Notes: An upload schedule? Nope, never heard of that. I hope you guys like this chapter because I genuinely love it so much 3 I wanted to get this to yall asap so I've been proofreading like crazy the past few days (and this is by far the longest chapter yet at 11.3k lmao, oops). I have worked so hard on this fic, and I feel like this chapter is really where things kick off! Enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextKatsuki sat slouched against the wall on Kaminari's bed, game controller in hand as his fingers pressed the buttons with practiced ease. He was kicking Sero's ass at a new battle video game that Kaminari had gotten while the rest of their little group sat around and watched, waiting for their turns to play. Katsuki knew the rest of them were all just avoiding their homework, but he could never pass up a chance to demolish his friends virtually.
The game was annoying, the controls were awkward as fuck, and most of the rules didn't make sense, but he wasn't one to give up easily. He had, of course, won every round they'd played.
At least, he had so far.
Out of nowhere, Sero's character received some type of random power up and KOed him on the spot. Katsuki's character fell to the ground in defeat as the 'You Won!' message flashed over Sero's side of the screen.
"Hell yeah, I did it! I finally beat Bakugou!" Sero grinned, pumping his fist into the air with pride as everyone other than Katsuki cheered.
"Whatever. This game fuckin' sucks," Katsuki said, throwing his controller at Kaminari. "The controls are stupid and the item bonuses make no sense."
Kaminari caught the controller and rolled his eyes. "He loses one time and suddenly it's the game's fault. As if you haven't been beating all of us for almost an hour."
"Not my fault Smash Brothers is a better game," Katsuki shrugged, his arms crossed in feigned disinterest.
"You just wanna be Bowser and stomp around all the time," said Ashido as she unsuccessfully tried to take the controller from Kaminari. "And you constantly change the item rules so we get spammed with Bob-ombs, which is super annoying. And you always win at that game, too, so what's the difference if we play this one? I'm sick of Smash Brothers."
Katsuki scoffed. She wasn't wrong, but she didn't have to complain so damn hard. "Bowser's got a cool fuckin' quirk, don't give me that crap. You know Smash is a better game."
"Let him be, Ashido," Kirishima said, patting her shoulder. "He's experiencing real loss for the first time in his life. He needs his space."
"You can all drop dead," Katsuki grumbled as everyone else laughed. "I'm takin' a nap." He laid down facing the wall, eyes closed, as he somehow managed to cross his arms even more tightly than he already had.
"Bro, that's my bed," Kaminari said, his tone overly offended for someone who didn't care as much about the tidiness of his personal space as Katsuki did.
"And? You sleep all over everywhere all the damn time so suck it up. I'm tired."
"He's not wrong, Kaminari," Sero said. "You've fallen asleep on probably every couch downstairs at least once already this year, and we've only been here a few weeks."
"Yeah but that's different. I don't want my bed to be all covered in 'Bakugou smell'."
Katsuki felt the vein in his temple throb as he clenched his jaw. "You sayin' I stink?!"
"No! No. But you do sweat a lot, and-"
"Then just do your damn laundry for once!"
"What if I explode in my sleep?!"
"Dumbass, that's not how it fuckin' works! It doesn't just combust on its own! Now shut the hell up, I'm takin' a damn nap!"
Kaminari sighed in defeat, realizing it was a losing battle, and Katsuki assumed he'd turned his attention back on the game.
"Hey, let me playyy," Ashido whined behind him. There was some scuffling and he could tell she was trying to grab the controller again.
"No, Ashido, it's my turn," Kaminari said, annoyed.
"Ugh, fine! But I get next."
"Nah, next is Kirishima."
"You can take my turn, Ashido," Kirishima said, and Katsuki just knew he had that dumb, sappy, puppy-eyed smile on his face. He and Uraraka should enter a 'blindingly obnoxious smile' contest together; they'd probably tie for first place.
"You're too manly sometimes, dude. She's never gunna stop if you just give her whatever she wants," Kaminari grumbled. "Hey, don't make that face at me, Ashido!"
Katsuki tried to zone out of the conversation, but he wasn't actually as tired as he claimed to be, and with the idiot brigade around it was always difficult to relax.
"Why are you picking the princess?" Sero asked, ending the argument over who could or couldn't take whos turn. "Doesn't she have, like, the worst battle stats? I guess she's fast, though."
"Dude, I don't care what her stats are, she's cute! Look at her!"
"She's a video game character, Kaminari."
"So what? Why would I want to look at one of these ugly dude characters when I could look at this cute princess instead? We all know I'm a ladies man."
Luckily, Ashido snorted loudly enough that it covered Katsuki's own small exhale of laughter. "I'm sorry, you're a what now?" she asked, incredulous.
"You heard me. I'm definitely the stud of this group."
Ashido, Kirishima, and Sero all burst out laughing. "What in the world would make you think that?" she asked.
"Come on, we've got Sero who's pretty cool but hasn't shown interest in anyone since that girl Midoriya saw naked at the licensing exam, who I'm pretty sure was actually that villain Toga anyways, and you can't be a ladies man if you don't want any ladies. Then there's Kirishima who is too manly for his own good so we can't possibly count him, either. Kacchan needs no explanation. So really, you're my only competition, and, though your love of the ladies is probably very reciprocated, the last I checked you hadn't changed your pronouns and therefore you can't be a ladies man. And that just leaves yours truly."
If Katsuki could see through the back of his head he'd bet that Kaminari was probably winking and doing some stupid pose involving finger guns, but thankfully he couldn't.
"Don't you need to have, I don't know, maybe even one lady to be considered a ladies man?" Sero teased.
"Dude, the ladies love me!"
Katsuki could practically feel the mischievousness dripping from Ashido's words as she snickered and asked, "Does Jiro know that?"
Kaminari's voice cracked as he squeaked out, at least two octaves higher pitched than normal, "W-ah?!"
"Oh yeah, how's that going?" Kirishima asked, so casually and genuinely that you'd think he was just catching up with an old friend.
Kaminari awkwardly cleared his throat. "It's… Going."
"Sure, because you've really done a lot to impress her, Mr. Ladies Man," said Sero, sarcastically.
Kaminari spluttered, unable to form any comprehensible words for a few seconds before he defensively shouted, "I'm working on it!"
Even Katsuki could tell he was embarrassed and had backed himself into a corner. Despite his best efforts to pretend he was sleeping and avoid this dumb conversation, he snorted again, more loudly than before. "You sure about that, Dunce Face?"
"Aww man, not you too," Kaminari groaned, defeated. "Come on guys, can't we just go back to ripping on Bakugou?"
"Piss off, you dug your own grave."
"Whatever," Kaminari said. "I stand by it! I'm more of a ladies man than any of you guys."
"None of us are claiming to be," said Sero.
"What about you, Sero, do you like someone? Kaminari said you're not interested in anyone specific. Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Katsuki rolled his eyes. Leave it to Ashido to grasp at any opportunity to gossip about romantic chick bullshit.
