Explanation of my absence is at the bottom 😅🥺
IM SORRY
ALSO TO THE LOVELY PERSON WHO ADDED MY STORY TO THEIR READ LIST I LOVE YOU AND IT MADE ME SO HAPPY
Kirishimas POV:
Kirishima didn't know why his chest sunk when he thought Bakugo was going to say no. He also didn't know why his stomach fluttered when he said he would go. Well, Bakugo didn't actually say "yes", he said "maybe" but that was as close as you were ever going to get to with the Bakugo Katsuki.
Kirishima felt his chest stutter at the slight quirk of Bakugos eyebrow, the upward tick of his mouth, the huff of exasperation, then Kirishima finally hit Cloud Nine at his answer. He has no idea why, of course, these emotions almost completely void of his memory. Kirishima couldn't quite pinpoint the last time he'd ever felt anything like this, if he had ever felt it before. Whatever it was.
Well, on second thought, the butterflies were familiar. In the 'homes' before his home, when he was younger, butterflies ate his stomach alive everyday. No. These were different butterflies. Still ridden with anxiety and worry, but... different in some way, some thing-or-another was quaint about the swarm. And oh, dear All Might, was Kirishima Eijiro terrified to find out what made these feelings so peculiar.
~***~
Sozoryoku came to their next class with a half-high Sero in tow. They plopped him down in between Kaminari and the window, before taking a seat beside Kirishima and Mina. Kirishima felt mildly concerned. They were gone for what, twenty minutes? And they couldn't have gone to the dorms, gotten high, and walked (or stumbled) back in that amount of time! How the hell had Sero gotten weed? The red head almost asked as much, but Sozo held up a hand.
"I had pencils in my pocket." They looked Kiri in the eyes and swallowed thickly. "I regret nothing." It was a great thing Present Mic (The amount of self control it took to not write 'Presentation Micheal' is astounding) was partially-screaming all the time, because Sozo took no time to whisper.
"Why?" Kirishima questioned, laying his palms face up and squinting at Sozoryoku. It took every bit of strength he had not to curl his lip up, a habit he found himself picking up from a certain blond in his life.
Sozoryokus eyes held no light, Kirishima would even go as far as to say they looked dead. Then they shrugged and faced the front of the room again. "He asked... thought it would be fun..." they muttered. "Had no idea he was so... fucking empty when he was high..."
While Kirishima wondered what in the fuck that meant, (que me fucking with italics cause I got distracted) Sero was muttering about something to Kaminari, who looked ready to cry.
What is my friend group? Fingers pressed to his temples to try and stem an oncoming head ache from surfacing, Kirishima half-understood whatever Present Mic was supposedly teaching about. Who, of course, was being far from helpful, with his habit of yelling of English idioms and punctuation-rules to the point his words are the opposite of understandable.
~***~
Kirishima was standing outside the dorms an hour after the end of school. He was scrolling through his phone, waiting for his friends to show up so they could go into town. Freshly showered and hair spiked like usual, he wore a white tank top and faded blue jeans that were ripped to hell and back. Worn vans, covered in dirt stains from years of running around without a care in the world tapped a tune from an ear worm stuck in his head. Kirishima had a Crimson Riot sweatshirt wrapped around his waist, remembering that it was going to get colder that night. (For my own sanity Kirishima will be fashionably dressed. I do not care. No crocs in my house, bitches)
"Yo! Eiji!" Kirishimas head snapped in the direction of the dorm doors, where Mina stepped out followed by an androgynous teen clad in black clothes. Mina was waving her arms frantically, in a lilac sweater with the classic depiction of an alien in the center and a white-reflective skirt. Kirishima noticed white doc martens he had never seen before. "Sozo changed my docs color!!" Mina answered before he could even ask, "I didn't have shoes that matched my outfit, so they changed them to white!! Isn't that so cool?!" Mina ecstatically bounced, balancing haphazardly on one foot, kicking up the other leg to show off the shoes.
Kirishima couldn't help but grin. Mina had been wanting colorful docs for so long, but the brand was quite expensive. (Bitch tell me about it)
"Cool it, Ash, it's not that big a-deal..." Sozoryoku stood behind Mina, flushed in the face and glaring a little, though their mouth was ticked up in a smile. They wore makeup, which caught Kirishima off-guard. Though, to be honest, he hadn't known what to expect when Sozo dressed "casually." The dramatic eyeliner was kind of a shock. But, Kiri had expected the punk/grungey look. The ragged crop top with suspenders connected to torn skinny jeans and tall platform boots covered in straps. (Like being one-hundred and seventy-seven centimeters (five-eight) isn't tall enough, Kirishima found himself thinking, despite knowing he, himself, was quite tall.) Plus the amount of chains, jewelry, and the greyscale flannel, everything worked together quite nicely for Sozoryoku. Odd, but pleasing. Kirishima also noted the rimless glasses resting on the bridge of their nose.
