Hi hi friends! I'm sure you're like... huh? Another MANIA chapter? More than 2 years after it was completed? And my friends, I am here to deliver. I missed my bbys and definitely needed some self-indulgent Bakugou and Shimamura content (iykyk). So! I decided to write a few little blurbs with my favorite canonxOC couple! :) Please enjoy! And yes, this chapter is entirely fluff, you're welcome.

OH! AND!!! Thank you for almost 100k reads!!! I am so thankful for each and every person that reads and enjoys MANIA and I'm just happy to be able to share my favorite creation with you all! As always, thank you for the comments and the votes and the kind words and especially the reactions to the plot twists :P

Without further ado, I present to you. . .

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The Chronicles of High School Dating
ft. Bakugou and Shimamura
———
a girl and a gift

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

1 Day after the 'Pantry Trap'

Of course it was just Bakugou's luck that the day after he kissed Shimamura in the pantry was Valentine's Day. If those damn nerds had planned it better, maybe the day he kissed her would have been Valentine's Day instead. In the back of his mind he thought about how much more fitting that would have been. It almost made him angry that it wasn't Valentine's Day the day before. He imagined him and Shimamura in the pantry together. . . so close and so intimate. The way her eyes sparkled from the stray flickers of the lightbulb above their heads. Her soft skin against his palm; her lips pressing up into a pout and then a smile. She was beautiful. She was—

Get a hold of yourself.

Bakugou pressed his hand against his mouth as he leaned his elbow on his desk and faced towards the window in the 1-A classroom. He could feel the heat rushing to his head and was hoping it didn't show on his face. He rolled his eyes at his own sentimental feelings. Feelings like that shouldn't exist. He had no time for them and he definitely didn't have time for whatever setup happened to him and Shimamura yesterday. Maybe if he had the chance to do things his way, it would've turned out better. But truthfully, what was wrong with the encounter? Hell if he knows. The memory shimmered like diamonds in his vision. He wanted to go back and relive it, not change it.

The rest of his classmates were filing into the room. Most of the guys held various Valentine's Day items such as boxes of chocolates and little gift bags full of other surprises. A few had small envelopes in their hands with a bow tied around them and a mark like kissing lips on the front. Bakugou's eyes surveyed the gifts and saw the girls carrying around the items as well, probably going to hand them out as the day went on. Midoriya and Todoroki already had the most gifts in their arms as they struggled to lug them to their desks. Of course those two would be favored by the girls. Bakugou grimaced.

His face kept the disgusted scowl until his eyes found the object of his recent distractions. The girl stepped into the room as if she were floating on a cloud. Her white hair flowed like ocean waves at her shoulders and she held a small white bag in her hands while her school bag was tossed across her shoulder. A small smile lit up her features and her eyes were a brilliant blue, dancing with stars and sparkling gemstones in her irises. It took everything in him not to march straight up to her and kiss her on the spot. Bakugou bit the inside of his cheek. He expected her to look his way and smile at him like she usually did—that was an important part (in Bakugou's opinion) of her morning routine. However, she didn't even spare him a glance as she walked to the back of her room where her desk was. Bakugou's crimson eyes followed her all the way there. She never even turned around, although he doubted she knew he was staring.

Bakugou turned until he could see the green haired kid sitting behind him giving him a strange look. Midoriya raised his brows at Bakugou.

"Are you ok, Kacchan?" Midoriya asked.

Bakugou sneered at him and turned away again in an instant. "Shut up, damn nerd."

"You look strained."

"I look fucking fine. Mind your damn business."

Midoriya shrugged and didn't press further. It was pointless trying to argue with Bakugou.

The moment before the bell rang to start the school day, Aizawa sauntered into the door with his bright yellow sleeping bag tossed over his shoulder. The rest of the class quieted from their Valentine's Day shenanigans and overall giddy conversations and friendship circles that Bakugou avoided at all costs. However, once the silence finally settled on the room, he wished his chatty classmates would return to their yapping. The silence allowed his mind to wander. . . wander back to her.

Bakugou faced the window again, watching the clouds roll over the light blue sky. The day was perfect and bright and only added to the loving atmosphere radiating through the school. His eyes lingered on the blue horizon. The color reminded him of Shimamura's eyes. . . light and airy and shimmering with life and admiration. He could get lost in those eyes, no matter what hue they took. He—

Focus!

