guuuyyyysssss this is being published on Kiri's birthday TvT it's such a good day. i wrote a krbk thing for it if ya wanna read it, it's called '16 Reasons ILY.' :3

also, sorry if y'all didn't get notified or couldn't see this chapter yesterday. i dunno what happened, but if you're reading this, obviously you can see it now :D enjoy~

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Kirishima

Graduation and final exams seemed to speed up on them at lightning speed after the dance. Kirishima had been so busy and distracted that he'd put off applying for colleges and working on funding his higher education that he was scrambling to meet deadlines and, even then, found he'd missed a lot of them already.

"It's fine," he told Bakugou as they were stretched out on his bed with a laptop, looking at yet another screen that told him the school was no longer accepting applications. "I was thinking of doing more of a community school to get started, anyway."

"That shit's cheaper, anyway," Bakugou told him.

Bakugou, of course, wasn't looking into college. "I'm barely making it through this shit," he muttered, making a broad gesture to encompass the school as a whole. "I gotta find a stupid job, though, 'cause my mom's making me pay for the insurance on my bike when I get it."

"Ah man," Kirishima huffed, rolling over onto his back after shutting the laptop. "We're not even out of high school yet and adulting already sucks ass."

"You're fuckin' telling me..." Bakugou muttered, doing the same. "I don't even know where the fuck to start looking."

"Mm..." Kirishima hummed in thought. "...maybe ask Sero if you could work for his family's business? I guess they get pretty swamped during the summer and need some extra help."

The only answer Kirishima was met with was a groan as Bakugou's arms were flung over his face. In the end, Kirishima reassured him that he wouldn't have to worry about it too much too soon; they still had a few weeks left.

Of course, those few weeks were used to study for finals more than anything, and not a day went by where Bakugou didn't complain about it. Kirishima just kept reminding him that they were almost done and then he'd never have to do any of this ever again. It seemed to motivate him enough to get what he needed done, at the very least. While Kirishima was aiming for at least A's and B's, Bakugou was never known to be an overachiever.

"As long as I pass, I don't give a fuck," he'd said.

As per usual for finals week, the group did something more along the lines of study sessions than actually hanging out together. They helped each other out where they were each capable and then took their breaks for food, stretching, and bathroom breaks together. For the most part it was quiet, just as it was when Bakugou and Kirishima were studying in their room (when they were actually studying, which admittedly still wasn't often), but it was comfortable.

Only about a week before finals and a week and a half before graduation, a last-minute announcement was made about a school-wide graduation party taking place the day after the ceremony itself in the gymnasium. Free food and drinks would be provided and it was for students only—an opportunity for the seniors to celebrate and everyone else to say their goodbyes.

And it was only then that it... hit Kirishima how close it was. How little time he had left before he'd be thrust out into the world for real. He didn't really have any underclassmen friends—only a few acquaintances from class and those who'd come to him for art advice—but he couldn't help having an underlying fear that he might lose touch with the friends he did have once they went their separate ways. He'd heard stories like that, and it left a knot in his stomach that prevented him from studying for the last couple of days leading up to finals.

It didn't take long for Bakugou to notice, either.

"The hell's been up with you, Ei?" he asked the evening before the day of finals as they were getting ready for bed.

"Whattaya mean?" Kirishima asked. But he knew what Bakugou meant, so he kept his back turned as he shuffled through his clothes for one one of his pajama t-shirts.

"You're just... gloomier, or whatever. You're smilin' less, and it's kinda freaking me out."

Freaking me out was Bakugou's way of saying he was worried; it'd taken Kirishima a bit to figure that out, but when he did, it made him feel warm whenever Bakugou said it.

Shirt in hand, he turned around as he tugged it over his head. "'S just... weird," he began slowly. "That we're almost done, ya know? It's not like I didn't know it, but it just kinda hit me the other day and I don't really know what to make of it."

"The hell d'you mean?"

With a huff, trying to think of how to explain himself, Kirishima flopped down onto the bed in front of the other. "There's just a lot to think about, man. And I guess I'm worried I'll lose touch with everybody, especially since some of us live kinda far away from here so it'll be hard to see people. Make sense?"

"Guess so," Bakugou said quietly. "The shit I've learned since moving schools is that if someone gives a fuck about being in your life, they're gonna act like it. If not, they probably weren't worth your time in the first place."

