*distant screaming about 50k reads* 

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Bakugou was more than on board with the arcade idea, and he'd insisted upon paying despite Kirishima's protests, resulting in a half-hearted argument on the bus ride toward downtown the following Friday. It started when Bakugou paid for the fare, stepping up onto the bus and whipping out his money before Kirishima even had time to react.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked. "I was gonna pay."

"You always pay," Bakugou had said, plopping down in a seat.

"Right... but I'm also the one who asked you out again, remember? So I should be the one to—"

"Doesn't matter. You paid last time and 's not like I'm fucking broke. Just lemme get it."

Kirishima had remained stubborn for a bit; to him, it really didn't feel right letting Bakugou pay when it had been his idea to go out again and was the one to pitch the arcade idea (though it was originally Sero's suggestion). In the end, though, Bakugou put up a better fight and Kirishima realized just how petty the argument was and caved in, letting Bakugou pay for his tokens and drink when they made it to the arcade. (And, despite their little, almost playful argument, Bakugou still let Kirishima hold his hand from the bus stop to the building.)

Bakugou had a knack for arcade games, much to Kirishima's pleasure considering he had his own kind of knack for them, too. The challenge was great, and even when they were playing games that required no competition, they were still trying to best each other, be it with points made or tickets earned.

In the end Bakugou had nearly five hundred more tickets than Kirishima, and their combined total was somewhere in the two-thousand range, opening a world of possibilities for what they could get at the prize counter. In the end, though, they only grabbed some candy and decided to save the rest of the tickets for the next time. Kirishima really didn't mind; most of the prizes were toys aimed a little kids, anyway, and what was fun to him wasn't the reward, it was playing games and spending the day with Bakugou.

It wasn't until they were on their way out that Kirishima started thinking again, getting too far back into his head when the distraction of all the games was gone and they were on their way to the bus stop again. He must've been pretty obvious about how uneasy the thoughts were making him, too, because Bakugou asked him about it when they were stepping back into their room.

"What the hell's up with you?" he asked.

Instinctively, Kirishima played dumb. "What do you mean?"

"You've been, like... stiff, or whatever, since we left the arcade."

Blowing a long breath through his lips, Kirishima gave in, his shoulders slumping a bit. "I've been obvious, huh?"

"Only a lot," Bakugou muttered, doing his usual flop onto his bed and kicking his shoes off. "So what's with it?"

"I, um..." Kirishima half distracted himself by making a show of taking his own shoes off as he spoke, taking the time to actually untie them this time, just for the sake of keeping his hands occupied and for an excuse not to look at the other, whose eyes were boring right into him. "I've kinda been trying to think of a way to... to kiss you ever since we left, but the only way I could come up with is really cliche, and since we live together it doesn't really work, anyway." When he finally did look up, Bakugou's eyes flicked away, his shoulders hunching the way Kirishima had noticed they did when he was feeling flustered.

"...you don't gotta be all clever about it, idiot," he muttered. "If you wanna do it, just do it."

"Right..." Kirishima laughed lightly. "But I gotta make sure you're cool with it first."

"So then ask, moron. You're makin' too big of a deal out of it."

And he totally had been. When he laughed and moved over to sit next to Bakugou, it seemed somehow easy—even if it was still super nerve-wracking—to lean in and kiss him, gently cupping his jaw with one hand as he had the last time, the other finding and easily resting on his waist while Bakugou's came up and gripped the front of his hoodie the way they had the last time.

And man, it was only their third, but Kirishima swore he'd never get used to kissing Bakugou.

⚜️

Their third date was more typical of a 'date,' even if it didn't start off that way—or as an actual date at all. It was a few days after their second, toward the middle of the week when their environmental science teacher dumped a sudden test announcement on them for Friday, leaving them scrambling to study seeing as they'd been too distracted with each other to focus on their homework. They'd been cramming all afternoon in their room when Bakugou eventually (and inevitably) threw his pencil down and suggested a walk to get them 'the fuck out of this cramped room for a while.' Easily, Kirishima agreed.

Their walk, wandering aimlessly around campus, was without conversation at first. Bakugou found a rock on the sidewalk and was kicking it along as he often did, but Kirishima couldn't help noticing how he kicked it harder than normal with his hands stuffed into his pockets and his shoulders hunched. He chalked it up to him being irritated from the studying, but Bakugou proved him wrong when he spoke up.

"Listen," he mumbled, kicking the rock again. "I gotta... talk to you about something."

"Yeah? What's up?" Kirishima asked.

"I dunno how the fuck to say it."

"S'okay, man. Take your time."

Bakugou huffed a bit and Kirishima gave him the time he needed to think, trying not to let any of the dozens of questions flying around in his head get to him too much, trying not to be too nervous about whatever it was Bakugou had to say.

