Kirishima

The last bit of April wound to a close fairly quickly, and before Kirishima knew it, talk of graduation and the end of the year formal dance had popped up all over campus. Most of his teachers had mapped out the rest of the semester and he was already starting to prepare for the few actual finals he would have whilst doing his best to keep Bakugou on track for them, too, which often meant bribing him into getting studying done (something he was more than okay with; he loved spoiling his boyfriend, whether it was with food, gifts, or affection).

The rest of the group, save for Bakugou, was most excited about the dance, typically. It was the first and last year they were allowed to attend because they were seniors, and they'd heard tons of crazy stories about it over the years. Mina was already running around trying to plan outfits, especially for her friends on the dance team, and would talk about it whenever she got the chance—probably to distract from the fact that she didn't have a date, though Kirishima would never bring that up aloud.

Kaminari, when it was just between him and Kirishima, was almost constantly brainstorming creative ways to ask Jirou to go with him. It was already unspoken that they'd go together, but, as he'd said, "I know she'd appreciate being asked. She likes sentimental crap like that, ya know?" Kirishima had wholeheartedly agreed.

And, inevitably, the others eventually brought it up to him, too.

"You haven't said how you're gonna ask Bakugou to go with you, Kiri," Jirou said one afternoon only a week or so before the dance was supposed to happen, when Bakugou was off on his turn to get things finalized for graduation.

"Yeah! You should tell us!" Mina jumped in quickly. "I bet you've got something super creative planned, huh? How're you gonna do it?"

Kirishima shrugged lightly, keeping eyes away from them. "I'm not," he mumbled.

"Wait, what?" Kaminari jumped in. "Did I hear you right? You're not?"

"Nope."

"...are you feeling okay, man?" Sero asked. "That's not like you. I figured you'd have told us about it by now. It's weird we even gotta ask."

Another shrug and, trying to hide the disappointment he felt, Kirishima went on, "Baku doesn't wanna go to the dance, and I'm not gonna force him to. So I figured there's no point in asking if I already know what the answer will be."

"What do you mean he doesn't wanna go to the dance?!" Mina practically shrieked.

"Did he actually say that to you?" Jirou questioned.

"Nah, but 's easy to see in the way he acts whenever people talk about it or we pass by posters about it. He scoffs every time and keeps calling it 'that dumb dance.' It wasn't hard to figure out he has no interest in going."

"But Kiri..." Mina mumbled.

"It kinda makes sense," Kaminari said lightly. "When have we ever seen Bakugou go to any of the dances there have been this year? He always avoids 'em. Doesn't seem his style to go. Plus, I can't see him getting all dressed up for anything, either."

"I think you should ask him anyway," Mina said. "You wanna go, don't you? And he likes making you happy, so if you tell him that, he'll probably do it."

Kirishima shrugged a shoulder again. "I dunno. He might, but then he'll be miserable and I'll feel like crap for guilting him into it. We'll probably just hang out here and play games or something like usual."

"Wait a minute, you're not even gonna go because he doesn't wanna go?" Sero asked. "It'll be no fun without you!"

"Yeah, man," Kami jumped in. "You don't gotta have a date, anyway. Sero and Mina and lots of other people are going by themselves."

"But would you want to go if I wasn't going?" Jirou asked him. "It's different when you have somebody." She turned her attention back to Kirishima. "I'm not saying you shouldn't go, but I can definitely understand if you'd rather stay behind and spend the evening with Bakugou. I'd do the same if I were you."

"...that's fair," Kaminari mumbled.

"...I get it, too, but man, it's not fair," Mina sighed, slumping a cheek into the heel of her hand.

"It's cool, guys," Kirishima said, slightly forcing the smile he manufactured. "You probably won't even miss me 'cause you'll be having so much fun. Don't forget to take lots of pictures for me, okay?"

"We will," Sero promised.

The conversation, thankfully, shifted away from him after that, though for the rest of the day he held a knot of disappointment in the pit of his stomach.

Bakugou

"Hey! Bakugou!"

The back of Bakugou's jacket was grabbed at the same time the familiar shout reached his ears and he skidded to a halt, lifting a hand and more than ready to fucking backhand whoever it was who'd grabbed him when he whirled around to find a pink-haired, angry-looking shortie standing behind him.

