The walk to class was a nightmare. Bakugou glared at everyone who so much as tilted their head his way. A pitying glance was met with a glare promising death. Teary eyes wrought fowl words and gestures. So much as the hint of a moving lip that formed the sound of his name caused a literal bomb to go off.

Yes. An utter nightmare.

Everyone, of course, thinks they are being wonderful people. How fucking selfish of them, Bakugou can't help but think as he sits at his desk.

Yes, he was truthful in telling Asui and Jiro that he doesn't feel different. He doesn't feel any different about what has happened to him—he's always felt like shit about it—but he sure as hell is more angry, irritated, embarrassed, and nauseated by the people around him. The constant conversations about his damn trauma don't help his nerves either, as they have landed him in a practically constant fight-or-flight response, his muscles tense and ready to shoot him out of the room at a moment's notice.

His cheeks are flushed red every time he glares at someone, every time he flips a bird, and every time he detonates his quirk. It's humiliating. He can tell his classmates know he feels that way, but it's not like they can make a difference in it.

Aside from that, it doesn't help that Kirishima is being completely confusing.

First, in the middle of a class, Bakugou felt that irritating tingle on the back of his neck and knew someone was staring at him. With a sneer on his lips and ready to throw an insult at whoever it is, despite Midnight's lecture, he twists his head to the side only to see Kirishima staring at him, a thoughtful expression on his face as his brows crinkle and he frowns slightly.

Bakugou's sneer leaves his face to be replaced by slightly angry confusion, his eyebrows practically squashing his face downwards and crinkling the skin between them. He stares back at Kirishima silently until the boy appears to realize what he was doing and jolts in his seat, a blush on his face. Kirishima's mouth opens only to snap closed and he turns toward the front of the room, his posture straightening until it is stiff, and he pays rapt, unblinking attention to Midnight as she rambled about something she clearly seems boring.

Weird... Bakugou thinks as he turns back to the front of the room, his eyes still lingering on Kirishima a bit longer in thought. A tinge of color splays across Bakugou's cheeks as he ponders if the reaction could be because of their accidental "sleepover" last night.

By the time class ends, however, all thought of this has left Bakugou's mind, and he feels his nerves reappearing in his stomach in the form of butterflies. No, it's more like a whole damn flock of birds trying to escape a canary cage.

It's lunchtime, and that mean Bakugou has to go into the belly of the beast: the cafeteria. Ah, the place where all the shit goes down.

He lets out a shaky sigh as his classmates gather their things and head out of the room for lunch. Bakugou pulls himself up from his seat with dread, though he keeps his face perfectly between angry and stoic, neither one nor the other yet both at the same time.

As he goes to make his way out of the room he catches Kirishima's eye, and Kirishima is again making that oddly thoughtful expression from where he stands still by his desk like he was put on pause. Bakugou raises an eyebrow, and Kirishima re-enters the world of the living, offering Bakugou a large toothy smile before grabbing his things. Bakugou shakes his head in dismay at the weird actions but begins to head toward the cafeteria anyway.

Just like he expected, everyone is acting just like the people this morning. The difference? There are way more of them, and, with the herd mentality, they somehow think that because there are more of them Bakugou won't see them if they point and glance at him more conspicuously.

What idiots. He sees it all, and it fucking hurts, but Bakugou quickly gathers that the same process of throwing nasty words, explosions, and gestures won't stop them this time.

Aghhhhh, the fucking pity. It's a pity they don't realize he wants them all to fuck off. Well, actually, they probably do and don't care because they feel like good people when they throw pity parties for those they deem less fortunate.

What little self-satisfying fucks.

Bakugou wants to scream at the whole world when he gets into the line to get food and everyone moves out of his way, giving him a clear shot to the counter. He growls and grumbles as nobody moves back into the line when he glares at them, their eyes filled with worry and sadness. It would have been cool if they did it because of his awesomeness, but this bullshit is just fucked up.

But no, it's all because they feel bad for him and everyone knows his fucking secret. He sends one final glare at a girl who is watching him sadly from where she moved to the right to let him pass, the girl not even flinching at the look, before turning around and stomping away toward an empty table in a corner where he would sit and wait until all the extras got their food so he can go and get his meal himself like any other person.

He hears it when he is getting into his chair with a scowl on his face. "Excuse me," an uncertain voice says from across the cafeteria to nobody in particular, but the voice resonates in Bakugou's ears, even over the other booming voices that mesh together.

Looking up and around, feigning an expression of casual uncaring, he searches for wherever the familiar voice originated. His head snaps to the side when he hears the voice speak more assertively, more familiarly, and his eyes become trained on the redhead who is now climbing up onto a table on the edge of the cafeteria.

