shrugged, her legs kicked up over the arm of the couch.
"No one really pays attention to the curfew, though," She stated. In her hands, she fiddled with a small device that she'd had yet to tell him about. "I'm sure they'll be back soon, so don't worry about it!"
Iida looked back at her from his place at the window.
"I can't do that, Mei. My duties as class president tell me that I must make sure my classmates are safe!" He exclaimed, exaggerated hand gestures included. "And besides, I'm not tired. I'll stay up for as long as I need to!"
Mei sat up, tossing the small device onto the table.
"Well yeah," She said, swinging her legs down onto the floor. "After what we did this morning, you slept for a few hours. I'd be surprised if you could sleep any more than you already have."
Iida's cheeks turned red. "Y-Yes, you're right. And thanks to that, I am completely well-rested!" He stated.
She snorted and walked up to him, throwing her arms over his shoulder from behind. He was a lot taller than her, though, so it proved to be a bit more difficult than she'd expected.
"Oh, come ooooon!" She complained. "Funny hair is a responsible guy, right? They'll be fiiiine. We can go back upstairs!"
Wincing slightly, Tenya was pulled away from the window as Mei began to walk him backward.
"M-Mei, please! I'm still a little sore...," He complained.
"Oh, don't be a baby! C'mon, they'll be fine!" She told him, leading him toward the elevator.
"W-well, maybe you're right...w-we should get some rest!"
"That's the spirit, Tenya!"
So, this one may seem a little short and that's because I'm writing the KiriBaku chapters differently than the others. While the others are all fluff and sweetness, with a lil bit of angst from time to time, Bakugo's chapters are gonna revolve around him not being a goddamn cactus all the time and he'll actually grow as a person, maybe.
This is mostly because I can't write him all fluffy like I do the others because it's just not in his character. So instead, I decided to give him some growth so that, eventually, I can write him as fluffy as I do the others. See, it all makes sense!
All that aside, I hope you enjoyed this short ass chapter. I'm still working on backlogging future chapters, so thanks for sticking around.
Dantikat, out.