Kirishima

A smooth grey pebble skipped across the glass-like water, creating ripples upon ripples until its momentum ceased and it sunk, sunk, sunk, finding a bed among the yellow sand at the bottom of the crystal clear lake. Kirishima pulled his arm back and then flicked his wrist, sending another one right behind Bakugou's, having attempted to copy his action and recreate the ripples with a different stone, but to no avail. His rock, not quite as smooth, only bounced once off of the surface of the water before sinking with an audible bloop.

"You make it look so easy," he said, "but I can't get it right."

"Come here," Bakugou mumbled, stepping up behind him and pressing up close. "Your wrist isn't right. You're too stiff."

A warm hand wrapped around Kirishima's wrist to position his arm correctly before another stone, cool from having been laying in the shade, was pressed into his palm. "Don't let go of it. Look," Bakugou explained, pulling his arm back and then flicking it forward in the same motion he'd been using to skip the rock. "Feel it? And then you gotta let go..." He paused, repositioning the other again, "...about here."

"Okay okay," Kirishima said, determined. "Let me try it."

Bakugou backed off, his bare feet sinking into new craters they made in the sand, and he crossed his arms to observe. Kirishima pulled in a deep, grounding breath and then, with a certain amount of confidence, did his very best to mimic the actions again. Unfortunately, he'd already spaced when to let go of the stone and let it slip past his fingers too late, causing it to hit the water with a small splash before sinking, not having skipped over the surface a single time.

"Damn," he muttered.

"Woulda been perfect if you'd let go of it at the right time," Bakugou said.

"Yeah," Kirishima sighed, ruffling a hand through his hair that was beginning to lose shape and fall. "I give up for now," he mumbled, plopping down into the sand and tugging his headband from his pocket. As he pulled it in place to keep his hair from completely flopping over, Bakugou joined him, leaning back on his hands with a sigh.

"How you holding up?" Kirishima asked softly after a minute. "I haven't asked in a while."

"'M fine," Bakugou said. "Better."

"You seem better. I still gotta make sure, y'know? That you're not holding something in you'd be better off letting out."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Kirishima let loose a breathy chuckle. It'd been nearly two weeks since Bakugou left his parents' house and moved in with Kirishima and his mom, and while it was freaking great to wake up to Bakugou next to him every morning and get to have dinner with him every evening—without having to sneak around—the reason he was there all the time was always prominent in the center of Kirishima's mind.

It'd been nearly two weeks since the whole shit show went down with his parents, and Kirishima knew Bakugou hadn't heard a single word from either one of them. He'd neglected to call them, too, but Kirishima couldn't blame him at all. As much as he wanted Bakugou to mend things with his parents eventually, something like that was going to take... a long time, inevitably. Besides, it wasn't even really Bakugou's place to apologize to them so much as it was the other way around, though Kirishima was pretty sure his parents thought it was. They were probably sitting back waiting for him to come crawling back to them and beg for their 'help,' whatever that meant; Kirishima couldn't help but wonder just how much patience they had.

"Hey," he spoke up again after a while, "I have a question."

"Sup?" Bakugou asked, having laid back in the sand and folded his hands behind his head.

"...y'know how your parents said they wanna help you? What the hell did they mean by that?"

"Fuck if I know," Bakugou sighed, his chest deflating as his eyes fell closed. "My parents aren't exactly religious or whatever, but they'd probably do whatever the fuck it takes to 'make me straight' or whatever, even if it meant bathing me in holy water or someshit." Kirishima hummed for lack of anything to say before Bakugou continued, "Shit, my mom would probably go as far as to try that conversion therapy or someshit."

"Ah okay," Kirishima mumbled, shuddering internally. "...forget I asked, 'cause maybe I don't want to know."

"Yeah. Guess I don't, either."

Silence fell between them again. The air around the lake was peaceful, still. The sky faded from a bright blue to a dusk grey from west to east; only a few wispy clouds hung around. The whole thing reflected impeccably in the still, glasslike water that'd since settled from their stone skipping. A few last birds from the day chirped nearby. Cicadas and other summer insects had since found their nests for the impending night. Not another soul could be seen on the small, white sandy beach the two occupied, which wasn't surprising for that time of evening, what with it being dinnertime.

