Ch.9

2 months earlier...

Ami kneels in the hallway struggling to shove her books in her bag, taking them out and re-arranging everything to try to make them fit over and over again. She blows out a frustrated breath and tucks a braid behind her ear, "I need a bigger bag." She'd had the messenger bag since Seiai but with all the books she'd checked out from UA's library it wasn't keeping the books secure. Not to mention it was heavy.

"Do you need help?"

Ami looks up.

Kirishima stands beside her, his own bag slung over his shoulder. "It just looks like you're having a hard time." He says.

"I just can't get my books in my bag is all, it's too small so I can't buckle it when it's this full." She says with a sigh.

He kneels down beside her and takes the books out of her hands gently, "Then maybe I could hold them for you? They're pretty heavy so it can't be too easy on your shoulder."

Ami stands up and puts her bag back on her shoulder, buckling it shut. "Thank you," She begins, continuing on her way down the hall at a slower pace than before. Originally she'd been rushing to get back to her dorm in order to avoid running into Bakugo, but she felt more at ease now that she wasn't alone anymore. Even if she was walking with his best friend. "So... it's been a full month and he still hasn't apologized." She says after a moment.

Kirishima sighs and shakes his head, "I know more than anyone that there's no use in trying to take up for him when he gets like this. He's gotten a lot better from how he used to be but... he's still got some things to work on. How to treat friends is one of those things." The redhead shrugs. "He hasn't really said much to me about what happened either so I'm not sure what set him off like that. I tried to get him to apologize earlier on but he just spun around and walked off."

Ami sighs, too. "Whatever. I don't want to think about it..." She'd dealt with rude words before, being ignored, and being disliked. How Katsuki was acting wasn't unfamiliar to her even if it was unwarranted. "I wanted a fresh start at a school where I didn't have any issues with anyone, but looks like that was short lived."

"Bakugo's just like that, but he'll come around. He always does." Kirishima bumps her gently with his shoulder and gives her a smile when she looks up. "Besides, we can be friends."

She laughs softly and bumps him back, "That sounds nice, and being around you would probably be a lot more peaceful."

"I agree with you on that one," he laughs. "So... what's with all the books?"

Ami shrugs, "I like to read, and surprisingly not all the books UA has are hero related." There were a good amount of fiction books in the school's library, apparently having been donated by my students over the years. Most of her reading had been done through her aunt who worked at a library, but since she'd moved she hadn't really had a chance to look for more books she wanted to read.

Kirishima hums and looks down at the books in his arms. "This one's good," he taps the cover of the one on top. "The dragon in it is my favorite and I've read all 6 books."

"I hear that a lot, and I like fantasy adventure books so I figured I'd give the series a try." Ami says. "I wouldn't have taken you for such an avid reader."

Kirishima laughs at the playful jab, "I do more than train and work out. Reading's pretty cool too, I used to keep books on me all the time."

The two chatter on about the books they've read as they walk back to the dorms, taking turns giving each other recommendations. For the first time in a while, Ami was lost in a conversation she thoroughly enjoyed. Anything that had to do with books always drew her in and held her there.

"Well, thank you for walking me to my room." She says as they reach her door in the dorms. Unlocking it, she pushes the door open to let Kirishima in so he can put her books on the desk.

"No problem," he says, looking around before his eyes land back on her. "If you ever need help again just let me know. Don't need you hurting yourself."

"Of course." She says, swatting lightly at his hand as he ruffles her hair when he walks out the door. "See you later!"

He waves a goodbye before heading down the hall.

Ami closes the door and sits down at her desk, spreading her books out on the table. Kirishima and Bakugo are so... different. The two may be best friends, but they're hardly anything alike. Bakugo is pushy, rash and super aggressive, but from what she'd seen of Kirishima, he's the exact opposite. He's patient and helpful, and true to his word: Peaceful.

Ami sits down at her desk and opens her books to study, but only half of her heart is in it. If she was honest with herself, she was still very much confused despite the time that had passed. This new start was supposed to be her turning over a new leaf. Instead, here she was back on someone's bad side again, but this time she wasn't even sure why.