"Nah, not really. Kaminari's right, I did think that girl Camie was super hot, but unlike Bakugou and Todoroki I only knew the Toga version because I actually passed the licensing exam," Sero said, ignoring Katsuki's outburst of 'fuck you, Tape Face!' "I can't believe Midoriya actually got to see her naked. He's so lucky."
"He's the worst," Kaminari sobbed in agreement.
"You're both gross," said Ashido.
"I'd probably never date someone like that though," Sero continued. "She seemed kinda spacey, and I'd feel lame going after someone just for looks, you know? Plus she's so far from here. There was also this girl I was friends with in Junior High who was pretty cute, but I never really went for it. I was too focused on trying to get into U.A."
"Aww, that's boring. Do you still talk?"
"Nah, I haven't seen her since then. She's not trying to follow the hero path, so once we graduated there wasn't much time to talk anymore. But it wasn't a legit crush or anything so I'm not upset over it," he said nonchalantly. "It'd be nice to have a girlfriend but I'm not in any particular rush right now. I think hanging around Mineta has actually helped me learn some more respect for women's boundaries, so I'm fine just going with the flow."
Ashido grumbled, clearly having wanted something more juicy and dramatic.
Katsuki was hoping that would be the end of the conversation, but he should have realized that having an idiot like Kaminari for a friend meant things could never be that simple. "Well if we're all getting put on blast then Kirishima's gotta go next!"
The air grew heavy as Kirishima cryptically replied, "Um, I'd rather not talk about it right now."
"Bro, that's not fair! You asked me, now you gotta answer, too."
God, Katsuki knew Kaminari had done some dumb shit in the past but this was really taking the cake. Even he wasn't that blind. Part of him wanted to get up and leave to avoid this stupid bullshit but he was also sick of the way Shitty Hair had been dancing around this topic for months now, even thought it was painfully obvious to everyone except the two involved. Maybe it would be better to just rip off the bandaid. Kirishima hadn't ever admitted to liking anyone, but Katsuki could tell just from the way he acted around her that he had stupid feelings or whatever. Not that he cared if any of his friends started dating, because that would most likely be annoying as hell, but at least he wouldn't have to be awkwardly in the middle of it anymore.
"Kaminari, please just drop it, man," Kirishima chuckled nervously.
Ashido laughed because clearly she was just as stupid as Kaminari. "Just tell us, Kirishima. What are you so scared of? It's not like you like me or something."
The quiet music loop coming from the video game's character select screen was suddenly deafening.
No one spoke, no one even moved. The tension in the air was so thick you could taste it.
It was agonizing.
Katsuki was very glad he was pretending to be asleep because he was sure that whatever was going on behind him was incredibly fucking stupid.
After what felt like decades of uncomfortably silent idiocy, Sero's overly loud voice rang out through the intense awkwardness that had overtaken the room. "Hey, hey, Bakugou, you haven't answered yet! Please tell us what you think about girls or guys or both or neither and if you like anyone and everything else related to that topic, please, right now, immediately, please."
Katsuki stiffened. There was no way he was joining this useless conversation.
"Dude?" Katsuki stayed silent. "Bakugou?" He would not answer, they couldn't fucking pay him enough to talk about this shit. He'd always ignored these stupid conversations in the past and he wasnt about to break his track record just because Kirishima had a stupid crush and Kaminari didn't actually need to overuse his quirk in order to short circuit his damn brain. There was the sound of more movement behind him and suddenly someone was climbing on the bed and leaning over his shoulder. "Please for the love of god, Bakugou, answer the question," Kaminari begged, sounding like he was on the verge of tears.
Katsuki clenched his teeth and opened one eye to glare at the idiot leaning over him. "Do you actually wanna fuckin' die?" He regretted not leaving earlier when he'd had the chance.
"Please," Kaminari squeaked out, his hands gripping Katsuki's shoulder like it was his last lifeline. "Just say something! Anything!" Katsuki could feel Kaminari's hands shaking as the grip on his t-shirt tightened. "Help me," he whimpered, barely audibly.
Katsuki shoved him off and Kaminari fell to the floor, a strangled sound coming from his throat. "I'm sleepin'!"
"Actually, Bakugou, you should answer the question," said Ashido. Her voice was quieter than normal and she spoke slowly, as if she were thinking of what she wanted to say very carefully. "Do you like anyone?"
"The fuck do you think?" he barked in response.
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking."
"No. I don't care about that shit."
"Well, do you at least find anyone in our school cute? Or maybe even in our class?"
Before Katsuki could even blink his mouth went dry and his heart tried to make a break for it, attempting to explode through his chest as the fastest possible escape route. He definitely still had brain damage from his concussion last week because his fucked up idiot mind decided to present him with the memory of Uraraka sticking her tongue out at him from across the classroom. "No," he said, a little quieter than he intended. He cleared his throat, hoping to all hell that they'd just think it was because he had been 'sleeping' and not because the words were suddenly caught there, and added, "I don't think things are 'cute,' Racoon Eyes."
"Okay," Ashido said, dismissively. "Well let's pretend that you were a human person and not an explosion robot and that you did find certain people cute. What types of things would you think were, like, attractive?"
He was gunna kill Kaminari for starting this stupid fucking conversation. He didn't care about dating or love or romance or any of that stupid crap. It was a waste of time and would only distract him from what was actually important.
So why the fuck couldn't he get Uraraka's dumb fucking excited expression out of his head? There was no way he found her cute. And even if he did find her cute for some arbitrary reason he would rather full out hug Deku than admit it to anyone, especially gossip-queen Pinky. But no matter how hard he tried to calm himself down or how hot his ears were getting, he couldn't stop thinking about her bright smile and her determined eyes and her absolutely adorable pink, round cheeks.
But there was absolutely no way in hell he was telling any of those idiots that.
"Round cheeks? I mean I guess that can be kinda cute," said Sero, thoughtfully.
What?
"Oh, yeah," Ashido added. "Like a cute little animal whose face you just wanna smush and kiss all over!"
What?
"First of all, Ashido, we're clearly talking about ass cheeks here, not face cheeks. I know my bro, Bakugou, is probably an ass man."
"Eww, Kaminari, you're being gross again," Ashido said. "We can be talking about face cheeks and ass cheeks."
WHAT?
"You're right, Ashido. Both face cheeks and ass cheeks can be very cute," said Sero, approvingly.
"WHAT?!"
"That's what you were just mumbling, isn't it?" asked Kaminari. "'Round cheeks.'"
Fuck.
He hadn't even realized he'd said that shit out loud! How the fuck was this girl distracting him so much that he wasn't even in control of his own mouth anymore? This was exactly the kind of stupid bullshit he wanted to avoid.
He could feel his entire face getting hotter and whirled around, glaring at all of them, ready to fucking explode at the next person who made the grave mistake of speaking to him. But, Ashido, Sero, and Kaminari were too busy having a new argument about what types of pants made butts look the best and didn't even acknowledge that Katsuki wasn't pretending to be asleep anymore. Kirishima, however, looked him dead in the eyes and grinned.