"Hey!" Kirishima shouts as he stands tall, chin up, facing the rest of the room, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice travel further. More people begin to notice him and look at him with curiosity, some throwing questions at him and asking what he is doing.

Iida, of course, begins to splutter and tell Kirishima to "Get off the cafeteria table this instant! Such behavior is disrespectful and highly unsanitary!"

Kirishima throws a small apologetic but remorseless smile at Iida before he looks around the mostly quiet room. His eyes and Bakugou's meet, and, despite being so far away, he can see the angry boy's confusion and scrunched up expression as clear as day. He can practically hear the unspoken grumble of "The fuck are you doing, Shitty Hair?"

The thought makes him smile despite his nerves that are almost overwhelming him as he ponders what he is about to do. An eye for an eye. A sacrifice to help out and redistribute the weight of the public's attention a bit, even if it may only put him into a similar situation to the one he is helping, though a situation of a far different scale. He knows he does not have to, and he can quit at any moment, but he wants to. He is not expected to do this, but he needs to.

For his bro.

Kirishima takes in a deep and shaky breath, torso stretching upwards and back as the student body stares at him. Then he leans forward, hands cupped around his mouth again as he opens it wide and shouts as loudly as his lungs allow.

"I'M GAY!"

Kirishima's hands drop to his stomach in relief at saying it, as he sighs happily, a light blush beginning to color his face. He did it. He got it out. A massive grin splits his face. He finally looks out at the ocean of students watching him, and most of them stare up with wide eyes.

Just moments later, some smiles begin to spread around the room, starting with the people he knows, and Kirishima sees Ashido jump up onto an occupied table a ways away, the girl completely disregarding the bento she stomps on as well as the now dejected looking owner of the meal. She stretches up with her arms above her head in a pose of victory. "I KNEW IT!" She shouts with a massive smile. "I WON SIXTY BUCKS!"

A few people in the crowd grumble at that, though most of the students laugh, and they soon break out into whooping applause and cheers for Kirishima.

Kirishima grins and hops down from the table, automatically getting swarmed by friends and random students offering hugs and congratulations. He smiles broadly as he responds to people and returns their hugs, his eyes crinkling.

He makes his way through the room, the entire space's ambiance brighter than just minutes prior, and soon reaches the corner he saw his blonde friend sitting in. Everyone easily lets him go over, Kaminari giving him a final pat on the back and smile once they get near, and Kirishima arrives at the table alone and anxious.

He looks at Bakugou and can't help the way his smile expands when he sees the thunderstruck expression on his friend's face. "So," Kirishima begins with a happy tone and a blush, "what do you think? Bet it'll get some of the heat off of you, bro?"

Bakugou's eyes somehow—Kirishima sure doesn't know how—widen even further. His mouth opens and closes silently like a fish for a moment before his face reddens to rudolf-the-red-nosed-reindeer's-nose red, practically glowing, and he looks extremely flustered.

"You dumbass," he sputters. "I don't need any fucking help you little shitty haired motherfucking fucker." He sputters a few more insults as he shoots off small nervous explosions.

Gracelessly and quite uncharacteristically, Bakugou launches up from his seat and trips over his own foot as he heads towards Kirishima, swearing all the while as his eyes never leave the redhead's face. "You just fucking outed yourself to the whole school like a dumbass! What if it went badly, Shitty Hair?" He is right in front of Kirishima by now, slightly crouched with his arms drawn into down-facing ninety degree angles at his sides at his sides, his whole body tense as he fires off more questions and curses past his red face.

Kirishima, looking proud and happy about himself, responds measuredly with a small shrug. "It didn't go badly."

Bakugou blinks at him for a second, nonplussed, before sputtering again until Kirishima lets out a loud laugh.

Kirishima's mood sobers a bit and his eyes seem to wilt sadly, his massive smile shrinking. "I had to do something, too. After...I did that to you..." he rubs at the back of his head as his gaze turns downward.

Bakugou's mouth snaps closed in surprise before his expression seems to fill with annoyance and something else Kirishima can't place. Bakugou huffs, mumbling a bit more about red-crocs-wearing dumbasses, but Kirishima swears he hears a small "Thanks" just as Bakugou passes close by his side, heading toward the food line.

Kirishima's face goes just as bright red as Bakugou's was as his smile re-inflates and reaches even larger proportions. He turns to offer a cheerful "You're welcome," but, before he can respond, he is once again crowded by happy classmates.

Not bad, Kirishima, he thinks contentedly to himself. He peeks through the jumble of bodies around him and sees Bakugou finally gathering his lunch. Only a few people are casting glances at the explosive boy. That was pretty manly.

——————————————————————

Did I give you second hand embarrassment? Probably. Do I regret it? No.😌

Also, sorry this is soooo hecking late it's literally been a month😭

-Angry
Word Count: 1988