While Bakugo had been annoying as hell by practically forcing her into training with him, they'd fallen into a -somewhat- peaceful routine by this point. Ami would gauge how well he was doing against her quirk and add changes or switch intensifies as needed, and in response Bakugo would adapt. They picked on and at each other in a way that was aggressive yet still lighthearted, and it had grown to be something that she'd genuinely enjoyed. All that was what had put her under the impression that she could give their interactions the title of a "friendship".

But apparently she'd been wrong.

He'd been off during that whole training session. Most of his time had been spent staring off into space, zoning out while looking at her, half-assing his attempts at fighting, and getting mad whenever she called him out on any of it. Bakugo was usually at the top of his game at any given day, being one of UA's "Big Three", but they day he hadn't acted like it. Which was odd because usually he always acted in a way that showed he carried that title. No exceptions.

She'd spent too much time going over the incident in her head over the last month, but she never found anything new.

Kirishima seemed to know Bakugo better than anyone, including Midoriya. So maybe she should ask him if it was normal for those "off days" to happen? Granted, Bakugo had done better than usual that day, but she figured that was because he'd been in a rush to get away for whatever reason. He'd spent less time arguing with her and more time trying to keep to himself while simultaneously fighting her.

Ami picks up her phone and unlocks it, going to her messages to type in Kirishima's name. I guess I should go ahead and ask.

She figured there was no harm in it, after all.

"Hey, are you still up?"

It takes a couple of minutes but the icon appears to show he had opened the message. Dots appear, and then moments later a message follows:

"Yeah, what's up?"

She takes a small breath and holds it as her fingers fly across the keyboard before she loses her nerve.

"Does Bakugo, like... have days where he's worse than others? In an 'off' way, rather than his usual angry energy?"

More dots, and then another response:

"He has bad days and good days. Sometimes he's a little weird and acts out of character but usually that blows over pretty quick. Why?"

Ami bites her lip and hesitates for a moment before continuing:

"He had been acting super weird before he snapped on me the other day. When he wasn't zoning out he was staring at me like I gave myself three heads. Then whenever I asked what was wrong he would get super defensive and...abrasive, I guess. I feel like he hates me now."

The reply is almost immediate:

"He doesn't. Bakugo just doesn't handle things well at times. He hasn't mentioned anything negative to me about you so I promise, he doesn't hate you."

She sighs in relief, but that still raised more questions than answers for her now. She was hurt when he shot down her claim of friendship, but if he didn't hate her then why did he act the way he did? While it was true that she hadn't done anything to deserve his anger, that knowledge did very little towards making her feel better. It was getting under her skin more than she'd like to admit.

There had to be a reason for the way he acted, and she knew it was going to bother her to no end until she figured it out.

Over the next few months, Ami and Kirishima start hanging out regularly. Whenever she wasn't with Mina and Kirishima wasn't training with Bakugo, the two would hang out in his dorm room, play video games and watch movies together. It slowly became her new normal, as did the silence between her and the angry blond. Not that it bothered her anymore.

Because it definitely didn't bother her. At all.

Kirishima had been a ray of sunshine in her life since they'd become friends, on the other hand. He was constantly encouraging her and complimenting her, being there when she needed him and listening when she couldn't stop talking about how frustrated she was with Bakugo in the beginning. As his best friend, he understood more than anyone how hurtful his words could be, and that offered Ami a lot of relief.

She couldn't talk to the girls about it anymore, because all they did was brush it off or change the subject since no one wanted to talk about him anymore. They did it kindly, but it didn't help relieve the stress over the situation.

"I brought you some more fries."

Ami looks away from the window she'd been staring out of and smiles up at Kirishima, "Thank you."

The two had gone out to grab a quick bite to eat, deciding to spend the rest of Saturday hanging out outside of the dorms. Ami had trained alone all that morning trying to push the hot springs incident out of her mind until Kiri had called her and coaxed her out with the promise of free food.

"You look far away," he says once he sits down, concern lacing his voice. "What's on your mind?"

She sighs and dips a fry in ketchup, chewing for a moment before replying. "Same old, Same old." She admits. "Too much." Admittedly, she was thinking about the night prior. She'd told Kirishima about agreeing to team up with he and Bakugo, but the obvious energy in the latter's room around that question had left her feeling... weird.