He turned his glare on his best friend, silently daring him to open his fucking mouth so he would have an excuse to blast someone to shreds.
"Say, Bakugou," Sero questioned after the idiot brigade had agreed that butts looked good in all types of pants, but generally jeans were the best bet for everyone, "don't you always call Uraraka 'Round Face'?"
"Hey, yeah, I have heard him call her that before," Kaminari added, rounding on Katsuki.
Shit.
"Fuck off, no I don't."
"He totally does."
"FUCK OFF! WHO ASKED YOU?!"
"And," drawled a voice behind him, "his phone contact for her is 'Pink Cheeks'." Katsuki whirled around again to see the absolute shit-eating grin plastered on Kirishima's face. "She sent you a text about 20 minutes ago, though you should probably check it when all of these guys can't be super nosy about it."
Katsuki snatched his phone up from where he'd accidentally left it on the floor next to Kirishima, absolutely fuming with anger.
"OH MY GOD!" squealed Ashido, running over to try to see as Katsuki held his phone up out of her reach. "I KNEW IT!"
"FUCK YOU, SHITTY HAIR, YOU FUCKING BASTARD! AND FUCK YOU TOO, RACOON EYES! HE'S LYING!" He shoved Ashido away, using his slightly longer arms to keep her just out of reach as she frantically grasped for the phone, completely undeterred by his literal bomb of a hand directly in her face.
"Whatever you say, bro. Lying isn't very manly, though," shrugged Kirishima.
He was gunna kill Kaminari for starting this stupid conversation and then he was gunna kill Kirishima, too, the fucking jerk.
"Dude, I don't blame you," laughed Sero from the other side of the room. "Uraraka is pretty cute."
"SHUT UP! YOU'RE ALL ON FUCKIN' DRUGS!"
"Hey, man, I was just saying, no need to get all loud about it."
"Yeah dude," added Kaminari, "there's no shame in having a crush."
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ROUND FACE! SHE'S ANNOYING AS HELL, JUST LIKE ALL OF YOU!"
"Okay, Bakugou, whatever you say."
"DIE YOU BASTARD!"
Ashido squealed again and clenched her fists to her chest, doing a little dance as she finally gave up her attempt to grab Katsuki's phone. "Ooooh, Bakugou, this is so exciting! I knew you were crushing on her!"
"LIKE HELL! I DON'T EVEN LIKE HER!"
"But you two have been getting so close recently, I thought you were becoming pretty good friends," said Kirishima, the most genuine of all of them.
"FUCK NO! SHE AIN'T MY FRIEND!"
"Damn, that's harsh. Poor Uraraka," sighed Kaminari. "Are you sure you don't like her even just a little bit? You actually use her real name a lot, so I figured you liked her better than most of the class at least."
"I TOLD YOU TO FUCKIN' DIE AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! RESPECTING A GOOD HERO AIN'T THE SAME AS THIS STUPID BULLSHIT!"
Katsuki was so heated that they could probably even see the smoke coming out of his clenched fists. He didn't know why he was so angry, he just knew that if they didn't shut up now he was going to lose it.
"Okay, Kaminari, let's chill out and stop teasing him. He said he doesn't like anyone so let's just take his word for it and leave him alone," said Ashido, turning away from him to go sit back down.
Katsuki thought it was the smartest shit she had said all day.
Kaminari gave her a weird look which Katsuki wasn't able to identify, but it completely vanished from his memory as Sero casually said, "And anyway, Uraraka totally has a crush on Midoriya."
He was suffocating. Katsuki's heart had wedged itself up in his trachea, cutting off his air supply, and he couldn't get his lungs to do their only damn job.
Why was it always Deku?
Why did he even care?
But why did it always have to be Deku?
Kaminari nodded. "Yeah, she's not subtle about that at all, huh? I tried to ask her on a date when we first started at U.A. and I don't even think she heard me because Midoriya showed up and she tuned me out. She definitely likes him, right Ashido?"
Katsuki knew. Obviously he knew. He wasn't as fucking dumb and oblivious about this shit as everyone thought. So why was actually hearing about it so painful? He didn't give a fuck who she liked or didn't like because it was irrelevant and stupid. It didn't effect him. Crushes were pointless, especially for people who were trying to become pro heroes. They didn't have time to waste.
So then why did he suddenly want to explode a hole through the wall?
"I will neither confirm nor deny as that goes against secret girl code," Ashido said, shoving her nose in the air. "Don't ask me again!"
Katsuki's entire body felt as cold as ice - not at all a feeling he was used to. He couldn't afford to fucking worry about shit like this. He had to get Uraraka out of his stupid head and get his thoughts back to normal. A part of him wanted to blame this all on Deku somehow, take the easy way out as he had always done. But he had promised himself that he wouldn't do that anymore. He knew that no one had done anything, least of all Deku who wasn't even involved, and he was just getting worked up because of stupid feelings that he did not have. He had to stop thinking about what his friends had said and letting them get in his head. Immediately.
He had to calm down or they would keep jumping to incorrect conclusions, and he definitely didn't need any annoying and false rumors spreading. Extras already had enough bullshit to say about him, and it's not like he cared what anyone thought, but at least it was all related to his power and attitude. He didn't want Uraraka getting dragged into that bullshit too.
He took a deep breath in an attempt to refocus his thoughts, something he was trying to get better at, and forced himself to empty his mind. "You can all fuckin' go to hell," he said, almost robotically. "And Shitty Hair, if you ever look at my phone again I'll kill you."
"My bad bro, I didn't realize it was yours at first. Won't happen again."
There was another round of awkward silence, this time filled with stifled giggles and held back laughter, and the tension in the air was thick for a different reason than before.
He was really pissed. Why was he letting himself get so fucking worked up? He had never even thought about this shit before, so now why couldn't he get the idea out of his head. He didn't see Uraraka that way. He didn't have time to. She was his sparring partner and that was it. He wouldn't even waste time entertaining any other dumb ass ideas that these idiots tried to come up with.
He couldn't.
After a few seconds Ashido finally spoke up, shattering the lul they had all fallen into.
"Well guys, this was fun but I should probably get back and do that math homework I never finished before Tsu yells at me again." She got up and went to leave, but before she shut the door she poked her head back in. "Uh, Kirishima? I think that I might have left something in your room the other day, do you mind coming to look for it with me? Like, now?"
"Y-yeah! Yup!" Kirishima sprang up and ran to the door to meet her, his expression more nervous than Bakugou had ever seen. "Bakugou, uh, gym. Later. Yeah? Okay." He didn't wait for a response, slamming the door a little too hard on his way out.
The three boys left in the room looked at each other for a few seconds, processing everything that had just happened, before Kaminari finally broke the silence. "So... I'm an idiot, huh?"
"You're just now realizing?" sneered Katsuki.
"Kaminari, you had to know that he likes her," said Sero. "Everyone knows! Right, Bakugou?"
"He was obvious as shit about it," Katsuki said.
"See? Even Bakugou figured it out! Ashido's probably the only one who didn't know."