"I'm not sayin' it bothers me," Bakugou started again, kicking the rock more lightly now. "I guess I've just been thinking about it too damn much..."

"Thinking about what?" Already Kirishima was confused.

"This whole... fuck, I dunno. This dating another guy thing," he let out in a huff. The sole of his shoe skidded across the sidewalk, the toe making contact with the rock and sending it skipping down, down, down a small hill until not even Kirishima could see it anymore. "I didn't think..." He stopped and sighed heavily, reaching up to frustratedly run a hand through his hair. When Kirishima stopped and turned to look at him, he found his eyes to be cut sharply to his left. "I didn't think I was fucking... gay, or whatever," he let out in a mumble.

Kirishima instantly felt himself relax, his lips tugging into a soft smile he couldn't help. He'd been wondering if this was going to come up. He'd had the inkling several times in the past that Bakugou had been questioning himself; he just hadn't expected him to be so surprisingly open about it... or, well, as 'open' as Bakugou could be about it, with his embarrassed posture and the way he wouldn't look directly at Kirishima.

"Here, let's sit," Kirishima told him, walking over to the edge of the sidewalk where it bordered a small, empty field and stretched down a hill where it was fenced off. He plopped down into the grass, facing where the sun was still sinking its way below the horizon behind a modest blanket of clouds illuminated into pinks and oranges by its rays. Bakugou hesitated for a second before flopping into the grass beside him, never removing his hands from his pockets. "So... clearly it's bothering you," he said.

"I just fucking said it's not," Bakugou muttered.

"Right, but it is."

"Whatever."

"That's totally normal, man. I freaked out for weeks when I realized I don't really like girls. I thought I was gonna lose all my friends and I was scared my mom was gonna disown me or something. 'S kinda like... one of those things where you know it's a thing that exists, but you never really think it's gonna be you, y'know? That's what I thought, anyway."

"Yeah. That pretty much describes it." Bakugou's hands slid from his pockets and he leaned forward, beginning to run his fingers through the grass. The fading light from the sun filtered through it, making it look almost white, and gave his skin an ivory glow that, for that moment, became Kirishima's favorite color. Man, he could look at Bakugou all day and never get tired...

"It's alright, Baku," Kirishima told him. "It's one of those things you kinda make a bigger deal about than it really is, I think. You're definitely not gonna lose your friends... at least not the ones in our group. And I know Midoriya's had a thing with Todoroki for several months now, so I'm sure even he can relate. As for your parents... for right now, you don't even have to tell 'em. You have time to sort it out.

"And besides, there's lots of other things to identify as other than gay, and you don't even have to put a label on it all. Maybe you just like who you like and that's it. If people don't like it, I'm pretty sure you'll just tell them to fuck off, anyway."

By the time Kirishima had finished, Bakugou finally looked up at him, and he could just see that worry that'd built up behind his eyes for the past few weeks, maybe longer. And yet as he spoke, doing his absolute best to reassure him in drawing from his own experiences, he saw that worry drain away, and Bakugou's back straightened a bit.

"Obviously," he said. "I don't give a fuck what some stranger thinks."

"Exactly!" Kirishima grinned. "I get it, though, dude. It's fine if you're not sure, and I get it if you wanna take a break from our dates and stuff to—"

"I never fucking said that, you idiot," Bakugou cut in. "Just 'cause I'm confused as shit doesn't mean I wanna stop. Stop assuming shit."

Kirishima held his hands up. "Hey, I was just makin' sure!"

Bakugou grunted lightly, the smallest of grins manifesting on his lips before he pushed himself to his feet. "Let's just go get something to eat," he said. "'M starving."

"'Kay." Kirishima followed his lead and patted the dirt off of his jeans. "Feel better?"

"Yeah."

And he really must have, too, because he reached for Kirishima's hand and didn't let go of it as they crossed the campus. It allowed him to tug Kirishima back, too, when he started to make the turn that would take them toward the mess hall.

"Fuck that, we're going off campus," he said. "I want some good pizza."

"Cool with me," Kirishima agreed.

⚜️

Kirishima ended up paying for their dinner. Like last time, Bakugou argued with him about it until they came to a compromise that Kirishima pitched about switching off paying with each date, to which Bakugou—grumpily—agreed.

In the end, Kirishima couldn't really be sure if this classified as an actual date, because it was just the two of them getting dinner together, something they'd done a countless number of times in the past. The only difference this time was going off campus and taking a bus a few blocks down to a relatively small pizza parlor (that definitely had better pizza than the mess hall served).

Halfway through eating it started raining, and of course they hadn't thought to bring the umbrella Kirishima still had yet to return to Sero. Because it didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon by the time they'd finished, they were forced to jog through the wet sidewalks, hunched under their hoods, until they reached the bus stop that, fortunately, was one with a covered bench that shielded them from the downpour.