Kirishima couldn't help frowning a bit at that, as much as he knew Bakugou was right. He'd probably keep in touch with Mina and Sero fairly easily because they only lived a town over from where he lived. Kaminari and Jirou, who lived quite a ways further than that, was a different story. And while Bakugou was right, he knew that communication worked both ways. He could put in all the effort in the world and not have it reciprocated, and at that point there wouldn't be a thing he could do about it.

"...there's another thing, too," he found himself saying, occupying his hands and eyes with tugging at a string hanging from the end of his shirt.

"What?"

"What's... uhm, what's gonna happen with us?" he asked in a quiet, small voice. The knot in his chest only grew tighter; it'd been something present in the back of his mind for days—maybe even weeks—that he'd refused to acknowledge until then. He didn't want to think about it because he feared the answer, yet at the same time he needed to know.

"Nothing?" Bakugou mumbled, fidgeting himself with his stress ball, something Kirishima hadn't seen him touch since a few days after they'd gotten together. "Is something supposed to happen?"

"I'm not sure," Kirishima murmured. "I don't actually know where you live or how hard it's gonna be to see you after school's over. But I..." He paused. Cleared his throat. "I really wanna stay with you."

"Who the fuck said you couldn't?" Bakugou asked. "Don't go making shit up. 'Sides, I only live like a half hour drive from you, and since I'll have my bike it won't be a big deal."

Kirishima instantly perked up at that. "Wait, really? You do?"

"Yes, loser. I just live across town in the suburbs that are like the fuckin' ghetto compared to where you live."

"Aw c'mon, man, you're never gonna let me live the whole house thing down, are you?" Kirishima mumbled, though he was grinning slightly again.

"Not 'til you admit you're basically rich," Bakugou said stubbornly.

"But I'm not!" Kirishima told him.

"Whatever you say," Bakugou muttered, clearly not convinced.

Kirishima just shook his head. "Whatever, man, that's beside the point. But... you're saying you wanna stay together, right?" He really hoped he didn't sound as desperate—as hopeful—to Bakugou as he did to himself.

But Bakugou was unfazed by the tone of his voice and clicked his tongue in response. "Getting the fuck out of high school is a stupid ass reason to break up, Ei. Where the fuck did you get all this shit from?"

"Nowhere!" Kirishima was quick to defend. "I guess... I just didn't really think about it until now. Where we're planning to go, I mean, or if you maybe didn't plan on staying together for a long—"

Kirishima's words were cut off when Bakugou's hand, firm but gentle enough, wrapped beneath his jaw and squished his cheeks together. He leaned forward at the same time until his face was so close to Kirishima's that he was almost forced to cross his eyes. "You're such a moron," Bakugou muttered. "If I didn't wanna be with you for a long time and wasn't planning to have you in my life for-fucking-ever or some cheesy shit like that, unless some crazy shit happens or something, I wouldn't be with you in the first place."

Despite the fingers squished into his cheeks, Kirishima still managed a smile as relief flooded through him. Bakugou was serious about this—as serious as, if not more serious, than Kirishima himself. When he told Mina he didn't have time to mess around like most other people their age, he meant it. He didn't care for that. When he looked for someone to be with, he wanted to be with them. He wanted to be committed. And internally, though he'd clearly been suppressing it for several months, he'd been worried Bakugou didn't feel the same way. But he'd heard all he needed to, and it left him feeling hopeful.

⚜️

The day of finals itself was probably the least stressful one Kirishima ever remembered having. After the fact he realized he'd probably spent what was probably an unnecessary amount of time studying to make sure his grades remained high. Most of his tests were fairly straightforward and it seemed like the teachers had an equal mindset about giving the seniors ridiculous tests on their last day in that they thought there was no point, which made for a much less stressful day than anticipated.

"Can you guys believe this is our last meal here together?" Mina was asking at dinner that evening, twirling her fork almost glumly through her pasta.

"Right?" Sero agreed. "I remember my first meal here like it was just a couple weeks ago..."

From beside Kirishima, Bakugou hmphed quietly.

"What?" he asked with a grin. "Don't like all the sentimental stuff?"

Bakugou shrugged lazily. "I'm just ready to get the fuck outta here," he said.