"I know, I know!" Kaminari looked upset. "I just wasn't thinking."
Katsuki snorted, humorlessly. "Are you ever?"
"Well, in my defense, he did ask me about, um, her first. And he's never technically said anything about it so I completely forgot. Man, I've never seen him so red before. He literally matched his hair! What about Ashido? Does she like him back?"
"I don't know," Sero said, worried. "She's a wild card. She's kinda sassy and flirty with pretty much everyone, so it's hard to tell. She's super into romantic stuff but I never really pegged her as having a thing for someone specific."
Kaminari groaned. "Man, I hope I didn't just majorly mess things up for him."
"Who cares?" Katsuki rolled his eyes. He was sick of this stupid conversation that should have been over before it even began. What did it matter if Racoon Eyes liked him back, they had more important things to worry about. Why couldn't anyone else see that?
"Well you should care because they're your friends," Kaminari said.
"Tch."
The conversation ended there and they drifted back into awkward silence.
"I think I'm gunna head out too," said Sero. "I also have to work on that math homework."
"Damn, I didn't even get to play my turn," Kaminari whined, gesturing towards the abandoned video game. "Bakugou, do you wanna-"
"I'm leaving."
"Awww, man…"
Katsuki got up and followed Sero to the elevator, leaving Kaminari alone with his game. When he exited at the fourth floor and walked to his room he finally allowed himself to check the text that Kirishima had outed him for.
Pink Cheeks 17:24
Hey Bakugou, what flavor was that protein bar you gave me last week? I wanna buy some
Of fucking course it was something unimportant. He was gunna kick Kirishima's ass later, the bastard. A small part of him thought he should be annoyed at Uraraka, too, for messaging him for no reason in the first place, but he couldn't bring himself to be upset about it.
Katsuki 18:07
Dark chocolate
He locked his phone and went to reach for his keys but it vibrated again before he could even get them out of his pocket.
Pink Cheeks 18:07
Awesome, thanks! (๑ ᴗ ๑)
He stared at the screen, reading and re-reading her response over and over again.
How the hell had she responded so quickly? Was she just… waiting for him to answer her message? He really didn't understand this girl. Who would just sit around by their phone and wait for someone to reply to their text? It was weird.
But, as he opened his door he realized he would have to add that stupid cheeks emoticon she kept sending to the ever growing list of things about her that he found incredibly annoying and definitely not really fucking cute.
Over an hour went by before Kirishima finally showed up, ready to go to the gym, all signs of the nervousness he was so clearly feeling earlier completely gone. Katsuki had wanted to go blast his door down 30 minutes ago, but you absolutely couldn't pay him enough to go interrupt whatever dumb ass shit was happening between him and Ashido. He'd rather straight up kiss Deku than have to go through another situation like what had happened earlier.
Maybe. Like, just on the cheek or something. Maybe.
Katsuki would rather just move on and pretend the whole thing hadn't happened, but unfortunately for him it was obvious that Kirishima was buzzing to talk about it. He was clearly super fucking excited about something, but Katsuki refused to say anything. Kirishima was practically a ticking time bomb anyway so he just mentally prepared for the inevitable.
They were bench pressing, most of the way through their usual sets in an otherwise empty section of the gym, when Kirishima finally brought up the dreaded topic. "So I realize I'm talking to you right now but I'm surprised you haven't brought up anything that happened earlier." Of course Shitty Hair had waited until he was the one spotting to bring it up. Katsuki was literally trapped between a rock and a hard place.
He didn't say anything, but his strained, grouchy expression was no longer just due to the weight he was lifting.
"Bro, I know it was super awkward for everyone. I'm sorry."
"Whatever," Katsuki grunted between reps. "Don't care."
"So you're not curious about what happened between me and Ashido?"
"No."
"Can I tell you anyway?"
Again, Katsuki didn't answer. He knew it was coming regardless of what he said, so it was easier to just let Kirishima get it over with.
After a few seconds of nothing but quiet gym sounds, Kirishima excitedly announced "Okay! Well, we're not officially dating yet because Ashido is well… Ashido, and she said I have to ask her out properly in a 'super romantic way' or whatever. Which is fine, I was planning to eventually anyway, once I got up the courage, so now I just have to think of an idea. You know how she always watches all those romance movies, so I need to come up with something really good. Maybe I'll ask some of the girls for help. But anyway, we did end up making out. Like, a lot. So I think I owe Kaminari a fancy dinner or something." He laughed at Katsuki's grimace. "What? I didn't even give you that much detail!"
Katsuki finished his reps and sat up to get some water. "You better not be gross around me or I'll fuckin' kill both of you."
Kirishima just laughed again. "I'm glad you approve, man." He grabbed his own water and prepared to switch places once Katsuki was more rested.
"Why're you tellin' me this?" Katsuki asked as he stretched out his arms. "Shouldn't you be sayin' some shit about it being 'unmanly to kiss and tell' or whatever?" Not that Katsuki really cared about what his friends did behind closed doors. Honestly, he'd rather not even think about it.
Kirishima nodded. "Well yeah, normally that's super unmanly. But she's going to be my girlfriend soon so it's not really a secret, I guess. Plus you're my best bro, I know you're not going to say anything. Also, I'm way too happy." Katsuki could tell, if the lovesick look his friend had was any indication. "And to be honest I'm not sure you even know what kissing is anyway."
"WHAT THE HELL, SHITTY HAIR?! DIE!" Katsuki threw a punch which Kirishima easily blocked, his arms hardening instinctually as he laughed again.
"I'm just joking," Kirishima said, his laughter finally dying down. "So. Uraraka, huh? Honestly, I wouldn't have expected that before this year but even if you deny it I can see how close you two are getting. You literally wouldn't even let Kaminari have your number till I gave it to him, so she must be pretty special."
"Piss off," Katsuki grumbled. He was hoping that Kirishima had forgotten about all of that due to his sappier-than-usual giddiness, but Katsuki should've known he would never be so lucky.
"Sorry again for looking, I was just distracted and thought it was my phone going off. I realized once I saw the message notification that it definitely wasn't mine. I swear I didn't read anything."
"Tch. There was nothin' to read, she was just askin' about a stupid protein bar. Coulda kept your damn mouth shut, though," Katsuki said, glaring at him.
"Yeah but where's the fun in that? I needed to get the heat off me." Kirishima grinned. "So, be honest. Do you like her?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"I said piss off, Shitty Hair!" Katsuki was getting pissed again. He didn't want to fucking talk about this.
"Fine, fine. But if you ever need advice or want to vent you can always come to your boy, Kiri-"
"I SAID, NO! I DON'T FUCKIN' LIKE HER! I CAN'T!"
Katsuki heard the words leave his mouth before he could think about their implication. He felt his ears grow hot from something other than post-lifting adrenaline, which only pissed him off more. Fortunately, the gym was fairly empty and most of the other students working out were listening to music or already used to Katsuki's outbursts, because no one turned to look at them. Kirishima looked at him skeptically, one eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. "So is it that you don't like her or that you can't like her?"
