Yeah sorry everyone it will probably be a while before I update, what with Christmas right around the corner and all that, and it's hard finding the motivation to write lately. But I will be back, don't you fret! :3

            After a few hours Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero all arrived back at the dorms from a trip into the city to hang out for the latter part of the day, and by that point Kirishima felt like he was dying to find out if Bakugou was okay. He gave a quick farewell to his friends before bounding up the stairs two at a time until he reached the fourth floor. After he had regained his breath he knocked on Bakugou's door and eagerly waited for a response. A minute passed without any answer. But where else would explosion boy be at this hour?

"Bakugou, you in there!?" he called, pounding on the door louder. "I'm not leaving 'til you open the door!" He kept knocking in the most persistent, annoying rhythm he could find to elicit some sort of reaction.

Finally he heard the reluctant shuffling of footsteps behind the door and felt his heart lift at the sound, instantly stopping his knocking. Eventually the door cracked open just a bit, enough to see a small portion of Bakugou's face through the tiny slit. He seemed pretty moody, but that wasn't exactly unusual for Bakugou.

"What do you want?" he demanded in a taut voice.

"Can I come in?" Kirishima asked hopefully.

Bakugou answered with a swift, "No," before slamming the door. But the other boy wanted answers and Bakugou made the stupid mistake of leaving the door unlocked so Kirishima barged inside. Bakugou jumped and growled, "What the hell!?"

"What the hell is right," Kirishima said as he entered with an indignant scowl on his face in the place of his usual easygoing smile. "Why have you been hiding in your room all day and ignoring me?"

"Fuck you," Bakugou snapped before sitting at his desk to face away from him and pretend to do homework.

"That's not a good reason," Kirishima growled back. "What did I do?"

Bakugou whipped around in his chair and snarled, "Fuck you for talking me into going to the pool. Now the Three Fuckateers know about us."

Kirishima was more tempted to chuckle at that than he should have been, but he kept his straight face and retorted, "Sero and Kaminari are fine with us! They think it's great, actually."

"Well good for them!" Bakugou roared as he jumped up from his seat to face him. "They don't have to worry about what the whole class will say if word gets out, because I'm sure the other little bitch won't keep his mouth shut. I don't want everyone in the class to know what we did, Kirishima! What if a teacher finds out!? What then!?"

Kirishima glared at him furiously as he said in a voice that threatened to erupt into anger, or crying, or both, "Are you ashamed of me? Of us?"

"You idiot! Don't you get it!?" Bakugou ruthlessly roared. His eyes were burning with rage and frustration. "Even before I knew I was gay I refused to go with my friends to hook up with girls. Relationships could have meant a big scandal, and then U.A. never would have accepted me. I had to claw my way to get here! Do you think there aren't consequences for this kind of thing!?"

Bakugou took a deep, shaky breath before he continued, his muscles quivering with anger as he spoke, "I'm already known as the poor kid who got attacked by the sludge villain, that angry guy who had to be chained up at the Sports Festival, and now the helpless student who was kidnapped by the League of Villains! Oh, people would just die for a new title for me. They would make sure we were utterly humiliated for this."

"You're being ridiculous, man!" Kirishima shouted back. "No one cares! No one, is going to label you for this."

"Oh, people fucking love to give labels," Bakugou argued, his voice cracking with barely-controlled rage. "All my life I've dreamed of becoming the number one hero, but one after another these obstacles keep getting in my way. That Icyhot bastard with his quirk, fucking Deku randomly appearing with a quirk as great as All Might's, and all these endless waves of people judging me every time I breathe!

"Maybe I can handle all the pressure from them thinking I'm some evil, angry bastard all the time. But who knows how those idiots would react if they knew I was in a relationship with another man? I want to be a hero, the best of the best. I love you, but I can't face everyone looking at me like I'm a stupid kid and judging me for every decision I make."

Kirishima stood frozen in place for a moment, watching as a single tear rolled down Bakugou's cheek, but his face remained a picture of pure, unyielding fire. But the redhead said, quietly, "What did you say?"

Seething with anger Bakugou roared, "I'M NOT JUST A STUPID KID, DAMMIT!"

"No," Kiri said with a note of confusion in his tone. "You said you love me."

"Shut the hell up!" Bakugou yelled, his palms sparking threateningly.

But Kirishima didn't back down, yelling right back at his snarling face, "NO YOU SHUT UP! LET ME TALK! You said you want to be a hero. What, you think caring about someone means you can't be a hero? Does our relationship make you feel like less of a man!? Who said you have to give up one for the other? When you open up to me, you wanna know what I see? I see a man! A man who fights for what he wants with every scrap of his strength until he has no fight left!"

"FUCK OFF!" Bakugou howled.