Bakugou pinched his cheek with his fingers and forced himself to look to the front of the classroom. He pretended to pay attention to Aizawa's homeroom announcements. They'd have English class next period which meant that Present Mic might add some much needed volume to the obedient class. He hoped the loud teacher shouted so that Bakugou wouldn't be swimming in his own thoughts about a girl. A girl of all things. Bakugou couldn't believe himself. He'd been known to catch himself in a blurry haze of thinking about his future as number 1 and about new fighting techniques or some new insult he'd spur at the extras around him. Never—never—did Bakugou think he would be distracted by a girl.

But no one caught his eye like she did.

It was tradition for the girls to give gifts to the guys on Valentine's Day and then on White Day it was the opposite. The girls of 1-A had been talking about how they got a Valentine for every guy in their class, and any other guys that they were friends with outside of the Hero Course. It was no secret, of course. The girls hadn't been very quiet about it in the common room at the dorms. They squealed as loud as Bakugou's explosions when they got excited about the gifts they were preparing to hand out. Each girl had gotten a bunch of the same thing to give out. Some bought chocolates, poems, and candies while others tried to keep it simple with a little heart that had "Sincerely," their name written on it. Bakugou couldn't tell if they were conniving to get as many presents as possible on White Day—he would do the same if he were them—or if they just did it for the sake of being the goody two-shoes girls that they were. He assumed the latter was true, but he wouldn't doubt that some had the former tickling the back of their minds as they plotted their gifts and who to give them to.

The white bag. It was obvious that Shimamura had the same plan as the other girls in her class with all the gifts stacked neatly in her package. Bakugou's brain did flips over the thought that one of those gifts could be for him. . . but then he remembered that others would be receiving a gift from her as well. Not only were they receiving a gift from Shimamura, they'd be receiving the same gift.

Bakugou suppressed the urge to set off his quirk with the firecracker sparks in his palm. He ground his teeth together enough to crack if he did it for long enough.

Why was he so obsessed over the gift that Shimamura was giving out? It'd be just the same as the other girls. They'd give a gift as a friend, knowing it didn't mean any romantic feelings or confessions, and leave it at that. They were all following the same plan. . . so why was he upset about Shimamura's? He didn't have a right to be. He kissed her once, and it wasn't even planned. Not by him, at least. They hadn't talked since then either. He felt his stomach churn at the thought of the identical gift that Shimamura would give him just like the other guys in their class. Why did everyone else deserve a gift from her? They should count themselves lucky that they even get to stand in her presence. He should count himself lucky.

Bakugou felt a small tap on his shoulder. He glanced up at the person attached. The flaming red hair almost burned his retinas from the brightness. The boy must have just re-dyed it.

Kirishima stared at him with his red eyes narrowed. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

Bakugou rolled his eyes and looked away. Kirishima took that as a no.

"Well," Kirishima reiterated his previous statement that Bakugou hadn't heard a lick of. "It's lunchtime, dude. You're the last one here. I told the guys I'd wait up for you and they said they'd save us a seat at the cafeteria!"

Bakugou shot him a scowl. Lunchtime? When the hell did it turn into lunchtime? He must have been lost in thought for hours. He could vaguely remember Present Mic's voice but he hadn't paid attention to any of the lesson. Glancing around the room, Kirishima was right, everyone else had left. Bakugou scoffed and stood from his chair without pushing it back in, storming past Kirishima and walking out the door. Kirishima chuckled and followed on his heels.

"What's wrong? Nervous about the gifts?" Kirishima said from behind him.

Bakugou's face ignited. It felt as if his lungs had suddenly caved in on themselves. There was no way Kirishima knew about the kiss nor his distracted mind all day.

"The hell are you talking about, shitty hair?" Bakugou brushed away the comment easily.

Kirishima chuckled again. Bakugou was thankful he was walking somewhat behind him so he couldn't see the slight blush that had appeared on his cheeks. Bakugou was not one to blush. The hell is wrong with him right now?

"You know! The gifts from the girls! I'm sure they'll start piling up on your table when we get to the cafeteria. You're a chick magnet, dude."

Bakugou rolled his eyes heavily. Good, Kirishima had no idea about what was actually on his mind.
"You think I care about some shitty chocolates or poems? They're going straight in the trash bin if one even gets near me."

"Aw, c'mon man! The girls worked hard on their gifts! They're just trying to be nice!"

"I don't care about their feelings. This holiday is for sappy lovebirds and idiotic birdbrains like you. Shouldn't even be a goddamn holiday."

Kirishima sighed with a smile and patted his hand on his fiery friend's back.