"Both! Why does it even matter?! I don't like her!"
"Well if it's just that you can't like her I was going to ask you why not? What's stopping you?" Kirishima shrugged. "I've never known you to say that you can't do something."
Katsuki wanted to say it was because he didn't have time to even think about things like that. He needed to focus all of his energy on becoming the next number one and there was no point in having any useless distractions. And he didn't view Uraraka in that way regardless of if he might just so happen to enjoy looking at her mochi-like cheeks, so it was literally irrelevant. He was about to say that...
'And anyway, Uraraka totally has a crush on Midoriya.'
Why was he thinking of this again? And why was it making him just as angry as before? He needed to just fucking forget this already. He'd never cared before that she liked Deku. It didn't involve him and was none of his business. So why was it bothering him so much now?
He must have been quiet for too long because Kirishima sighed. "Listen, I know that being a hero is the only thing you care about but you also can't control your feelings. Whatever they are, it's okay to like other people. Romantically or platonically, there's nothing wrong with either one."
"Tch."
"You can always talk to me about it," Kirishima said, resting his hand on Katsuki's shoulder. "I won't tell the others, even Ashido. I know she can get overly excited about this kinda stuff. But you're my best bro, Bakugou. I'm here for you, man."
Katsuki shrugged off Kirishima's hand with a scowl and stood up to replace him behind the bench. Kirishima sat down and started his own reps, not saying anything else, which Katsuki was grateful for. He didn't want to talk about this. He didnt need to talk about this. There was literally nothing to talk about. He decided this conversation was over.
His brain damage and newfound loss of control over his own mouth when Uraraka was involved had different plans.
"She's fuckin' annoying."
Kirishima's eyes widened in surprise at Katsuki's voluntary release of information and he used the second between his reps to grunt "Hn," indicating for Katsuki to continue.
"She's so fuckin' peppy and cheery all the time and I can't stand it. But when she's not happy or she gets quiet it's awful, and my idiot brain forces me to restart the fuckin' conversation. It's like I can't stand her just sitting there quietly. I know I'm supposed to be annoyed but I'm just… Not. Which pisses me off. And then she'll make some stupid fuckin' expression and suddenly I don't really mind anymore. Sometimes she gets pissed and her cheeks puff out and she looks like a fuckin' cartoon character! It's ridiculous! How the hell am I supposed to take that seriously? But then she'll get this determined look in her eyes like she's gunna fuckin' prove herself to you no matter what. And then she does.
"Even if she messes shit up or gets knocked on her ass over and over she never gives up. She's always trying to show people how capable she is and they don't even give a shit, just because she's a cute girl they automatically assume she's weak. It's infuriating that no one takes her seriously when she's actually strong as hell and smarter than people give her credit for. She'll come up with a battle strategy on the spot, and it'll be so annoyingly well thought out you'd think Deku was the one who'd thought of it.
"I can never fuckin' think straight around her. I'm always sayin' shit I don't mean and making her upset, which is annoying as hell too, but it's like when she's around I can't even control my own mouth. Like right fuckin' now. I don't wanna talk about this crap yet here I am telling you all of this bullshit that I shouldn't even be fuckin' thinking about because I don't have time to waste on pointless shit like this. One minute she's pissing me off and then the next she's doing some cute fuckin' bullshit and suddenly it's like I'm losing my mind!
"She won't fuckin' leave me alone but for some reason I also can't stop her. I don't want to stop her. When I'm around her I don't have to hold back because she'll fight with everything she has. I keep thinking about her all the time no matter how much I don't fuckin' want to, and she just keeps fuckin' talking to me about all this random shit and for some fuckin' reason I go along with it. It should be infuriating! But it's not. Which in itself is infuriating. I don't fuckin' know anymore, Kirishima." Fortunately, Katsuki still had enough self control not to mention their secret sparring sessions, but based on the look Kirishima was giving him he could tell that his friend suspected more than he was letting on.
Kirishima, having finished his reps at some point during Katsuki's rant, nodded slowly. "Well, it makes sense that you go along with her trying to have a conversation with you. Because you're friends."
"Hah?!"
"Bro, I would hope by now you've realized what a friend is," Kirishima said, grinning.
Katsuki glared at him. "I already fuckin' told you, her and I aren't friends! You just fuckin' forced me to spill all this bullshit and that's all you have to say?!"
"Well, it's a lot to process. And I didn't force you."
"Fuck, Kirishima! I can't keep fuckin' thinking about all of this. I'm so fuckin' pissed and also not pissed and that just makes me pissed all over again! I never know what I'm even feeling or what I'm thinking or what she's thinking and I hate it. I fuckin' got brain damage from that concussion last week, that's the only explanation for all this stupid shit that's happening."
Kirishima snorted. "I don't think you have brain damage, Bakugou. I think that for once you're just experiencing emotions like a normal person."
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I think you need to seriously think about all these feelings and figure out what they mean."
"Dammit, that's why I just fuckin' told you all this bullshit because I don't know what it means!"
"Right, but I can't help you if you don't even wanna think about it. I'm here if you wanna vent it all out but I think you need to either forget it like you claim to want to or try and understand it all. And with the way things are going I don't think just forgetting about everything is going to be an option, especially since Uraraka definitely thinks you two are friends. Which you are."
"Wow, what a great help you are," Katsuki scoffed, rolling his eyes.
Kirishima smirked, and Katsuki got the feeling there was more going on in his friend's head than he was sharing at the moment. "You'll figure it out, I believe in you! And if you do come to the conclusion that you have romantic feelings towards Uraraka, what's so bad about that?"
"Everything!" Katsuki clenched his jaw and ruffled his hands through his hair, trying to calm his thoughts and remember his own reasoning for why what Kirishima was suggesting was impossible. "I don't have feelings for anyone, so this is literally irrelevant, but I don't have time to go on stupid dates or waste my day hangin' out with someone doing meaningless things. Being in a relationship right now would just be a distraction. I'm going to become number one and in order to do that it's gotta be my top and only priority."
"You do that with us though. We literally were just hanging out and playing video games together," Kirishima deadpanned.
Failing to find a flaw in Kirishima's logic but also not willing to concede - because he knew he was right just like he always was - Katsuki simply scoffed. "Just shut up and fuckin' spot me, Shitty Hair."
Kirishima laughed again but obliged anyway. They switched places and as Katsuki started his last set of reps Kirishima changed topics, seemingly leaving Katsuki to sort out his 'feelings' alone. "So, tomorrow's your birthday."
"And?"
"It's our day off so I was thinking we should all go do something fun! We could go to a game center and get food or something."
"No."
"Why not? It'll be fun. What, are you worried that we'll beat you at the arcade games or something? I am pretty good at fighting games." His shit eating grin was back and it took all of Katsuki's willpower not to slam the weights into it. It wouldn't hurt the sturdy hero of course, but it was the principle of it.