Kirishima swiftly hardened his fist and struck Bakugou square in the jaw, sending him sprawling across the floor. Bakugou may have been the better fighter overall, but Kirishima could pack more power behind his punches. There was nothing the other boy could do against a direct hit, so he looked up at Kirishima, this time with no choice but to listen.

"SHUT UP AND LET ME FINISH!" Kirishima demanded as he loomed over him. "I see a man strong enough to rise up as the world's greatest hero. A man who will stand up to any challenge, to any creature stupid enough to get in his way. A man who won't let any obstacle stop him because he can fight to tear down each and every one of them. But you're worried about what a couple of extras are going to say!? I won't be just another obstacle in your way when you're clawing your way up to be the best hero this world has ever seen. And I won't just be on the sidelines either. You know why!?"

Kirishima paused to catch his breath and held out a hand to help Bakugou up again, then continued, "Because I'm going to be right there next to you, tearing down every obstacle that tries to stand between us. I'll make sure you won't ever stop fighting until we have no fight left to give. And if anyone tries to stand in our way, I say we send them straight to hell. You never take shit from anyone, and you damn well aren't about to now. You are a man, Bakugou, and don't you ever let anyone say differently about you."
Bakugou paused for a long while, shaking as the rush of conflicting emotions threatened to overwhelm him. "I..."

"I'm not done," Kirishima said sternly. Then he pulled him into a tight hug, squeezing him with almost all of his strength to show him just how much he cared. After a moment he said softly in his ear, as his eyes burned with the pressure from wanting to tear up, "That's why...I love you too, Kat."

There was a long silence, until Kirishima began to feel more nervous with every intake of breath. He began to worry how Bakugou would react to his love confession, to everything that he had said and done. He had resolved to cautiously pull away from the hug, but before he could he felt Bakugou's hands knot in his shirt and fiercely pull him closer.

He sighed and hugged Bakugou tighter, and then the blond boy started shaking softly. After a short time he started to sob and buried his face in the crook of Kirishima's neck. His crying quickly intensified until his sobs were loud enough to make Kirishima cringe and his tears soaked his shirt, but still Kirishima stayed where he was, because Bakugou needed him.

"I love you," Kirishima repeated quietly, making Bakugou cry harder. His whole body was shaking as the sobs choked their way out of him Eijirou could feel his shirt getting soaked but he could really care less.

"I love you too," Bakugou finally managed to choke out. "Thank you."

Kirishima pulled away just a bit, and after a brief hesitation he pressed a kiss to Bakugou's temple and pressed their foreheads together. Bakugou looked up at him, and Kirishima looked back into his eyes. Those beautiful, fiery eyes he loved so much. He could see the endless pools of emotion within them, the ache that he never showed to anyone. There was a world of pain and suffering behind those sad eyes, and this was the first time Kirishima had ever seen them with out the angry façade. Quite frankly, it broke his heart to see Bakugou like this.

"Can I spend the night?" Kirishima asked quietly, pleadingly.

Bakugou sniffled and smiled the slightest bit, and Kirishima saw his eyes light up with hope as he answered shyly, "...Yeah. Please."

With a smile Kirishima reluctantly pulled away from him and led the way to the bed, crawling under the blankets. Bakugou wordlessly joined him, then turned on his side away from him, partly to hide the fact that he felt he was about to start crying again. At least this time it was partly for joy because, yet again, he found himself wondering how he could have found himself with someone so perfect, so loving, when he was so clearly undeserving.

Kirishima stared at the back of Bakugou's head, wondering what he should do. What would be appropriate for him to do? The other boy would probably kill him if he tried to get close to him...or was this different? Bakugou would normally refuse pity or attention or anything like it, but Kirishima remembered the look in his eyes, and the way his voice started to crack as he spoke.

With cautious movements Kirishima scooted closer an inch at a time until he was right behind him and carefully slipped his hand around his waist. Bakugou tensed at first, but with a quiet sigh he relaxed into the touch. Just when Kirishima was finally becoming convinced that this might be the right course of action, Bakugou grabbed his hand gently and laced their fingers together and gave it a small squeeze.

Kirishima saw this as a good sign and moved closer until his chest was pressed to Bakugou's back, his face buried in the sweet-smelling ashen hair. Their bodies lined up almost perfectly together, from head to toe. With a heavy sigh and a warm smile on his face, Kirishima began to run his hand along Katsuki's chest lovingly.

"This doesn't make you any less manly," Kirishima said firmly.

He couldn't see it, but Bakugou was smiling as another tear rolled down his cheek and he brushed it away with his free hand. "Thank, Eijirou. And I meant what I said. I...I really do love you."

"I love you too, Katsuki," Kirishima answered without hesitation, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze. He snuggled in closer, giving him a tight hug as he whispered, "Good night, Kat."