"I pity the girl that finally warms that cold heart of yours, man. And hey—you never know—you might just find her when she gives you a Valentine today!"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Bakugou reeled away from his friendly pat and Kirishima stuck his hands in his pockets before Bakugou could hit him. Kirishima's goofy smile remained fastened on his face. Bakugou glared at the redhead before slouching down the hallway to the cafeteria where everyone else in the school was already mingling.

As soon as he stepped into the lunch area, he wanted to turn back.

Everyone in school was up and hugging each other and talking with the dumbest smiles Bakugou had ever seen. Little stacks of Valentines were piled on the tables or under the chairs for safe keeping, but none compared to the 1-A tables. The boys of 1-A's gifts were piled high like pyramids to where one would question if there was even a person sitting behind the stack or just more gifts. Sero waved Kirishima and Bakugou over from where he stood at his table, wrapping his stack of gifts in a roll of tape so they'd stay together.

Kirishima led the way to the table and Bakugou followed without much arguments, surprisingly. Bakugou was too distracted seeing all the gifts at everyone's tables and the girls running around the room to hand out their favors. He stood corrected. This was a stupid holiday.

"Hey guys!" Kirishima said as they reached the table.

Sero and Kaminari were standing with their gifts on the table, but Mina was nowhere to be seen. Bakugou assumed she was one of the girls skirting around the room with boxes of chocolates in her arms. Bakugou grumbled as he looked around.

"Just in time!" Sero said with a triangle shaped grin. "The girls said they'd make their way back to us once you two got here."

Kirishima's smile lit up like the sun. "Wow! So that means they have gifts for us too!" Kirishima bumped his elbow with Bakugou's, trying to relay the excitement, but Bakugou didn't care.

"Yep!" Kaminari popped a piece of chocolate in his mouth.

"The girls got everyone in our class a gift! Super nice of them, if you ask me," said Sero.

"Our class is so cool," Kirishima lamented with a happy tear in his eye.

"Lame," Bakugou grumbled.

Before any of the boys could argue against Bakugou's grouchy attitude, a group of girls flocked to their table like a pack of hyenas. Their smiles were vicious, in Bakugou's opinion, but the rest knew they were just being bubbly and nice about handing out gifts. They all had various items and bags slung over their shoulders. Most of the bags were nearly empty since they had time to give out their gifts earlier in the lunch period before Bakugou and Kirishima arrived. They said little snippets of words and greetings and nice compliments to the pair as they handed their gifts away. Kirishima took it all with a gleaming smile and happy thanks. Bakugou ignored them and tossed the gift onto the table or in the bin when they were shoved into his hands.

Uraraka handed out little notes with her name signed and a 'Free Hug!' coupon taped to it—the girl didn't want to spend money, but she still found a way to give her classmates their Valentine's gifts. Jirou gave them each a CD with a playlist of their class' favorite songs. Yaoyorozu had porcelain tea cups as gifts while Asui gave out suspicious green fly-shaped lollipops. Sayuri Uchiha had heart shaped boxes of raspberry chocolates but there was one large one that she refused to share, saying it was reserved for someone special but wouldn't spill as to who; Bakugou honestly guessed that the receiver would be Shimamura. The Support Course girl, Mei Hatsume, even made an appearance and gifted them. . . mini grenades. Bakugou was pretty certain she gave them out to test her invention more so than actually wanting to give them gifts for the day. She took it as an opportunity to use her peers as test subjects. Bakugou had to admit it was clever of her to do, even if her logic wasn't totally sound.

The boys were careful to set their grenades away from their fine stack of Valentine's. They'd probably have to give the small bombs off to Aizawa when they got to class, anyway. They couldn't risk blowing a hole in someone's backpack or exploding the school. Hatsume probably didn't consider that if one went off, it would set off the rest like a chain reaction until the school was nothing but smoke and debris—or she just didn't care.

Bakugou lounged back in his seat with his feet kicked up on the chair across from him. Kirishima and Sero were comparing and trading Valentine's gifts, although they had basically all of the same items. Kaminari sat peacefully munching on the many chocolates he had received. Bakugou thought they'd received the last of their gifts, but he was proven wrong as another group of girls stepped up to their table.

Tako Miyata and Mina Ashido were among the small group, each holding just a few gifts in their arms. The third girl had a white bag hooked around her wrist and holding her hands together in front of her with a warm smile across her lips. Bakugou's eyes widened a fraction of an inch at her arrival, although he tried not to show any other reaction.

Kirishima grinned at the trio. "Hey!"

Miyata pushed her headband on the top of her head so it covered more of the line between where her purple tendrils met her skin. The trio of girls smiled and waved.