Next thing Kirishima knew, he was tackled from behind, making an unmanly noise as he steadied himself, hardening his legs so he wouldn't fall on his face. The giggling weight on his back slipped off and could hear other cackling from around him. He spun around, raising his hardened fists for a fight.
"Woahhhh!" Kaminari threw his hands in the air, eyes wide as he tried to be as non-threatening as possible. "Just me bro! No need to punch my face in!" Kirishima lowered his fists turning off his quirk. It took him a second to realize he was about to crush his best friends head into the pavement. Once he did process it though, he turned sheepish, one hand stuffed into his pants-pocket and the other rubbing the back of his neck.
"Sorry bro, it's like a reflex..." he apologized grinning awkwardly at his friend. Kaminari shrugged, muttering something like "no biggie" and was about to pass Sero his inhaler, he was laughing hysterically.
Mina patted Kirishimas shoulder, "Alright boys, we know you're all strong and tough, yadda-yadda, who are we waiting on?! M' hungryyyyyy!" She complained latching onto Kirishimas arm.
Sozoryoku giggled from behind the two. "I told you Ash, should've grabbed something from Sato while you had the chance, like I did." Kirishima saw the smirk on their face, but something like slight endearment lingered there.
Kirishima raised an eyebrow, "'Ash' huh?"
Mina nodded, pouting. "They won't call me 'Mina' cause they said it's something... couples do."
"Noooo," Sozo corrected, crossing their arms. "I said if I'm going to call you by your given name, you at least have to take me to dinner first. Then she got all stutter-y."
"DID NOT!!"
"Ya' did, Ash. You totally did."
Choking noises were the only thing Mina said before she wrapped her arms around Kirishimas waist. "HIDE ME FROM THE JERK, EIJI!!" She hollered, squeezing him tightly, to the point it was suffocating.
Kirishima scooped her up by underarms, unlatching Mina from her death-grip and held her up like a cat. A kicking, cursing, pink cat. "No, I don't think I will."
"Do I weigh anything to you?!"
"Nah, s' like holding a couple of grapes." Then he plopped her down in front of a cackling Sozoryoku, who was only still standing by leaning against the wall. Kirishima looked up above their heads, he had grown to be one-hundred and eighty-six centimeters (six-one) over the years at UA, his eyes making contact with matching crimson irises.
Bakugos POV
"Hey, Bakugo!!" Kirishima waved at him, he was all sharp smiles and freshly spiked hair. But Bakugo couldn't help the sickly feeling he got when he saw Shitty Hair picking up Raccoon eyes. He swallowed thickly, trying his damnest to not let it get to him. Too fucking late, dumbass, a not-so-little voice in his head chided. Who was he bullshitting? This was going to stick with him until the end of the week.
Bakugo bit his lip, nodding his head at Shitty Hair and forcing himself to walk towards the group of hysteric teenagers.
(If you haven't noticed by now, ~***~ means timeskip :) )
~***~
After ten-ish minutes of waiting, on and off chatter, Bakugo doing his damnest to ignore Raccoon Eyes and Shitty Hair being as close as they were. Also ignoring the other morons shenanigans. So most of what he did since his arrival was ignore. Not like he didn't have a lot of practice with that.
"Yoooooo! There's my girl!" Pinky suddenly yelled, throwing her arms up and racing towards a girl in loose black jeans ripped at the knees, a Green Day t-shirt and a leather jacket, who was preoccupied with her phone. She had a messy bob-cut and heavy eyeliner, red triangles under her eyes and her own array of punk jewelry and big black boots. "Jiroooooooooo!! Pay attention to me!" Mina popped her friend lightly upside the head, and only then did Jiro look up from her cell.
"Sorry, Mina. I've been trying to convince Momo for the past hour and a half to come with us, but she's not budging. Studying in her room is whats going to keep her busy for a bit." Jiro shrugged her shoulders. Bakugo scoffed, despite not knowing fully why he was so pissed. Well, he did, he was just not acknowledging it at that very moment. He saw Kirishima give him a side glance, the idiot looked mildly concerned. But, as fast as it appeared, it was gone, it was replaced by a toothy grin and a greeting to Jiro.
Bakugo turned to glare at the wall. A burning sensation traveled up his chest and he resisted the urge to claw at his skull t-shirt.