"I'm so fucking done with all this rain," Bakugou grumbled.

"Would you rather it snow?"

"Fuck no."

Kirishima chuckled and adjusted his hood. He hadn't been expecting the rain when he put his hair up that morning and because the hood was small, he had a difficult time fitting all of the spikes underneath it. Already the front of it had gotten wet and was beginning to droop over his forehead, forcing him to keep pushing it out of his eyes. He was in the middle of doing just that when something cold pressing to his neck startled him, causing both him and his heart to jump.

Bakugou had reached up and was tugging the chain hanging around Kirishima's neck out from under his hoodie.

"What...?" he began.

"You're actually wearing this?" Bakugou mumbled, letting the small dog tag at the end of the chain rest on his fingers.

"'Course I'm wearing it, Baku," responded Kirishima proudly. "Why wouldn't I?"

"'S a shitty present, that's why."

"Whaaat? You're joking, right?"

"It's a fucking dog tag, you idiot, and a cheap one I found at a stupid gift shop," he muttered.

"Doesn't matter. I like it. Like you said, it suits me. And it's from you, so it's automatically cool," Kirishima told him proudly.

The tag slipped from Bakugou's fingers and came to rest against Kirishima's chest once again. "That's a stupid reason, but whatever," he said, looking away. But on his cheeks was an unmistakable pinkness that hadn't been there before, and Kirishima refused to believe it was because of the cold.

⚜️

"Hey, Shitty Hair," Bakugou said when they got back to their room.

Kirishima turned around from tucking his shoes into a corner. "Huh?" he mumbled, trying to figure out the somewhat intense stare he was being given.

"C'mere and kiss me before you start making a big deal out of it," Bakugou said.

Kirishima shot up straight. "What?" he asked automatically. He hadn't even been thinking about that! At least, not consciously...

"You heard me."

As much as Kirishima wanted to close the distance between them and do just that, he was too confused and taken off guard to make his feet move and could only stare (like the idiot Bakugou was surely thinking he was) at the other, stomach tight.

With narrow eyes, Bakugou perched a hand on his hip when Kirishima didn't move. "If you don't do it, I will," he said.

And Kirishima swore he felt a physical, electric thrill shoot straight up his spine at those words. When he continued to do nothing but stare (internally hoping Bakugou meant what he said), the other took the three or four steps needed to close the distance between them with a huff (that Kirishima couldn't tell if he detected annoyance in or not). In an instant Bakugou was just... that close. Close enough for Kirishima to be holding his breath, and wondering how he'd been so focused on the other's face that he hadn't really noticed the pair of arms curled around his neck until they were already there and he was staring directly into an intense pair of fiery red eyes, his own hands settled easily on the other's hips.

Oh my god, was all he could seem to think.

"Is this okay or what?" Bakugou asked—in a murmur, so close Kirishima could feel his warm breath brush over his lips.

"Y-yeah," he managed. When Bakugou's eyes twitched into a small frown he cleared his throat and repeated more firmly, "Yes."

Kirishima wasn't sure if the small grunt he heard escape the back of Bakugou's throat was a laugh or not, but he didn't really have time to mull it over because a pair of pierced lips were molding right into his own, erasing all coherent thoughts from his head. That same thrill he'd felt just seconds ago seemed to fill his entire body as Bakugou's fingers gripped lightly at the somewhat flattened hair on the back of his head and god, he never thought kissing would feel like this. Bakugou wasn't the first person he'd ever kissed, but none of the few he'd experienced in the past had been anything like this—not anything near it. He never, ever, ever wanted this feeling to go away.

Bakugou was the one to pull away and Kirishima couldn't help breathing out a "whoa" once he did, eyes fluttering open. He felt so warm. So full. Even Bakugou's eyes were a bit glossy...

"Where the fuck did you learn to kiss so damn well?" Bakugou asked, breathless even if only slightly.

"You think I do?" Kirishima asked.

"Obviously."

Already Kirishima had a giant grin on his face. "Thanks, man. You're not so bad yourself."

"Hmph. Thanks, I guess." With that, Bakugou started removing his arms from Kirishima's shoulders but reached down to tug Kirishima by the hand over to the space between their beds where they'd left all their study stuff (as if Kirishima wouldn't have followed him anyway).

"Hey, so..." Kirishima began as they sat down in their respective places, if just a bit closer than before, side by side leaning up against Bakugou's bed. "I have a question."

"What?"

Bakugou let Kirishima push his fingers between his own before he asked, "So are we just, like, bros who go out on dates and kiss and stuff... or can I start telling people you're my boyfriend?"

"...I dunno, the fuck do you think?" Bakugou asked, seemingly pretending to adjust one of the rings in his lip to cover up the fact that he'd gone a bit stiff hearing the word 'boyfriend.'