In the end, Bakugou was the one whose voice cut through the quiet.

"So what's our plan?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Kirishima asked, swiveling his head in the other's direction.

"We just gonna live with your mom forever or what?"

"Oh... well no, probably not. I guess I haven't really thought much about what we should do. But Mom did say we're welcome to stay with her as long as we need to."

"She said that to me. You're obviously welcome 'cause your her freakin' son."

"Right... I'm just sayin' I think it's best we hang out for a bit, y'know? I'm still planning on starting school in a couple months and I'm gonna keep making boards on the side to make some money."

Bakugou hummed as he sat up suddenly. "Guess I should probably start saving up for a new bike," he said with a light sigh as Kirishima followed his lead. "Or maybe a shitty car since it'll be cheaper."

"Saving up's probably the best option... for whatever. It's gonna take a while but I think we should save up 'til we can afford our own place."

"Yeah," Bakugou agreed, almost noncommittal.

"What's up? You have another idea?" Kirishima questioned, genuinely curious.

"Nope. Probably gonna have to tell Sero I gotta find a higher paying job, though, which fucking sucks."

A small smile graced Kirishima's face. "You really like working there, huh? Even though you won't admit it, least of all to Sero himself."

"...whatever, Dumb Hair. Doesn't matter anyway. They can't afford to pay me any more and my paychecks aren't gonna give us shit to save up with since I told your mom I'm gonna help her pay for shit."

Kirishima's back straightened. "Why'd you do that?"

"'Cause I'm not gonna fucking live at your house like a bum, idiot," Bakugou said, his brow wrinkling as he finally turned and looked at the other.

That only made Kirishima's features soften more, and he couldn't help but reach for Bakugou's hand. "Babe, you know Mom considers you family, right? She did even before I told her you're my boyfriend."

Just like that, Bakugou was looking away again. "...that doesn't mean I'm not gonna fucking help, Shitty Hair."

"I know. I just thought you should know that."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"So we save up, yeah?" Kirishima continued. "I'll go to school and work on board commissions, you'll keep working, maybe get another job somewhere else, and then you can buy a car or a bike or something. And then once we're in a good enough place to do it, we can start looking for an apartment or something. Sound good?"

Bakugou nodded. "'S fine, just don't let your mom help."

"Huh?"

"When I told her I'm gonna help pay for shit she offered to help me pay for a new vehicle or whatever so I can get to work. I told her no 'cause that's not her responsibility and shit, but she almost didn't even seem convinced. If she tries to help, tell her this is shit we gotta do on our own."

"I agree," Kirishima murmured. "That does sound like her, though."

Bakugou leaned forward, withdrawing his hand from Kirishima's to dig absently into the sand, and remained quiet. Kirishima watched him for a bit as he let the sand run through his fingers into small mounds before he picked it back up and did the same thing, continuing in a pattern.

"Somethin' else on your mind?" Kirishima asked.

"What, can you read it?" Bakugou mumbled.

"Nah," Kirishima said as he leaned into Bakugou's shoulder. "I just know you."

"Hmph."

"Feel free to tell me whene—"

"D'you ever feel like all this shit is too fast? Like, with us, since we've only been together for like six months?"

"Yes," Kirishima answered honestly, without hesitation. "But there's nothin' wrong with planning the future with the person you wanna be with, y'know?"

"Yeah, but like... fuck, I dunno."

Kirishima hummed, leaning into the other more until he was able to rest his chin upon Bakugou's steady shoulder. "I talked to my mom about that same thing right after I told her you're my boyfriend," he said. "It was right after you told me you love me, too. I was kinda freaking out about the same thing. She just told me that we shouldn't compare ourselves to other people. Just 'cause other people do the whole relationship thing differently than us doesn't mean the way we do it is bad or anything. I mean, I know for sure how I feel about you, and it feels right, y'know? So I'm not worried."

"...hmph," grunted Bakugou. "Yeah. Guess you're right."

"'Course I am," Kirishima teased.

"Shut up."