"We come bearing gifts!" Ashido giggled and handed out two bars of chocolate to Kirishima and Bakugou. Kirishima took both bars and tossed Bakugou's onto his stack before the explosion quirk user could throw it in the garbage. Kirishima had fallen into that habit after seeing Bakugou chuck half of his gifts into the trash before they landed on the table.

"We hope you enjoy!" Miyata said cheerfully.

She plucked from her small bouquet a pair of artificial roses with small candies attached by a string to the stem. Kirishima took them gratefully. Miyata then turned to Sero and Kaminari and handed them a pair of flowers as well—but Sero's was a different color. Sero's rose was golden instead of red and had a note linked to one of the candies on the bottom. Miyata tried to hide the note with her hand, but everyone at their table had taken notice of it. Sero's face immediately turned a shade of red brighter than the roses as he held the flower to his chest.

Sero rubbed the back of his neck and laughed, trying to cover up his own embarrassment. "T-thanks Miyata!"

Kirishima and Kaminari gave their black haired friend the same look of surprise and mischief hidden in their smiles. Bakugou simply raised a brow at the interaction. He'd never heard Sero stutter like that in front of a girl before.

A blush appeared on Miyata's cheeks as she turned away, bowing briefly as a 'you're welcome.' Ashido giggled from next to her as they linked arms and scurried away, leaving the white haired girl at the table with the boys. Shimamura would catch up with them once she was finished handing out her gifts.
Bakugou's gaze followed Shimamura's hand as she reached into her white bag and pulled out a small navy blue box with a red ribbon tied around it. She handed it to Kirishima and the boy quickly untied it and revealed the perfect and delicious quartet of chocolates set within. His giddy smile returned to Shimamura and he hugged her shoulders.

"Thank you Shima! This is such an amazing gift! So manly!" he nearly shouted in her ear.

She laughed. Bakugou's heart skipped and he swore the beating muscle could be seen thumping outside of his uniform jacket. Shimamura's cheeks rose and she tilted her head at Kirishima as the melody of her laughter filled Bakugou's ears. Her laugh was as silky and as smooth as the red ribbon she had tied around her Valentine's gifts. Bakugou grit his teeth together and tried his best to fake disgust as he rolled his eyes.

Kirishima released Shimamura from the hug and the girl reached towards her bag again. Bakugou thought his heart might stop at the thought of the gift she was going to give him. He knew it would be the same as the gift she had given all of the other boys, but at this point he didn't care. All that mattered in his narrow consciousness was the fact that he was getting a gift from her.

Shimamura folded the bag in her hand and flattened it out against her stomach.

It was empty. Her well of gifts had run dry.

She waved the boys goodbye as she walked away to rejoin Ashido and Miyata wherever they had run off to. For the barest second, Bakugou thought her brilliant blue eyes had fallen on him with a smile on her face, but he was poorly mistaken. She didn't even look at him.

Kaminari whistled from his seat. Bakugou flashed him a glare.

"Man. She must be really mad at you if she didn't give you a Valentine," Kaminari said, poking the bear that was Bakugou.

"What actually happened in the pantry yesterday?" Sero asked.

Bakugou grimaced at the question. "Nothing happened. Keep your noses out of my goddamn business before I shove them elsewhere."

Bakugou had beaten each and every one of his friends to a pulp yesterday after their stunt they pulled by pushing Bakugou and Shimamura into the pantry. Well, he didn't hurt them enough that they would need to see Recovery Girl, but he got his point across. Kirishima had been wailing the whole time about how he just wanted his friends to make up and hang out with each other again. Bakugou didn't enlighten the group that they had succeeded in that goal. And he wasn't planning on telling them any time soon.

Kirishima laughed and sat down in his seat across from Bakugou, pushing Bakugou's legs off of the chair. Bakugou's feet landed on the ground with a loud thud. He glared at the redhead.

"You guys were in there for a long time for 'nothing' to happen."

Bakugou changed the subject. "You all got gifts from Whitey?"

Sero and Kaminari reached into their stacks of gifts and pulled out the same blue box that Kirishima had received. Kaminari's was already empty, of course. Kirishima opened up his box and offered it to Bakugou.

"I'm down to share if you want one, man!" Kirishima said.

Bakugou swatted his hand away but Kirishima was careful not to drop his chocolates on the ground. "I don't want shit from you and I don't care about her damn gift. It probably tastes like ass anyway."