"Well, if I had it my way, I definitely wanna be able to say that," Kirishima told him honestly. "But I don't wanna jump the gun if you're not comfortable with it... especially after what we talked about earlier before dinner."

"Hmph. Well obviously this shit isn't going nowhere," Bakugou said, squeezing Kirishima's hand lightly to indicate what he meant by 'this shit.' "And for some weird reason you like me, and obviously I like you. So why the fuck not?"

Kirishima felt his entire face light up. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Yes, Dumb Hair," Bakugou said, sounding mildly annoyed. "How many times do I gotta say it?"

"Just once," Kirishima told him with an ear-to-ear grin. "As long as you're sure."

"I don't say shit I don't mean," Bakugou told him. "So yeah, I'm fucking sure."

"That's good to know." Kirishima squeezed his hand again. "So um... should we get back to studying, or...?"

A long sigh blew out through Bakugou's lips as he half-glared down at the books and things spread out on the floor in front of them. "Way to ruin the moment," he grumbled. "But yeah. Don't really feel like failing the test and having to make that shit up somehow."

"Sorry," Kirishima said with a mild chuckle. Honestly, he didn't know how well he'd be able to concentrate on studying now—after everything that'd happened, but Bakugou did have a point. "But yeah, better to get it over with now. At least we don't have that much more to go over."

"Yeah, yeah..." grumbled the other, reaching for his pencil again. As he grumpily pulled his textbook back toward him he mumbled something under his breath that Kirishima didn't catch, but he had a feeling he could fairly easily guess what it might've been and did nothing more than grin as he, too, pulled his notebook back into his lap.

⚜️

Studying... didn't last much longer. They were both way too distracted and out of patience with the textbooks. Inevitably, they ended up scrolling lazily through their phones with nothing but the sound of the heater filling the silence between them for a while. It was comfortable, and Kirishima was more than content with the warmth of Bakugou pressed up against his left shoulder. A small, satisfied grin he wasn't consciously aware of never really faded from his lips.

"Hey, Dumb Hair," Bakugou said after a while.

"Huh?" Kirishima mumbled, looking up just as Bakugou held his phone up with the front camera open. As soon as he saw it, the small smile spread out and automatically he leaned in.

"Could you look any happier?" Bakugou asked with mock annoyance, but not even he could hide the subtle bliss shining in his eyes.

"I could," Kirishima laughed, widening his smile to the point his cheeks started to ache. As if to spite him, Bakugou snapped the picture.

"That's fucking creepy," he said. "At least now I've got blackmail material."

"Heyy," Kirishima complained teasingly.

"I'm joking, idiot."

"I know, man."

Kirishima was admittedly a little giddy throughout their mini photoshoot, and more than a little surprised that Bakugou had been the one to initiate it. Toward the end he'd tossed his arm around Bakugou's neck, and, on impulse, turned his head and pressed his lips right to the other's cheek, who stiffened just a bit in his own surprise. He took the picture, though, and then lowered the phone to look through the dozen or so filling up the end of his camera roll.

In the end, that last one ended up being both of their favorites (even if in it, Bakugou's expression did look slightly irritated despite the small, half-grin he had). Bakugou didn't outwardly admit it was his favorite, but Kirishima just knew by the look on his face—a softer expression than he was pretty sure anyone had ever seen from him, and it warmed his insides to the brim.

As much as he wanted to do it, Kirishima let Bakugou be the one to post the photo on Instagram. With an arm still slung around his shoulders, he watched Bakugou edit it a bit and type the caption:

Dating this fucker now. He sucks. Don't follow him. @redriot

The notification chimed on Kirishima's phone, still sitting in his lap unlocked, almost immediately once Bakugou tapped send. His grin never faltered as he liked the image and commented with the 😙and 😂 emojis.

"So uh, I don't think your caption worked," he said after a few minutes. When Bakugou gave him a quizzical look he tilted the phone in his direction, showing him the notifications of several new followers he'd acquired in the past few minutes since the post went up.

"...people are fucking weird," Bakugou mumbled. "But you're welcome."

Kirishima chuckled, bumping shoulders with him again. "Hey, if I suck so much, how come you're dating me?" Kirishima asked, peering at the other out of the corner of his eye.

"Isn't it obvious? You're my little fucker, you dweeb," Bakugou grumbled. He didn't look at Kirishima when he said it, and the tips of his ears were already bright red. All Kirishima could do was laugh more and kiss his cheek again, trying—and failing—to remember a time where he'd been this stupidly happy. And because he couldn't, he had only one person to thank for it.

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did i... ever tell you guys i'm planning a mini sequel for this? ._. i don't remember and i'm honestly too lazy to go back and look through to see if i did, lmfao. but yeah, it's a thing :3