Bakugo had seemed almost hesitant when he'd suggested that she leave before she got in any trouble.

Kirishima lightly puts his hand on top of hers that rests on the tabletop, drawing her attention to his face. "You can talk to me about it if you want." He offers gently.

Ami snorts softly and looks back out the window at the street beyond, "I already bother you enough with all my feelings and shit. You do a lot for me as it is."

He lightly squeezes her hand before moving it to pick up his drink and take a sip. "Is it about Bakugo?" Kirishima asks after a moment. "He told us what happened at the hot springs."

"...oh he did?" She didn't expect him to mention it at all. Well that's embarrassing.

Kirishima is silent for a moment before he clears his throat gently, "Can I ask you something without you getting pissed at me? I need your help re-dyeing my roots when we get back to the dorms so I don't want you all mad at me."

Ami laughs in a small exhale through her nose before glancing over at him. "Just ask."

He shifts in his seat a little before scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "Do you, uh... think the reason you got so stuck on the problem with him in the first place is because you like him or something?"

Ami feels her face burst into flames at his words. Out of everyone she'd had talk to her about the situation, no one had asked her that before. She spins around abruptly in her seat. "I- What? No! Bakugo is an asshole. How could I like someone that-? I just- Absolutely not."

Kirishima's left eyebrow quirks up, his look now skeptical. "Right. Of course not. So you just get all blushy and stutter like that normally?"

"Eijiro."

"Ami."

She huffs and rubs her hands down her face. I'm literally not ready for this conversation right now.

"I don't like him."

"It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself of that more than me."

Ami opens her mouth before shutting it and sighing. He wasn't wrong about that much. It sounded like she was in denial to even her own ears. "... Maybe I do." She admits after a moment of silence. "He really is an asshole, but he's... I don't know... Confident?" Confident, strong, and iron-willed. Bakugo was a leader, despite also being temperamental, blunt, and aggressive. And he wasn't bad to look at either.

Unfortunately she also did develop a thing for confident men with a little bit of an ego after being around him for too long.

"It makes more sense with you admitting that now." Eijiro says, lowering his voice, watching as she visibly shakes that last thought out of her head. "You've been in a better mood since you two made up. So has he. He just seems a little... worried."

Ami snorts, this time in doubt. "Worried? Since when does he ever worry?"

Kirishima shrugs and swirls his drink with his straw absentmindedly. "He was surprised you forgave him so quickly when he apologized. I think he feels bad because you weren't angry at him."

Frowning, she crosses her arms on the table, "Why would he feel bad about that?"

"Maybe because he didn't apologize sooner so he didn't feel like he deserved forgiveness."

Ami laughs and shakes her head, disbelief setting in. "There's no fucking way."

"After he and Midoriya made up, he felt the same way. Years or months, he's aware of when he's the one who messed up a friendship."

"Yeah but-"

Kirishima's phone rings then, making them both look down.

BAKUGO is calling... The screen says.

Speak of the fucking devil.

"Yo." Kirishima presses the phone to his ear, then he starts frowning almost immediately. "...What are you talking about?"

Ami mirrors the redhead's frown, "What happened?" She whispers.

"Dude, I said 5:30, not 4:30. I'm out right now."

Bakugo's voice is sharp on the other end before the tell-tale beeping of an ended call sounds.

Kirishima pulls the phone away from his ear and looks at it in confusion. "That was... weird." He mumbles, putting his phone back down on the table.

"What happened?" Ami repeats, insistently.

"He was all mad about me leaving him waiting because he got the times confused. Something about 'Seeing how it is' and when I corrected him he just snapped at me and hung up?"

"...Uh?"

Kirishima sighs and shakes his head. "Right. Anyway," He takes one of Ami's fries and points at her with it. "Aside from that, try talking to him about how you feel. Something tells me he might feel the same."

Ami's eyes snap up to his face from the fry in his hand. "Excuse me?" How could he like me after all of this?

"He acts like you do. I haven't asked him about it since I don't want him biting my head off." Kirishima explains. "Probably don't do it soon, but eventually when you two get back to normal."

Well that's new information.

"I'll... keep that in mind. Why didn't you mention this before?"