"Actually, they were really good." Kaminari nodded with a pleasant smile at the thought. Sero kicked Kaminari's shin from under the table, giving him a cross look. The lightning charged student was awful at reading the room.

"Doesn't matter to me." Bakugou shrugged and crossed his arms, slouching in his seat. "Take my shitty gifts. I don't want them."

Sero and Kaminari scrambled for Bakugou's pile of gifts, scrounging for them like wild animals. Kirishima leaned to the side so he could see the blond from around the pile. Kirishima's smile was there but his eyes were soft with concern.

"You ok, bro?"

Bakugou scowled at him, his lower jaw jutting to the side. Kirishima continued before Bakugou could respond, "You know, I'm sure Shima has more! She probably just didn't bring all her gifts! The boxes were pretty big for the bag so I doubt she was able to bring them all to school. Maybe you'll get one back at the dorms!"

"Did I fucking ask?"

Kirishima shrugged and regained his place behind the gifts, hidden from Bakugou's sight.

Bakugou couldn't deny that Kirishima's comment made his stomach bubble with hope. Why else wouldn't he get a gift from Shimamura? She had a tendency of forgetting things, but he doubted she would've remembered to give everyone a gift but him. Maybe Kirishima was right. Maybe she couldn't carry all the gifts to school with her so she had Bakugou's and others saved at the dorms. There was no way she didn't get him a gift on purpose. . . right?

Bakugou turned over the thought in his mind. They kissed. They shared. . . a moment? A feeling? Shit, he didn't know what to call it. They shared something yesterday. He'd been thinking about Shimamura—her gift—all day. But did she not care about yesterday? Did she even remember it? Maybe that's why he didn't receive her Valentine's. She didn't want to remember the kiss. She wanted to forget about him and the moment. Maybe it was for the best. . .

But the thought of Shimamura still giving him a gift lit a fire under him. He couldn't help but keep his hopes up, waiting to return back to the dorms with fervent anxiety and excitement tunneling through his bones. Gods, what was wrong with him? All this fuss over a girl and a gift.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Sitting in the common room, Bakugou couldn't be more disappointed. Kirishima was right about one thing: Shimamura didn't have room in her bag to bring all of her intended Valentine's Day boxed chocolates. When the class had returned to the dorm, Shimamura had scurried to her room on the second floor then came back with a set of blue boxes in her arms, balancing them like champagne glasses teetering on a tray. The heroes-in-training were sitting around the common room, chatting and thanking each other for all the gifts of the day. Shimamura walked around and handed out her chocolates to Shoji, Tokoyami, Koda and Midoriya. When her gifts had disappeared from her arms, Bakugou was still left without one.

Bakugou could feel smoke fuming from his ears like a train. He didn't know whether to be angry, disheartened, frustrated or overall just annoyed.

Deku got a gift from her and not me?!

Bakugou sat steaming on the end of the couch glowering at the coffee table in front of him. Tokoyami had been sitting across from him and quickly moved his seat when he felt Bakugou's intense glare searing into his knees. No one tried to talk to the hothead since he was obviously not in the mood. Kirishima and the others had assumed that he had received a gift from Shimamura already, since they had so many doubts that she would leave him without one. Even if Shimamura was mad at the brute, she wasn't one to treat others unequally or unfairly. Bakugou knew it too. So why was he sitting on the couch with his good-for-nothing class without a Valentine from Shimamura? And why did she refuse to look at him?

Shimamura's laugh filled his ears as she giggled with her girl friends on the other side of the room. They were exchanging stories about the reactions they received at their gift giving from earlier in the day. Ashido even brought up Miyata's gift to Sero, which resulted in all of the girls screeching and cooing at Miyata for more information. The tendril-headed girl looked like she might faint from lack of oxygen, her face was so red. Sero, who had overheard, excused himself to the kitchen to avoid the embarrassment of hearing his crush talk about him. Kaminari was quick to follow him to tease him about it.

The dark haired Uchiha had her arm linked in Shimamura's as she snuggled close to her best friend. Every now and again, Uchiha would whisper something to Shimamura, causing them both to start giggling, then Uchiha would send a look Bakugou's way—as if she knew it caught his attention whenever he heard Shimamura's laugh. He'd hurriedly look away with a greater scowl than before whenever the two made eye contact. This only made Uchiha's evil grin grow and snuggled herself closer to Shimamura. What did it matter to him? He didn't care what they were talking about. He definitely didn't care if they were talking about him or not. Definitely. Definitely not.