Katsuki abruptly finished his reps and stood up, shouting, "LIKE HELL! I'LL KICK ALL YOUR ASSES AT EVERYTHING! JUST TRY ME, SHITTY HAIR!" It was a trap. He knew it was. But he just couldn't let go of an obvious challenge.
"Awesome! I'll text everyone later and we'll make a plan," Kirishima said, a smile on his face. "You should invite Uraraka too, it'll be great!"
Of course there was a hidden scheme in his friend's plan; Katsuki should've seen it coming. "No. Why the hell would I invite her?" he asked, exasperated.
"I don't know, maybe because your friends are all celebrating your birthday and she's one of your friends," Kirishima said, emphasizing the end by lightly punching Katsuki's shoulder with his hardened fist.
"I'm not fuckin' explaining this to you again." Katsuki grabbed his empty water and started heading for the locker room, his scowl back in full force. "Shoulda never opened my damn mouth."
Kirishima followed close behind. "Okay then, if you don't invite her I will."
"Don't! Why are you idiots just trying to piss me off today?"
"Well you can't stop me, she's my friend too. And I think spending more time with her in a friendly setting rather than just in the gym and between classes will help you figure things out," Kirishima said as they reached the locker room. "Hey, don't do that," he scolded as Katsuki rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to argue. "You can deny having feelings all you want but you can't deny things I've seen with my own eyes. It's no secret to anyone in our class that you've spent a lot of time chatting with Uraraka these past few weeks; you've literally gone to seek her out of your own free will multiple times after class and in the dorms. I've seen you, Bakugou."
Katsuki growled, because his friend was annoyingly right, yet again. It's not like he was going out of his way to hang out with her for no reason, but he had gone to talk to her when she was a alone a few times. Just to clarify something from class or make sure they were still on for training the next morning; simple stuff. Kirishima was reading too much into it. But he was still right, and even though he wasn't hiding it, for some reason it was irritating to Katsuki that people were noticing. "Piss off, Kirishima."
"Just invite her bro. You know you want to."
"Shaddup! One more word and I ain't going myself, with or without Pink Cheeks!"
Kirishima laughed him off, their conversation ending as the sound of the shower spray echoed off the tiled walls of the locker room.
Katsuki got into his own shower stall, grumbling to himself. He was fucking annoyed.
Because now he had to figure out the least awkward way to invite Uraraka to his stupid fucking birthday outing.
Katsuki woke up Sunday morning feeling like shit. He hadn't slept well the previous night, tossing and turning, thinking about his conversation with Kirishima and trying to figure out how the hell he was supposed to invite Uraraka to hang out with them without looking, and feeling, like a total idiot. And then, to top it all off, when he'd finally managed to pass out for good he'd had the stupid pink clouds dream again. Normally it was relaxing and left him feeling well rested, but with all the dumb shit going on in his head it only served to make him feel even more anxious. It was all so fucking stupid.
Despite his exhaustion and sour mood, he forced himself to roll out of bed and get ready for training because that was probably the part of his birthday he was dreading the least. Uraraka was gunna float him again.
He spent his morning simultaneously irrationally pissed off about everything and also extremely excited to work on his zero gravity idea. His thoughts and emotions were a mess, so much so that he was uncharacteristically distracted and ended up getting to the P.E. grounds over 20 minutes early. There was no point in stretching so soon so he set his bag down in their usual spot and pulled out his phone to check the news and calm his nerves.
Things were still quiet; no news about the damn League as usual. Someone had thought they'd spotted Toga Himiko, that fucking crazy blood bitch, but it had just been a regular high school student with a quirk that caused her to have foamy nosebleeds whenever she drank something carbonated. Talk about shit luck.
As he was scrolling through useless news articles his phone vibrated with a new text alert. He opened the message, already knowing exactly what it was going to say.
Old Man 4:45
Happy Birthday, son.
I hope that school is going well.
Keep training hard and stay out of trouble.
We are so proud of you.
Mom will call you when she wakes up.
Come visit soon.
Love, Dad.
His dad, a natural morning person, had probably already been up for a while, just waiting to send a message when he knew that it wouldnt wake Katsuki up. He shot back a simple text that just said 'Thanks' before he finally decided he would start his stretching.
The time ticked on, and even though he'd finished his warm up at two minutes to 5:00, Uraraka still hadn't shown up. Where the hell was she? He checked his phone again and didn't see any messages saying she was held up or not coming. It figured that she would be late today of all days.
Two minutes to 5:00 turned into two minutes after 5:00, and he was finally about to message her asking where the hell she was when he heard someone running down the path towards the field. He turned to see Uraraka, red faced and sprinting in his direction.
As soon as she reached him she held out a crumpled, orange gift bag that had probably looked much nicer before she left the dorms. "Sorry," she choked out, holding her side and breathing heavily. "Couldn't… find… tissue paper."
"The fuck is this?" he asked, taking the bag from her instinctively.
"Birth'ay," was all she managed before she collapsed to the floor, stretching her arms out wide above her head so she could catch her breath.
"I don't want this," he said a little more forcefully than he'd intended, the back of his ears prickling with warmth.
She weakly kicked his shin with one of her outstretched legs and smiled up at him. "Just open it."
He glared at her for another second before he reached into the bag and pulled out a box of protein bars, dark chocolate flavor, with a pink note that read:
"Happy Birthday, Bakugou! From, Uraraka."
Under the message was a shitty little drawing of what looked like a screaming hedgehog with a party hat on.
"The hell is this thing?" he asked, holding up the note.
She laughed. "You, obviously."
"I don't fuckin' look like this," he said, scowling at her. "Why are you giving me these?"
She collected herself, stood back up, and started her stretches. "Don't we normally play the question game after training?" She grinned at him. "It's for your birthday, silly. That is today, right?"
He nodded. He hadn't told her when his birthday was, so she must have looked at the class roster or something. The fact that she had gone out of her way to check made his insides squirm until he realized that she was so friendly she probably had the entire class's birthdays memorized. "You didn't have to get me this, I can get my own protein bars."
"I know, but I owed you one anyway and I honestly had no idea what you would even want as a birthday gift, and I also thought that you might not accept something that wasn't practical, so I figured this was a good choice. And you can't give them back! I don't really like that flavor," she said with a grin. "Happy Birthday, Bakugou!"
He watched her stretch in silence for a while, silently thinking to himself. How did this damn mochi-faced girl keep surprising him? It was a good thing she wasn't facing in his direction because his face felt like it was on fire as he thought back to what Kirishima had said about figuring out his damn feelings. "Thanks, Cheeks" he mumbled, placing the box into his bag, taking extra care not to crumple the note for some reason he couldn't quite articulate, even within his own mind.
She beamed at him. "You're welcome! But it's really sad if you think about it though," she said, straightening out from her last stretch.
"Hah? What?"
"Nothing really," she shrugged, "just the fact that you're such an old man now there's no way you'll be able to beat me anymore."