"You mean you're not even a little sad?" Mina asked. "You're not gonna miss this at all?"

"Nope. High school can suck my—"

Kirishima cut him off with a nudge to the ribs. With a grumpy pout, Mina continued, "But we have so many memories here! Like, you had your first snowball fight here. And hey! This is where you met Kirishima!" She gestured largely at him, leaning across the table to try and make her point.

"Yeah, man," Kaminari agreed. "You can't honestly say you've had a shitty year, can you?"

Bakugou clicked his tongue. "Fine. You losers win. But I'm still fucking done with waking up at the asscrack of dawn and spending a shitload of time studying."

Despite his half-growl, Mina sat back with a satisfied smile and returned to twirling her pasta. "I know everybody says this, but we gotta keep in touch, guys. Even if it's not that often."

"Hey, no worries, Mina," Kaminari reassured. "None of us live that far from each other, and we all like to stop by the Seros' restaurant now and then."

"Hell yeah," Sero said with a grin. "We can make our own tradition or somethin'."

"Yes!" Mina gushed.

That was all it took to launch the five of them into tradition-planning. Bakugou remained silent throughout the conversation, but when Kirishima asked him if he was down with what they'd decided on, he gave a small nod that wasn't even accompanied by a scowl or a muttered "whatever." Kirishima could only smile, knowing even Bakugou was down to keep in touch after everything.

Needless to say, he was feeling much, much better.

⚜️

"Are you excited?" Kirishima's mom was asking him with an excited grin of her own as they were on their way to the graduation ceremony.

"I guess so," he said with a mild shrug.

"Oh come on, Eijirou! You're finally done! You should be proud."

"I am," he assured. "It just hasn't really sunk in yet," he admitted.

Without taking her eyes from the road, she reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "Don't worry," she promised. "It will."

It didn't, though. Not for a long while. Not as they were navigating their way through traffic in the parking lot to find a space. Not as they were headed to the building, toward the gym where an already huge crowd was clambering in the direction of. Not even as he was hugging his mom before they parted ways when she went to her seat and he went to find his group, and specifically Bakugou. The room was filled with the chattering of hundreds of people and around the back of the gym where students were told to gather wasn't any different. All Kirishima could do was weave his way through the crowd in search of a pink—or hopefully blonde—head.

He found Mina first, to no surprise. With her unusual hair color it wasn't too hard to spot her once he was close enough, and of course she spotted him easily for the same reason and practically hurled herself at him when she did.

"We did it!" she laughed with her arms hooked around his neck. "We made it!"

Just behind her were Kami, Jirou, and Sero, all of them already dressed for the occasion. He greeted them all with the best smile he could muster and fist bumps as Sero said, "Dude, can you believe we're finally getting the hell out of here?"

"Hardly," he admitted. "Even still it doesn't feel completely real, ya know?"

"I hear ya, dude," Kaminari said. "I dunno what the hell I'm gonna do not having to wake up super early every morning anymore."

Their usual banter continued on for a few minutes as Kirishima was glancing, almost anxiously, around them in search of a blond tuft of hair or eyeliner-darkened eyes or something that gave away Bakugou's presence, but he found none, prompting him to, when there was a break in their conversation, ask, "Hey, have you guys seen Bakugou?"

"No. We figured he'd be with you."

With a frown, Kirishima tugged out his phone but there was no message waiting for him from his boyfriend as he'd hoped. "I'm gonna go try and find him. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Don't be too long!"

"Don't worry, I won't be."

'Finding Bakugou' turned out to be simply moving far enough away from the increasing crowd of students where there was less noise and calling him, but he didn't answer. Halfway through the second call, though, he happened to glance down the sidewalk and see a familiar hunched, black figure shuffling in the direction of the crowd. And while, as always, he was more than ecstatic to see him, there was something... off about his posture that caused a knot to begin tying itself in Kirishima's gut.

"Hey," he said as soon as he met Bakugou halfway.

"Hey," Bakugou mumbled quietly, standing up a bit straighter once Kirishima was in front of him.

"What's wrong?"

"...nothin'."

"Katsuki..."

"'S just my fuckin' parents," he muttered.

"What about 'em? Did something happen?"

"Yeah. Sorta. But it's not bad. Just... fucking frustrating."