A chuckle escaped Kirishima's throat as his arms encircled Bakugou's waist. "Try not to worry so much about little stuff, 'kay? You've got a lot on your plate without over thinking."

"Easier said than done."

"I know. Just do your best."

"Yeah, yeah. Stop being so fucking cheesy."

"Aw, but you know 's in my nature, babe," Kirishima chuckled.

"You're fucking gross."

"Love you too, Bakubabe."

"Fuck off."

"Nah, 'm pretty comfy right where I'm at."

That was met with little more than a light sigh from Bakugou, but he'd seemed to have relaxed by then. Kirishima's gaze lifted toward the water that was rippling in the light breeze picking up around them. It was warm. Humid. The sun was going down behind them, and even sitting there in the relatively lumpy sand Kirishima was completely at ease.

"...not that I see this happening or anything," Bakugou murmured after a while, "But... what the fuck happens if we break up?"

Kirishima sat up a bit. "Mm, I think we'll be okay. Even though I think the odds of that are basically nonexistent, 's not like I'm gonna leave you out on the street or something. You'll still have a home. And on the off chance of that happening, we'll figure it out then."

"Yeah. That's what I figured you'd say."

"'M glad you didn't expect anything less."

"...whatever, Dumb Hair. I don't wanna talk about it anymore, so just be quiet and kiss me."

That, of course, wasn't a request Kirishima wanted to ignore. Bakugou swiveled around to face the other and gave Kirishima complete access when he reached forward, smiling, and settled his hands upon Bakugou's waist.

Their lips came together easily, like bread and butter, though it wasn't any typical kiss; that, Kirishima could tell right off the bat. Bakugou was more... serious, more intentional than usual. His hands curled into loose fists around the front of Kirishima's tank top, pulling him even closer until Kirishima was very nearly in his lap. Because of his rather demanding nature, Kirishima had little option other than following Bakugou's lead, something he was more than happy to oblige to.

It seemed like everything came out in that moment as they kissed; all of the grief Bakugou had held within him since the incident with his parents, even things from before that—all the stress he'd been bottling up about the situation as a whole. He'd always been much better expressing himself through actions like this rather than words; and somehow Kirishima just... got it. The roughness of his hands and the borderline desperation of the movements of his mouth conveyed everything he needed to get out, and it was all Kirishima needed in order to understand.

"Feel better?" he whispered against Bakugou's lips without opening his eyes.

"A little."

"You don't gotta hold back, Katsuki."

That was all the encouragement Bakugou needed to dive right back in, and Kirishima welcomed him. If he needed him to be, Kirishima would be a dreamcatcher of sorts to grab hold of any pent up grief and anger he knew Bakugou was always seeming to hold onto without any outlet for it. He'd take them and get rid of them, or make them better. He'd give Bakugou a reason to let it out; he'd be the reason if he needed to be. Bakugou was a complicated man; always had been, and Kirishima was more than happy to do what he could to make him happy.

Six months was enough, he decided, to know that he was with the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Even if it all began with cheesy, childlike memes and the endless teasing of his—of their—friends, he was more serious about this than he'd been about anything before in his entire life. He loved Bakugou, so much, and he was proud of that.

"Hey, can I tell you somethin'?" Kirishima murmured, this time opening his eyes just a little.

"What?"

"I love you."

"...holy fuck, you're a cheesy little fucker," Bakugou grumbled.

Kirishima just laughed into their next kiss until the laughter was swallowed up by Bakugou's lips and he couldn't anymore.

~Fin~

---

1. sorry i'm late, AGAIN. jeesh.

2. i actually can't believe this is the last chapter? like wow, this has been a fricken journey, and a great one at that. i'm really thankful for every single one of you who clicked on this fic, and A Meme A Day, and voted and commented. i'm super glad you guys have seemed to enjoy it so much, especially when it really was borne out of a silly idea aha. so thank you! it means more than you know. and don't worry, there's definitely more to come in the way of writing and Kiribaku from me! i'm even thinking about opening up writing commissions and possibly starting a patreon, which would result in even more content!

again, thank you so much - i really can't express my gratitude enough ♥♥