Rage filled his entire body without warning, and he grabbed her wrist before he could stop himself, ready to chew her out, but the twitch of her lips froze him in his tracks. Within seconds she burst out laughing full force at her own joke. Tears of mirth formed at the corners of her eyes as she laughed harder and harder, and it took him far too long to realize he was just standing there, staring at her. If Katsuki's instinctual response to being teased wasn't anger, he might have realized that the next time someone asked him what kind of person he was attracted to he would think back to this exact moment.
When his brain finally registered the situation they were in he pushed down the giddy feeling that had sparked in his heart, along with the new form of embarrassment he was still experiencing, and replaced them with the forced irritation that had been his comfort zone for as long as he could remember. "HAH?! You think you're real fuckin' cute, don't ya?" he growled, putting on his best, most intimidating sneer as he threw her hand towards the ground.
Her already flushed cheeks darkened even further as her laughter died down to small, quiet giggles, but she simply nodded and smirked.
"Enough slacking!" he yelled, the adrenaline pumping through his veins a finally familiar - and welcome - feeling. "Get the fuck to the track before I blast your ass over there myself!"
"Okay, Bakugou sensei," she said, only the tiniest hint of humor left in her voice. "I'm ready to learn!"
He let out another exaggerated huff before stomping over to take his place at the starting line, directly next to her.
Without wasting any more time they got to work, racing and then sparring. Uraraka had really stepped up her game since their first fight - even Katsuki had to admit she was getting stronger. It seemed like every day she was improving little by little, and he was forced to push himself even harder to dodge and block her hits. He never left one of their sessions feeling like he had wasted time. It was honestly amazing.
When had training with her become the thing he looked forward to the most?
Katsuki stopped their fight a little while earlier than usual so that Uraraka could float him again. After the disaster that was his attempt to control things yesterday he decided to take her advice and just try to see how long he could last without puking. When she'd floated him out of the cave-in he hadn't felt so bad, but he was probably only in the air for a couple of minutes and she had been supporting him the entire time. He needed to practice on his own; he'd be damned if he didn't become a pro at maneuvering in zero-g as soon as possible.
"Okay, whenever you start to feel like the nausea is getting to you let me know and I'll release you," she said after they had taken a water break. "And if you start to float too high I'll let you down. Other than that I guess just try and see if you can get a feel for moving or stabilizing yourself. And no explosions."
"I know, ya don't gotta keep sayin' it!" he yelled as he shoved his hand out towards her.
For a moment, there was the same strange look in her eyes that she had yesterday. Was she worried about his sweat or something? She was just as gross as he was right now, so her hands were probably just as sweaty. Maybe it was because of his quirk? He wasn't incompetent; there's no way he would hurt her just from one little touch, even if he was sweatier than normal. He didn't explode on contact.
However, before he could waste too much time worrying about whatever was freaking her out, her determined look returned and she touched all five of her soft finger pads to his palm.
The initial feeling of floating was a small shock every time - suddenly becoming weightless was not easy to get used to - but it was quickly overshadowed by the feeling of peace that overtook his entire body.
Just like yesterday, he had no idea how to gain any control. He tried to stay in one place but his limbs would start to float in weird ways and he couldn't keep them still. It was hard to do any movements on his own; there was no force to cause any momentum. He was essentially just stuck drifting around, slowly heading upwards like a mostly-deflated balloon that was still determined to reach the stars.
After a few minutes of struggling, Katsuki looked towards the ground (which was now above him instead of under him) and found Uraraka. She was practicing what looked like martial arts techniques - probably the ones she'd learned from Gunhead during her internship. He found himself thinking, not for the first time, that her form was actually very good. Literally her only issue was reaction time. They'd have to find a way to help her train that more efficiently.
Wait. He wasn't supposed to be thinking up strategies for how to help her. He told her he wasn't here to help, he was just sparing with her because she was a decent partner. But, somewhere along the way, he'd started unconsciously thinking of ways she could improve. He wasn't sure when his mind changed - when he'd decided that helping her get better wasn't such a bad thing - he just knew that now he wanted to.
His nausea was getting more severe as time passed, but he wasn't gunna give up just because of a weak stomach. Having floated significantly higher than yesterday, he decided to attempt getting closer to the ground on his own. When he tried reaching his arm downwards nothing happened. He thought that maybe if he pretended he was walking it might help, but it was extremely difficult to stay coordinated and only served to turn him around even further. The last solution he could think of was some sort of fucked up zero-g air-swimming, but he was still barely moving any closer.
Of course, Uraraka just had to look up right at that moment and see him looking like a fucking idiot, his arms and legs sprawled out in a mid-air breaststroke. She giggled, her hand over her mouth in a lame attempt to hide, and he wanted to fucking explode. He knew his ears were bright red, but hopefully she couldn't tell from so far away.
"Do you need help?" she called from below.
"No," he shouted back.
"You sure? You're gettin' kinda high!"
"I said I've got it!"
"Okay then. Just let me know when you wanna come back down and I'll release you! How are you feeling so far?"
"I'm fuckin' fine, Pink Cheeks," he huffed, exasperated. "Don't tell me what to do!"
"Whatever you say," she shrugged. "We don't have to rush to class today so just take your time I guess!"
After about 20 more minutes of floating, not-so-subtly watching Uraraka practice her forms, and unsuccessfully trying to orient himself without explosions, Katsuki's nausea was finally starting to get to him. He really didn't want a repeat of yesterday so he called Uraraka over to release him. This time he was easily able to orient himself when back in normal gravity and create a small blast to cushion his landing.
"How was it? Do you feel okay?" she asked, running over to meet him.
"Yeah. It was boring as hell. I basically can't do anything," he said, making his way over to their bags.
"I told you it would take a while to get used to. I'll often release and reactivate on myself several times when I need to, which you obviously can't do unless I'm right there with you. And without something to give you momentum it can be hard, that's part of the reason why I got my wires. But you're too aggressive, your explosions cause too much momentum. We'll have to figure something out. For now we can just keep practicing like this so that you can get comfortable."
They reached their bags and as he gathered his things he heard his phone vibrating from where he left it next to his bag. He picked it up to see 23 missed calls and several texts, all from his mother.
Hag 6:21
Katsuki pick up your damn phone!
Hag 6:37
I know you're not fucking sleeping!
Hag 6:42
Answer me, brat!
Hag 7:14
What the hell are you doing? You'd better not be in trouble again!
Grimacing, he put it into his pocket - fully intending to ignore it for the rest of the day - and they started their walk back to the dorms.
As he should've guessed, his phone went off again less than a minute later, this time with another phone call. He was about to decline it when Uraraka looked at him and said, "Shouldn't you answer that?"
"Why? It's just my fuckin' annoying ass mom."
"Well she's probably calling for a reason, you should see what she needs. What if it's important?"
If it had been anyone else trying to tell him what to do he would have either ignored them or told them to piss off, but all it took was one look from Uraraka and he was sliding up to answer the call before he could think twice.
"What?"
His mom's voice on the other line was just as loud and obnoxious as ever. "What do you mean, 'What?' Is that any way to greet your mother?! What the hell have you been doing?!"
"I was fuckin' workin' out, ya old hag!"