He looks down at the melting ice in his drink and shrugs, "I didn't want to say anything until I was sure."

Ami purses her lips at that but nods, "Fair enough."

Looks like the road to reparing things between them had gotten a lot more complicated.

Katuski presses the "End" button on his screen, watching from across the street at his friend states down at his phone in confusion through the restaurant window.

Ami says something to him, getting his attention, concern obvious on her face despite the distance.

He felt fucking stupid. He didn't know that Kirishima and Fujiwara were even close enough to hang out like this. While he'd been fighting all his stupid ass feelings for her and the guilt surrounding how he'd spoken to her, his friend had been there helping her deal with it all. Now all the times he'd had plans recently were being explained right in front of his eyes. Kirishima had been spending time with her.

Katuski hadn't intended to run into them like this. He'd just been going for a run in the city, lightly patrolling in his own way, when he'd seen the two in a booth at the new food place in town. Originally he'd been supposed to meet up with Kirishima for some endurance training, but when he hadn't shown, Katsuki had decided to go for a run to blow off steam. Turns out that not only had he been wrong about the time they were supposed to meet up, but he'd been wrong about how he felt about Ami. Or he'd downplayed it to himself, that was, until he saw how casually Kirishima had held her hand from across the table.

The feeling in his chest that was trampling out his earlier anger was something he didn't even want to put a name to. He refused to acknowledge it. What the fuck was he even feeling like this for? Because he was busy being fucking stubborn while his best friend got close to the girl who'd been stirring new feelings up in him? Or was it because he'd been too stupid to think of another way to handle how his dreams had made him feel when he was around her. He'd been too careless.

"To hell with that." He mumbles, jogging back towards UA's campus. Once he'd turned 18 he'd been given permission to leave the grounds unsupervised, and while others used that to go shopping -and apparently go on fucking dates- Katsuki had used it as an excuse to patrol the city every now and again. The rule wasn't too strict though, since at 17, the younger students in class 3-A were allowed to go out with any of the older students. Which was what Kirishima was doing at 17 with Ami, who had turned 18 right before Katsuki had met her.

So fucking what if they were dating or whatever? Kirishima didn't know how Katsuki was feeling because, like an idiot, he'd never told him the weird and conflicting feelings he'd had for Ami. Had he known what was going to happen, though, he would've. But why the hell was he thinking like this anyway? He'd told Ami that they weren't friends and basically restarted their whole friendship from nothing when he did. Instead of going on a 5 month friendship, they were at day 3 all over again.

He'd be an asshole if he told her he actually had stupid fucking feelings for her now. Especially if she was happy.

Kirishima wouldn't say something to her out of anger like he had and hurt her feelings. He was... nicer. He wasn't pushy or impulsive.

Not like Katsuki, who was both of those things and more. He knew it, and he could only blame himself.

When he gets back to the dormitory he immediately goes to his room to get clean clothes then heads down to take a shower. Showers always helped him clear his mind when it was a mess, and right now it was more of a mess than usual.

"Bakugo!"

Katsuki flinches slightly then sighs, turning around to watch as Ashido approaches him with her usual smile. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with the pink girl's bubbly mood right now. Especially not while his own mood felt very much the opposite.

"What?" He asks once she reaches him, holding his clothes tightly in his hand.

"Ami told me that the four of us were teaming up for our in-city training!" She chirps. "So it looks like you two finally put your problems six feet under, huh?"

Bakugo scoffs slightly. Yeah, the old ones. "I guess."

She tilts her head to the side slightly, a look of confusion flashing across her face. "You don't seem as happy about that as I figured you would be."

In truth, he was happy about it. Or he had been, that was, until what he saw earlier had ruined his mood. "I'm just having a rough day, Pinky," he says instead, choosing to go with a half-truth. "It's got nothing to do with that."

Though she doesn't look convinced, Mina doesn't push. "Alright," she holds her hands up in mock-surrender. "I'll see you on our first day on the city streets then."

Katsuki nods slightly, turning to continue on towards the shower, "Yeah, yeah."

It's not until he's under the warm stream of water that it hits him.

I have to work with Fujiwara and Kirishima for a solid month.

"Fuck."