"The fuck do you want?" he grumbled, yanking himself out of her grasp. Just behind her was Sero and Kaminari, jogging to catch up.

"Jesus, you're fast!" Kaminari huffed when they stopped beside her.

She ignored them. "Why don't you want to go to the formal dance this weekend?!" Mina asked, planting her fists on her hips and staring him down. For a petite girly girl, she had one wicked stare.

"What the fuck are you talking about? Who the hell told you that?"

"Kirishima, obviously! Now why don't you wanna go? He does!"

"...what's your damn point, Pinky? 'S not like I ever fucking said he can't go!"

Mina lifted a hand and smacked him across the shoulder, leaning forward and practically getting in his face. "He wants to go with you, dummy! And he's super disappointed 'cause you don't wanna go, and he's too nice to ask you anyway because he knows you'll either say no or you'll agree and then be 'miserable' the whole time or whatever," she explained. "But because you're being a buttface, he's the miserable one!"

What the fuck? Bakugou knew Dumb Hair had some sort of interest in going, but he hadn't looked miserable about it...

"Mina, calm down," Sero tried to reason from behind her. "You don't gotta act like we're ambushing him."

Once again, he was ignored. "It's just one night, Bakugou. One. And you know if the situation was reversed he'd do it for you, even if he didn't want to."

In that second, Bakugou physically felt his shoulders drop though his glare upon her didn't falter. He felt the blow of those words and how damn right she was; of fucking course Shitty Hair would do someshit like go somewhere or do something he didn't wanna do to make Bakugou happy. That's just the kind of guy he was, and more and more Bakugou felt he really didn't deserve the idiot.

"Look, I'm not saying you have to go or whatever," Mina said, standing up straight again. "But it would make him happy, and I don't know what kind of boyfriend you are if you don't wanna see your partner happy."

"Mina, seriously, easy with the guilt trip," Pikachu said.

"I'm just telling him like it is," she defended. "Anyway, it's up to you. But you'd be stupid not to take this opportunity," she told him. "C'mon, guys." With that, she turned around and started to head back the way she and the other idiots came.

"Fucking wait," he grumbled, latching a hand onto the back of her shirt the same way she'd done to him a minute ago. "If you're so fucking passionate about it, then help me figure out how the fuck to ask him since I suck at being creative."

Mina only half-turned, a sly grin on her face that Bakugou wanted nothing more than to slap off.

⚜️

This is fucking stupid, Bakugou thought as he bounced his leg anxiously, sitting on the bench of their usual bus stop with Kirishima. He hadn't been this damn nervous since their first date, and he didn't even get why his stomach was fluttering and shit like it had back then. It was a simple question, one he probably already knew the answer to, and yet there he was, absently chewing on one of the rings in his lip from the inside.

"Are you okay, man?" Kirishima asked. "You're super fidgety."

"'M fine," Bakugou assured him, but even he didn't believe himself.

But of course, Dumb Hair wasn't one to pry; he never was, except back on his birthday, and that was for a good reason. "'Kay, but if ya wanna talk about it, I'm all ears," he said.

There was nothing to talk about. All he needed to do was ask one measly little question, but he planned on waiting until after dinner when they were walking back together (if he could fucking wait that long without exploding from the anticipation).

He'd planned a simple dinner date—one he sort of suggested on the fly while they were studying together—to ask Kirishima to the dumb dance. He'd sat with Mina for probably two straight hours the day before trying to brainstorm some creative way to ask or whatever, but none of them felt right. Everything she came up with was over the top, either something Bakugou would never do or something that didn't suit Kirishima at all; or, most often, both. As complex and deep of a freaking person Bakugou had learned Kirishima was, he was still somehow such a simple guy. A simple question would do. He didn't need a whole fucking light show or whatever. It would probably just embarrass him, and while Bakugou was a fucking sucker for seeing a flustered Kirishima, there was no way he was gonna go all out like that. Not for this. Not this early in their relationship.

So a dinner date it was, even though the shitty dance wasn't something Bakugou gave a fuck about. But Kirishima did, and Bakugou gave a fuck about him.