After a while, Shimamura stood from the group and headed off to the hallway, likely heading to bed. Shimamura was usually the first to head off for the night, whether it be because of her fatigue or her bipolar symptoms hitting her later in the day, she tapped out pretty early. The girls bade her goodnight and Shimamura left the room. Bakugou grimaced in his chair, gnawing on the inside of his cheek.

He pressed his chin into his fist as he glared at nothing. If he could, he'd probably be glaring at himself right now. How could he have been so foolish to get all caught up and frustrated about a measly Valentine's Day gift? He said it himself, he hated the holiday. It was dumb and ridiculous and didn't deserve the hype it had. But that didn't stop the tight feeling in his chest over Shimamura and her gifts to everyone except for him. She didn't owe him anything. He just. . . He wished she had given him a gift. He didn't care if it was the same as everyone else's, he wouldn't have cared if it was worse than theirs either. Bakugou just wished he had something from her, even if it meant nothing.

Bakugou suddenly stood from his seat and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he stomped towards the hallway. Kirishima was the only one to catch his friend's departure.

"Where are you—?"

"To sleep. All this fucking friendship and ogling is making me sick."

"Ah—see you tomorrow, Bakubro!"

Bakugou grumbled in response, disappearing behind the doors of the elevator closing behind him. His finger hovered over the button labeled with a 4, his floor. He stood there without pressing anything for what felt like an hour. His finger moved lower and he pressed on the 2. The elevator dinged and the doors opened quickly as he made the ascent. He stepped into the empty hallway lined with four doors on either side.

Katsuki, what the hell are you doing?

Bakugou stood in the hallway for a moment, contemplating his next steps. He mentally decided it was a bad idea, but the doors to the elevator were already closing shut behind him. He could hear the soft ticking of the elevator shaft as it made its way down to the first floor to pick up the next round of students wanting to travel back to their rooms. The blond let out a huff and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He marched over to the only occupied girl's room on the 2nd floor. He raised his fist and pounded on the door with an extremely loud KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. If the resident inside was sleeping, they definitely wouldn't be now.

He heard rustling behind the door. Soon after, the lock clicked and the door opened slowly. The white haired girl stood in the doorway with a confused, somewhat startled, expression. She had all of her hair pinned up into a messy bun and her uniform jacket was off so she was only in her short sleeved white blouse and her grey and green skirt. Her hands fiddled with her black temple covers around her ears as she pasted them back onto her skin.

"Oh," she said, surprise making itself known in her voice. "Hey Bakugou."

Bakugou was livid. He let out a curl of air through his nostrils and he could've sworn it was pure smoke from how much his insides were burning in rage. That's it? 'Hey Bakugou?' Really?!

"What the fuck, Whitey."

Shimamura's brows wrinkled at him. "Can I help you with something?"

Bakugou stretched his arms out to the side. His angry exterior never faltered. He repeated his statement, this time with more fury and anger boiling his blood and bursting out through his vocal chords. "WHAT THE FUCK, WHITEY?"

Shimamura visibly cringed at his volume. "Bakugou—"

He didn't let her get more than a single word in before he was shouting again.

"You've been walking around all fucking day with your dumb bag and those dumbass chocolate boxes and giving them out like fucking party favors to EVERYONE in this goddamn pointless school EXCEPT FOR ME?! If you hated me that much you should've just fucking told me! Maybe then I would have never gotten stuck in that pantry with you! I didn't want your damn—!" He paused. "Why the hell are you looking at me like that. . . stop it."

Shimamura had a coy smile on her face, like she knew something that he didn't. He squinted at her with a snarled nose.

"What?!" he shouted.

Shimamura shrugged, no longer phased by his loudness, and brought her hand up from behind her back. Slotted between two of her fingers was a small envelope with a ruby red wax seal. She tilted it towards him.

"What the hell is that?" he grumbled.

Shimamura's mouth opened to a pearly white grin. Her dimmed blue eyes flashed in hue and brightened barely. "Take it and find out."

Bakugou was not one to argue with that. He snatched the envelope from her and somehow managed to carefully separate the wax seal from the paper and pry open the envelope. He stuck his nose inside as he tried to find its contents. His dull gaze met her grinning expression again.

"It's empty."

Shimamura squinted but her smile remained. "You sure?"

Bakugou tilted the envelope upside down and shook it a few times, but nothing came out. Sure enough, it was completely empty.

"Shima, what the hell is—"

Before he could say anything else, Shimamura stood on her tip toes and pressed her palm to the edge of his jaw, tilting his head down to her the slightest inch. She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and stayed like that for just a moment. Bakugou's eyes widened in surprise and he could feel all of the heat in his body rise to his cheeks until the rest of him was frozen in ice. She let go of his face and stepped away with the same smile gracing her lips.