"That's crap! Don't lie to me, Katsuki, you were avoiding my damn calls!"
"I fuckin' wasn't! I was training with a…" He glanced over at Uraraka who was doing a very bad job of pretending she couldn't hear the entire conversation through the phone's speaker. His mom was too damn loud sometimes. He wasn't sure what to call her, so he settled on, "...classmate."
"Who?" his mom asked, skeptically. "I know it's not that wonderful Kirishima boy this early in the morning. Put them on the phone!"
"Are you fuckin' crazy? I'm not subjecting her to your banshee yelling, she can already hear you from five feet away!"
His mom's voice quieted considerably, suddenly very serious as she asked, "'Her'? Who's 'her'?"
He clenched his jaw and glared up toward the sky at nothing in particular. "What the hell do you care?"
"Tell me her damn name, Katsuki, or I swear to-"
"Uraraka Ochako."
His mom was quiet for a minute, and Katsuki could tell she was thinking. "Uraraka. Why do I know that name? Dear, do we know anyone named Uraraka?" He could hear a muffled voice on the other line before his mom said, "The sports festival? You mean that tiny girl who dropped the whole stage on you?"
"Yes," he forced out through gritted teeth.
"HA!" she laughed. "I like her, she was tenacious! Bring her around for dinner sometime, Katsuki, and you better be treating her respectfully."
"Hah?!" He was suddenly very embarrassed again, his cheeks warming considerably at his mom's words. Having this conversation right next to Uraraka herself was definitely not helping. "Piss off, old woman."
"I'm serious, kid, I don't wanna hear you've done anything bad to her. If you have any questions you can always ask me, you know. And you better be using protection when you-"
"FUCKIN' SHUT IT! ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND?!" he screamed, more grateful than he had ever been in his life that his mom wasn't yelling anymore. "YOU KNOW DAMN WELL IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"
"I'm not ready to be a grandma, Katsuki, even if you are going to be the number one hero."
"FUCK OFF!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm only teasing," she said, and Katsuki could practically hear the smirk she was no doubt wearing. "I'm glad you're making friends. Come home soon, your father and I miss you."
"I'll come home when I feel like comin' home! If you keep pissin' me off I'm stayin' here!"
"Happy Birthday, brat," she said, smugly.
"Whatever, old hag," he mumbled as she laughed in the background.
The call ended with a click and he shoved his phone back in his pocket, refusing to look at the girl walking along next to him. She hadn't said anything but he could practically feel her vibrating with excitement, so he grunted out, "What?!"
"Nothing," she laughed, "some things just make a lot more sense now."
"Fuck off, Round Face. Just ask your stupid questions already."
"Okay, I actually came up with some special ones I've been saving just for today!" She grinned, happily. "What's your favorite thing to do on your birthday?"
"Be left alone," he responded.
"I figured you'd say that, but it's still boring. I feel like that's not true," she sighed, but she didn't press him to answer again. "What's your favorite kind of birthday cake?"
"I dunno. I don't really like cake. Dark chocolate or coffee or other less sweet flavors I guess." She accepted his answer with a nod. "Lemme guess, you like some super sugary strawberry bullshit?"
She nodded, a dopey smile on her face. "Yup! The more frosting, the better!"
Okay, he'd have to amend what he'd told Kirishima the night before - maybe he did know what she was thinking sometimes.
"Alright, last question," she said, tearing him from his thoughts. "What's the best birthday gift you've ever gotten?"
He was about to say his climbing gear which he had gotten when his parents took him on his first real mountain climbing trip a few years ago, but for some reason his mind flashed to the box of protein bars currently sitting in his bag. The giddy tightness in his heart was back, but he forced it away before mumbling out his original answer.
"I would love to go mountain climbing one day," she said, clenching her fists in excitement. "I mean, I know I can get high up without actually having to climb something, but I still think it would be fun to do. You'll have to tell me more about it sometime."
"Hn," he grunted without saying anything further.
"Okay, your turn. What questions do you have for me today, Bakugou?"
She looked at him excitedly and the new type of embarrassment he kept experiencing won out again. It was just a simple question, and it didn't even really matter in the long run. He'd said he didn't care last night, so why the hell was he so damn nervous now? This was so stupid. Kirishima was an idiot.
But, it was better to just get it over with. He wouldn't pussy out. All he had to do was ask her.
"Do you like arcade games?"
She hummed, resting her finger on her lips in thought. "Hmm, yeah, like Street Fighter and stuff? I think so! I haven't actually played any since I was a kid though, so I don't really know any of the new ones."
He sighed, ruffling his hand through his wild, blonde hair to buy himself even one more second of mental preparation for the stupid thing he was about to do. It was now or never, and if he messed this up Kirishima would definitely never let him live it down. "You wanna come to a stupid game center with us later? Kirishima is forcin' me to go as some dumbass birthday thing. You can say no, I'm sure it'll be annoying as fuck."
"Of course I wanna go!" He chanced a quick glance at her and she looked as if Santa had just told her she could have whatever she wanted for Christmas every year for the rest of her life. Her eyes were literally sparkling somehow; it was like she'd borrowed contacts from Belly Button or something. He had never seen her look so excited. Why the hell was she so damn cute?
Wait a second. What the fuck? He'd meant nerdy and obnoxious! Not cute! She was just an over excited, chubby-faced mochi. Not fucking cute. What the fuck?!
"Thank you for inviting me, Bakugou! This is so exciting!" He could hear the happiness in her voice, and if he didn't know any better he'd think no one had ever asked her to hang out before, but he knew wasn't true since she was always doing shit with the nerd brigade and the other girls.
"Tch. Shitty Hair told me to," he said, looking away, the heat in his cheeks only getting stronger with her every word.
"Still!" She was clenching her fists to her chest, her look of excitement morphing into that look of determination that always made him want to push her - and himself - even harder. "I can't wait! I'm gunna play so many games. I'm gunna do my best to win!" She cheered and pumped her fist into the air, looking as dorky as he had ever seen her.
He snorted. "You wanna bet? I'll kick your ass at every game they got."
She stuck her tongue out at him again and he had to hold back a smirk. "Then I'll just have to beat you at Super Smash Brothers another day as payback."
He actually did smirk at that. "Dream on, Cheeks, I'll crush you in that, too. Why the hell are you so damn excited, anyway?" His last question. "It's just a regular game center. And you have to deal with Pikachu and Racoon Eyes whining and arguing with everyone all day. There's literally no reason to be this excited. It's not like we're doin' somethin' you can't do any other day off."
"I know," she said as they reached the door and their short walk came to an end. "But you invited me."
Notes: I have been considering on and off for several months now if I want to write a one-shot about what takes place in Kirishima's room after the first scene. Maybe I will - no promises, as I already have around 7,000 other fics I want to write, but it might be something I do if I'm experiencing bad writer's block, or if I just get some hyper motivation at one point LOL
If that's something yall would be interested in, please lmk! Also, get yourselves ready for chapter 8! That's all I'm gunna say for now 8)