Kirishima glanced at the time on his phone. There was still about fifteen minutes before the whole ceremony thing was supposed to start, which gave them ten or so before they were supposed to start lining up. Wordlessly, he took Bakugou's hand and led him further away from the crowd, toward the edge of he sidewalk where there was grass.

"Talk to me," he said without releasing the other's hand.

Bakugou talked, but didn't look at him the whole time he did. "We were on the way here and my fuckin' dad brought up college," he grumbled. With that alone, Kirishima could anticipate what he was going to say, but when Bakugou continued to elaborate, he found he was surprisingly mistaken. "He didn't say I have to go or whatever. Didn't even really try to bribe me like I kinda expected. He just dropped something on me like fucking bird shit."

"What did he say?"

"...he said if I do decide I wanna go, he'll pay for it. And I mean all of it, and it doesn't even matter what kinda school I decide to go to or where or if I live in dorms or whatever the fuck I might wanna do."

"...but?"

"That's the fucking thing, Ei. There was no but. I asked the exact same fucking question and he said that was it."

"But you don't wanna go to college," Kirishima mumbled.

Bakugou turned a bit, his hand tightening in Kirishima's. "...that's not exactly accurate," he said.

Kirishima shook his head in confusion. "You mean you do wanna go? Even though you've been saying 'fuck that' about it for months?"

"...I don't wanna go to college, really. 'S more like a trade school, I guess. I've kinda wanted to go for mechanics. Same school my dad's friend went to to learn what he knows. I just never fucking said anything 'cause that shit's expensive and I didn't think I'd ever have any hope to go, so I never really made plans to. But now my shitty old man has offered to pay for it with no catch. Supposedly."

"Then what are you upset about?" Kirishima asked, making sure to keep his voice soft. "That's pretty great if you ask me. Not everyone has parents who are willing to pay for their school like that, man."

"I fucking know."

"Then...?"

Bakugou ran a hand frustratedly through his hair. "'S probably fucking stupid to you."

"C'mon, Katsuki. Of course it's not if it's important to you, especially if it's got you upset."

"Then don't fucking hate me when I tell you, alright?"

"I don't think it's possible for me to hate you, Katsuki."

As typical of Bakugou, he snorted and ran a hand through his hair again, seeming to shake himself off. Kirishima didn't expect him to, but Bakugou looked him right in the eyes when he spoke.

"It feels fucking shitty to accept however much money it would be to go to a mechanic school from my parents while I'm hiding shit from them," he said. "Like I'd feel fucking guilty, which is annoying as shit."

Admittedly, it took Kirishima a second to realize what he was talking about, and when he did he felt his own shoulders slump a little. "You mean us, huh? Our relationship."

Once again, Bakugou looked away. "...yeah," he murmured. "And you're important enough to me that I can't lie to my parents about you and accept their offer without feeling like shit about it."

All at once, several different possibilities flew through Kirishima's mind. The first was that it wasn't a huge deal—he could tell his parents about them and accept the money to help secure his future doing something he would probably enjoy (though Bakugou had never really elaborated on that before, and Kirishima could understand why) without feeling guilty. That was immediately shot down, though, in remembering the conversation they had on Kirishima's balcony during spring break.

"Do your parents not know?"

"Considering I didn't even fucking know until I met your cute ass, no."

"Are... you gonna tell 'em?"

"And risk getting kicked out before I can even support myself? Fuck no."

"...so they're not supportive."

"I don't know. They don't talk about that shit. Ever."

Bakugou had seemed more than a little distressed about it—to the point where he'd isolated himself and hesitated in telling Kirishima, and then he was worried that Kirishima would be mad at him if he didn't tell his parents. It would be hard—really hard, he could imagine—to try and tell them now.

So that left the second possibility to be something that made Kirishima's stomach hurt—Bakugou might have to choose between him and going to a school that could give him a better future. That possibility seemed all too real.

"It's alright, Katsuki. You don't have to do anything about it right now, ya know? And whatever you do decide to do when it comes time to decide, I'll back you up. Promise."

"...thanks, Dumb Hair," Bakugou murmured, looking at him once more.

Kirishima found it within himself to smile though, for the first time in a long time, it was forced. "Hey, anything for you, Bakubabe."

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alsdfgljd one chapter left. holy crap, man. this fic has been a journey, and a great one at that :3