Bakugou didn't let her get away that easily, though. He stepped through the door frame as she stepped back and snaked his hands around her waist and pressed against the small of her back. He brought her towards him so their chests were against each other and he leaned down, pressing a kiss to her lips this time. She giggled through the connection. Her hands slid up his sides until they were on his biceps, her nail lightly drawing a circle around his muscle. Bakugou turned and pressed her back against the wall, moving his hands up to the sides of her neck and cheek. Their mouths drew away for air and Bakugou scoffed and raised his brow at her, but his smirk proved he wasn't disappointed in whatever just happened.

She smiled up at him. "Happy Valentine's Day, Bakugou."

His thumb dragged across her bottom lip. "So this was your grand plan?"

She shrugged between him and her dorm wall. "I know you, unfortunately. I know you don't like Valentine's Day—you think it's stupid—and I know if you did get anything on the day, you wouldn't want the same crap that I gave everyone else. And I heard that giving a letter to someone is like a confession." He could tell the 'unfortunately' bit was sarcasm.

"You gave me an empty envelope."

"Well, I thought we were past the whole 'confessions' bit."

". . . Fair point."

"So I replaced the contents with something you might actually like."

She leaned forward and pressed another quick kiss to his lips.

Shimamura's smile continued to glow when she receded from him. "Sorry if I had you thinking something else."

Bakugou grimaced at his thoughts from earlier. He brushed her silvery hair to the side, tucking it behind her ear. However, there was one thought that still had some semblance of relevance after everything.
"You expect me to believe that you had planned this since before yesterday?"

It was an understandable doubt. Before the pantry debacle, Shimamura had actually been mad at Bakugou for the entire week. That same week was the week that the girls were out buying their Valentine's Day gifts so Shimamura was probably doing the same. It was almost impossible that she had planned this little envelope confession/kiss when she was getting all of her gifts set up while simultaneously avoiding Bakugou and being the most upset she'd been with him since she'd met the blond.

"I didn't."

Bakugou clicked his tongue. Aha! He finally found the flaw in her plans.

"So you never got me a Valentine's Day gift?" His heart deflated as the words left his mouth although he had a victorious smirk on his face. But he was met with surprise as she laughed at him. Why was she laughing?

Shimamura tilted her cheek into his hand. "No, I got you a Valentine."

The girl ducked under his arm and walked further into her dorm room. Bakugou removed himself from the entryway to follow her and the door shut quietly on its own. Bakugou had only been in Shimamura's room twice before, but he knew the layout pretty well by now. It was an odd thing to have so many bean bags in one's room, so that was the first thing that always stuck out to him. Once he found out she was bipolar, he connected the dots that the bean bags were probably for when she had episodes and needed a place to crawl into without it being the cold hard floor. It was a comfort or sensory thing. Bakugou stuck his hands in his pockets as he stepped into the center of the dorm room.

Shimamura looted around in one of her desk drawers before she pulled out a small navy blue box, lacking the ribbon that Bakugou had seen on the other boxes. He stared at it for a moment, then at her. She walked over and handed it to him. Opening the box, it was the same quartet of chocolates that Kirishima had received.

"You got me a gift. . . while you were mad at me?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"Unlike you, Bakugou, I don't hold grudges."

Bakugou moved to swat her on the arm but she leaned out of the way with ease. She giggled at him. "But I came up with the different gift last night after. . . Yeah."

Bakugou's lips turned up in amusement at her inability to name exactly what happened in the pantry. He popped one of the chocolates in his mouth, holding it between his front teeth. His arms wrapped around her again and he bent forward. She promptly took the chocolate from his teeth with her own and chewed on it instead.

"I will never understand you," he said.

"I think you've gotten a pretty good hang of it."

He craned his neck forward and pressed another kiss to her lips which she dutifully returned. The pair took disjointed steps until Shimamura's heels hit the edge of her bed. They tipped themselves backwards and landed on the mattress with Shimamura giggling between kisses. Bakugou knelt over her on the bed and grinned down at her. Her white hair flushed out on the dark sheets and her sky blue eyes glistened. The faint moonlight scattered into the room and hit the edge of her face, making her pale skin glow and her eyes shimmer like stars. Gods. . .

All this fuss over a girl. A girl he really, really liked.