He felt like shit for not realizing Kirishima wanted to go so damn bad and that fucking Pinky had to tell him. But in Bakugou's defense, he'd never acted that interested. He'd been more outwardly invested in helping the others with their plans for it—how Kaminari planned to ask Jirou, which whatever-the-fuck went better with whatever-the-fuck-else for Mina, what kind of music Sero should request, especially to embarrass Kaminari and Jirou and whatever couples and shit would be there. Bakugou had just figured Kirishima was like him and didn't want to go, especially because they'd never gone to any of the other dances throughout the year.

And yet Kirishima was always noticing things about him, like knowing his favorite time of day and fucking painting it for him on Valentine's day, picking up on the fact that he liked it when Kirishima made certain affectionate gestures like running his fingers through his hair or gently nibbling his lip while they were kissing, and getting that Bakugou didn't give a shit about the dance—all of these things he'd come to realize without Bakugou ever having said a word about them...

And Bakugou couldn't even get this one stupid thing about Kirishima. 'Course, it didn't help that he fucking sucked at being a boyfriend, let alone a good one...

But he'd be damned if he didn't try.

His nerves were eased a little throughout dinner as they fell into their usual banter about whatever. Kirishima was acting perfectly normal—not at all disappointed about thinking they weren't going to the dance like Mina had heavily implied. He was smiling and making fists the way he often did, punching the air and speaking passionately—all the damn things Bakugou really fucking liked about him.

Now he just hoped he could execute the question without completely fucking blowing it, seeing as his nerves came back times ten as they were leaving the restaurant and Kirishima's fingers slid easily between his own.

"Thanks for dinner," he said, grinning.

"'S fine," Bakugou told him, like he always did when he was the one to pay.

"I guess you feel better?"

"Huh?"

"You were all fidgety, remember?"

"Yeah... about that..." Bakugou mumbled, keeping his eyes off to the right while they walked along, slower than usual, back toward the nearby bus stop.

"Hm?"

"You know how there's that shi—" He stopped himself, took a quick breath, and began again "...that dance coming up."

"I mean, yeah. That's kinda all everybody's been talking about," Dumb Hair said with a light chuckle.

Bakugou huffed and stopped. Kirishima's smile had already instantly faded when he looked up at the idiot, and the other turned to face him. "What's up, Katsuki?"

"Look, ya wanna go to the dumb thing with me or what?" he mumbled. And shit, he hoped it was dark enough to hide the stupid color he knew was rising to his face when he asked.

"Wait, really?" Kirishima asked. "You actually wanna go?"

No, Bakugou would've said, but he'd been prepared for this question, so while he didn't tell the exact truth, he didn't lie, either. "I wanna spend time with you. And you wanna go. So let's fucking go."

Kirishima... wasn't automatically smiling and agreeing the way Bakugou had hoped. Instead he had a stupid frown on his face, and fuck, was he already screwing this shit up?

"But you hate dances, Katsuki. Wouldn't you just be miserable the whole time we're there?"

"How the fuck could I be miserable if I'm with you, Shitty Hair?" he retaliated easily. "I don't give a fuck if it's a dance or a fucking circus. If you're there, I'll be happy as shit."

That brought the smile out of the gorgeous face in front of him, and Kirishima's fingers held more firmly to his hand. "Then yeah, Katsuki, I do wanna go with you. If you're sure."

"Stop askin' me, already," he muttered. "If I wasn't sure I wouldn't have asked you."

"Fair enough, man. But if you change your—"

"Holy shit, shut up," Bakugou muttered, stepping closer to close the distance between them and shut Kirishima up with a light kiss.

"Aye aye," Kirishima chuckled. "Ah, shoot," he said as they continued walking. "We don't have much time to figure out what we're gonna wear and stuff. Maybe tomorrow after school we should head back into town and look around? And bring Mina, since she's super good at choosing stuff like that..." On and on he went, and Bakugou found he was satisfied by the fact that he'd decided to ask the beautiful little fucker in the long run as Kirishima chattered away the whole way home.

---

apologies about the short chapter D: i wanted to save the actual dance for its own chapter.

also, i'm planning some cute shit for Kirishima's birthday on the 16th, so be prepared for that!

on top of that, i have something in the works for when i hit 2k followers (and i'm pretty fricken excited about it)~

i'm doing krbk polls on my instagram @/porcelainriot if anybody wants to get in on that ;)

and friendly reminder that i have a ko-fi page if you guys wanna support me a little more! ko-fi.com/porcelainsky (but please don't feel obligated!)

♥