Before he knew it, Bird Brain and Octopus walked out of the building and towards the group. Tokoyami looked normal, well, for him anyways. Black Parade hoodie and ripped jeans with chains hanging from his waist. His feathers were messy, and he avoided the gaze of everyone present, with his hands shoved in his pockets. Bird Brain cleared his throat and muttered a greeting.
Bakugo narrowed his gaze, examining Shoji. He looked flustered, blush creeping up over his mask and over his exposed shoulders. He was adjusting the fabric of the face covering, pulling it over his nose and cheekbones as far as he could. His own hair was a little out of wack. He kept a bit of distance between himself and his boyfriend.
Then he got it.
Bakugo almost felt like something clicked in his brain, his eyebrows shot up his forehead with the realization. He clamped a hand over his mouth in an attempt to stifle his laughter. Oh God, oh FUCK, that's HILARIOUS, his loud laughter was barely muffled and he had to turn around and face away from the guilty two.
He ended up facing Dunce Face who looked just like him, except he was latched to Seros arm, the latter with his face hidden in his loose yellow shirt. Mix-Match and Raccoon eyes were looking everywhere but Five-Dollar-Goth and 'Handy'-Man (ohh I crack myself up) shaking each other's shoulders. Aux cord had turned herself around completely and was shaking with her own chuckles. Kirishima had only let out snickers, and Bakugo wondered how it was possible he wasn't busting a gut like everyone else.
"You guys get here okay?" Kirishima asked jokingly, stretching his arms over his head and resting his hands behind his head. Bakugo couldn't help but watch, he couldn't look at Shoji or Tokoyami, where else was he supposed to rest his gaze? Swallowing thickly, he knew he couldn't stare for long, as much as he unconsciously wanted too, and readjusted his eyes to a point just above Hot-Topics head. But even then he couldn't contain his smirk.
"Har-har, Kirishima." Tokoyami averted his own eyes and shoved his hands deeper into his hoodie pockets. If Tokoyami could blush, he would probably be tomato-red.
Shoji waved an arm, "I know what you are all thinking, and it's not what it looks like!" He tried for a confident voice, but it cracked midway through his sentence.
Sozoryoku finally stopped trying to hide their laughter, wiping away tears and howling. "It... hahahahaaa... it looks like you two were getting it on on your way here..." They wheezed out, and Sero finally freed his head from his shirt to cackle along with Sozo. Mina had to sit down with Kaminari leaning on her shoulders to hold himself up. No one contained any laughter after that.
After a few minutes of uncontrollable hollering laughter, Sozoryoku finally managed to pull them self together enough to look Shoji in the eyes, a feat Bakugo was almost in awe of. "And to think I took you for the shy type, Shoji!" They mused. Kirishima, the only one who hadn't descended into hysterics, quirked and eyebrow, his mouth still curved into a grin, and Bakugo couldn't help but follow his every move with disguised interest. Burying things were a lot harder than he had initially thought, and he was coming to realize that.
"Sozo, how do you know Shoji?" Shitty Hair questioned, crossing his arms over his chest. Bakugo had the same question he just wasn't willing to voice it.
Sozoryoku, still giggling, gave Shoji a once-over before leaning against the school wall and turning to face Kirishima. "We live on the same floor and when I started to move my stuff into the dorms over the weekend, he was the only one who was there. Helped me out a bit, chatted, ya know." They shrugged a bit. "Thought of him as a shy guy, and the way he talked about you," they nodded to Tokoyami, who looked a little bewildered at the mention of him. "I took him for the guy who was bad at affection, or at least struggled with it. 'Shy,' is really the only word to use. Nothing bad about it of course. But I see now," gesturing to Shoji and Tokoyamis... predicament that they presented themselves in. "I can safely say that I was wrong." Pushing themself off the wall, Sozoryoku snatched up Sero and Mina, walking a ways while calling back to the others to hurry up. "We have everyone, let's go, losers, I'm famished!"
Bakugo decided, in that moment, Sozoryoku was nothing but an oddball. A powerful oddball, but a weirdass oddball nonetheless.
Kirishima beckoned him to catch up with a toothy smile, and for a second he could forget about everything and find himself jogging to match the groups pace.
So uh... well my phone broke and only a few apps were working (I.E. texts and calls and emails) so I was unable to work for literally forever because this is the only thing I can really work ON. But, it's good now everything is good and I got, like, a million ideas for this story so yay!
You will be seeing me more often, at least, so that's good! And I will also post art and other stuff in the future that will pop up on a tumblr account I'm working on. When everything is ready I will let you know!
Thank you so much for reading, I love you all!!