He kissed her again. The taste of the chocolate she had eaten swam into his mouth and filled his taste buds with sweetness. When they parted again because of their unfortunate need to breathe, Bakugou pressed his forehead to hers and she sighed with a peaceful look on her face.

He brought his hands out from under her shirt and pressed them on either side of her head. Shimamura's eyes fluttered open and she smiled up at him.

"You can still have the chocolates," she said, talking about the gift he would have received if not for the envelope.

Bakugou clicked his tongue and smirked down at her. "Just so long as I get both you and the sweets."

Shimamura's cheeks flared with pinkness. His smirk only grew at how easy it was to get her flustered.

"Greedy," Shimamura chided. "If you get so much, maybe I should reconsider my gifts to our classmates. Maybe they'll appreciate more than just the chocolate."

Bakugou frowned. Just as he ruffled her feathers, she could do it right back. He swooped down and pressed another needy kiss to her lips before drawing away again, tugging at her bottom lip between his teeth.

"Hell no," he growled. "They don't get jack shit. You're mine now."

Shimamura's eyebrows lifted at that. She was actually surprised. "Is that so?"

Bakugou blushed. He actually blushed. He wasn't sure if he meant to say those words, but he couldn't take them back now, nor did he want to.

"You're the one who gave me the envelope, Whitey. You should know the answer to that."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Bakugou waking up alongside a slumbering Tikki Shimamura was not how he thought he was going to start his weekend. But hey, he was not complaining.

Bakugou had woken up hot—temperature hot, that is. He felt like he was sleeping in a sauna and the heat refused to reduce to anything less than sweltering. He groaned and turned over in his sleep, draping his arm over the shape next to him. It was only when he heard the shape groan softly did he open his eyes.

Barely inches from his nose was Shimamura's forehead and white bangs. The girl slept like a child; tucked up in a ball with her legs curled into her chest and her head buried in her pillow and nook of her shoulder. Bakugou had wrapped his arm around the girl's waist and he could feel her white hair and her wrinkled uniform blouse tickling his forearm every time she moved in her sleep. She groaned, her brows furrowing together in pain or fear, but didn't stir other than that fragmented moment of concern. She must have been having a bad dream. Regardless, Shimamura looked so damn peaceful sleeping there.

Bakugou couldn't help his actions. He moved his hand to her face, pushing her hair away from her eyes and tracing a soft touch along the side of her face and cheek. Her expression relaxed instantly and she mumbled softly but didn't wake. He smiled.

Wait. . . I'm in Shima's room.

Bakugou shut his eyes and sighed at his own stupidity. He still needed to get back to his room before everyone else woke up so as not to raise suspicion. But what suspicion would he cause? He could just say he went out for an early workout. But the only clothes he had in the room was his school uniform. He doubted Shimamura had anything he could borrow that wasn't totally constricting on him. Shit.

Regretfully, he slid out of bed and tucked the six layers of blankets —yes, six, which also explained why he had woken up so warm—back over Shimamura's sleeping form. He quietly shrugged on his uniform jacket and stepped carefully to the doorway, noting the 4am time stamp on the clock as he did so. Good, it was still early. No one would be around in the hallways so he could get to his dorm quickly before anyone woke up or found him.

Without thinking, he took the empty envelope from the floor and stuck it into the pocket of his pants. That was part of her gift to him, he had to keep it. He moved like an assassin as he shrank out of the room without a sound, so very careful to not wake up Shimamura. Excellent. Now all he had to do was—

"Bakugou?"

The blond froze with his hand on the doorknob. He turned slowly to see the darkly clothed and dark haired figure standing in the hallway. The man had a mug of coffee in his hand that steamed into his face. The poor exhausted man had pink bunny slippers on and stacks of papers under his other arm.

Bakugou's lips flattened as he glared at his teacher.

Aizawa's red gaze flashed from Bakugou, to the door he had just walked out of, then back to the student again. His stare turned into something of disappointment but also confusion.

"Do I even want to ask?" Aizawa sighed.

"It's not what it looks like. . ." That was the best that Bakugou could come up with.

Aizawa let out another more extravagant sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Get to your own room, Bakugou. You and Shimamura should come see me in my office tomorrow—er—later today."

"I don't think—"

"That's not up for debate, Bakugou."

Bakugou growled. Eventually, he nodded in agreement. Dammit. He was certain that such an encounter with his teacher should have made him regret accidentally sleeping over in Shimamura's room, but it didn't. He regretted absolutely nothing, and that scared him just a little bit.

Shit. All these weird stomach turning feelings over a girl and a Valentine's gift he was not expecting. Good for you, Bakugou.