Chapter Text
"You okay there, buddy?"
Denki blinked, refocusing his eyes on Kirishima's concerned face and definitely not on his bare, sweaty chest inches from his nose.
It was a Tuesday. Around 11:15am. They were outside the training grounds stretching and Kiri was talking about...something? Protein powder maybe. He had no fucking clue.
"Uh, yeah dude. Just vibing." Denki swallowed hard, tracking a bead of sweat sinking slowly into Kiri's waistband.
Okay, so the whole watching Kirishima thing was starting to become a noticeable problem.
Denki figured out he was bi at a pretty young age—specifically when Hawks launched his career in the hero world because, uh, yeah—but he'd never had a crush on someone like this before. Ungodly ripped. Irrefutably masculine. Skimpily dressed.
Thank god Kirishima was so oblivious.
Kiri beamed at him, "Alright, well let me know if you need anything, dude! Sero and I are gonna train, then we can go next!"
Denki absently nodded. Satisfied, Kiri bound into the stadium, the muscles in his back bunching and tensing as he waved to Sero.
Jesus christ he was thirsty.
In Denki's defense, he was a seventeen year old virgin with waaaay too much internet access and time on his hands. Really it was Kiri's fault for never wearing a shirt and looking the way he did.
Plus, it wasn't just physical. Kirishima was definitely the kindest boy in their class and the best smelling. Not to mention the easiest to be around. He had no childhood rivals or beef with their peers or low-simmering parental trauma or...whatever else Bakugou had going on really. He was just...nice. And hot. And strictly off limits.
Because that was the other thing...no one else in their class creeped above a 1 on the Kinsey scale. Besides him (and Kyouka of course—although no one but him knew about her) they were all outwardly hetero. Which was super freakin' great for them, but sucked for him. Even though there was no one else in class he could imagine being with besides Kirishima, it could've been nice to experiment a little before graduating high school. Now that they'd moved into the dorms the chances of meeting boys outside of class to fool around with were slim.
"Yo. Idiot. What the fuck are you doing?"
Denki jumped shamefully, like everyone could read his thoughts.
Somehow Bakugou manifested beside him during his internal diatribe. He already looked pissed off in that special way only Midoriya could accomplish. Best to keep it light.
Denki hummed, "I really don't know. You wanna see something cool?"
"No." Red eyes scanned the crowd, "You see shitty hair today?"
"Oh yeah. I've seen him. He's inside training with Sero," He thought for a second, "Hey, you wanna spar together? There's this new move I've been working on, basically if I wrap my shoelaces with wire then I can—"
"Ugh. Stop. I already told Deku I'd kick his stupid ass." Bakugou glared off into the distance, "Of course he's fucking late though."
Denki laughed a little, "Well yeah, it's Midoriya—he's late to everything!"
"You think I don't know that?" Bakugou snapped.
Geez. So touchy. Denki shrugged awkwardly, "Heh, I didn't say you didn't!"
They started walking towards the training grounds anyway, Denki idly chattering while Bakugou seethed beside him. Talking to Bakugou was always unpredictable. He was definitely more tolerant some days than others...but he had the type of personality that always made Denki want to push his buttons. See how far he could go before he had enough.
Surprisingly, Bakugou always came back though. No matter how heated or annoyed or explode-y he got, he always ended up at their same lunch table the next day ready to start it all over again. It was impressive. But then again, most of the things the guy did were.
"Hey Baku, why do you hang out with us anyway?" He asked, gallantly holding the gym door open for him.
"It's not my fault you extras keep following me around." Bakugou smirked demonically, "But I can't say I don't get it."
Denki rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah we're all obsessed with you, you're a god king genius."
"Damn straight."
Eventually, they sort of started to spar. Midoriya was pushing 20 mins late and Kirishima and Sero seemed to be in it for the long haul. Bakugou wanted to save his quirk work for Midoriya so they practiced hand-to-hand combat instead, which meant Denki kept hitting his ass on the mat. After the fifth time he really regretted asking Bakugou to train with him.
"Try harder, dumbass!" Bakugou shoved him again, eyes glittering. He was most definitely relishing in Denki's squawks of pain.
Denki groaned, "Dude, what? You've got like 50 pounds on me!" He peeled himself off the floor, absently straightening his clothes with a small wave of electricity.
Granted, Denki probably could've tried a little harder but he found himself distracted by the fighting across the room. Kirishima was unbreakable now and he looked...dangerously good. His tanned abdominals were tensed and sharp as razors, his arms extended out on both sides flexing, and some of his bright red hair had fallen out of it's ponytail, framing his face in an elfish boy-price type of way. Sero was desperately flinging himself against the walls around him, trying to find a weak spot, and Denki saw the exact moment Sero's tape plastered against Kiri's fabric-covered thighs and ripped.
He sucked in a sharp breath, snaring Bakugou's attention, "Oh shit."
It was almost funny the frantic way Sero kept tripping over himself apologizing and trying to detach Kiri's sweatpants from his elbow at the same time. Kirishima's skin had softened and flushed with embarrassment, his hands nervously settling over his very, very short boxer shorts. They were maroon with a black waistband and bunched up over his quads. It was a lot of skin.
Denki forced himself to look away from his crush, because his own shorts were way too thin to afford any, ahem, noticeable reaction—but damn he looked good. He happened to catch Bakugou's expression towards Kirishima.
Then everything made sense.
Sure, he'd caught Bakugou staring at Kirishima a few times over the years, but he'd always been notoriously hard to read. What Denki had usually interpreted as an intense, challenging stare occasionally directed at him now revealed itself.
He looked hungry. Bakugou's eyes were glued to Kirishima, the black of his pupils slowly encroaching on the red of his irises. A dark flush crept up the back of his neck and his fingers idly twitched at his sides, like he wanted to touch but he wasn't sure how. Denki watched with a sort of horrified fascination as Bakugou unwittingly licked his lips.
It all made sense. Why he kept sitting with them at lunch. Why Kirishima was the only one Bakugou seemed to tolerate and text more than the middle finger emoji to. Why he occasionally slipped and called him something other than a nickname.
"Oh my God, you like Kirishima."
Damn his non-existent filter.
Bakugou flinched, kinda like Denki activated his quirk and shocked him, then proceeded to turn white as a sheet, "No, what—what the fuck, Kami—I'm not—" he started to back away, waving his hands in front of himself desperately, unintentionally sparking, "I wasn't—"
Oh no. Bakugou called him by his name. This was bad.
Denki furiously backpedaled, "Wait, Baku, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—I mean, I like Kirishima too!! A lot. And I'm kind of gay! So it's fine if you are and—wait, wait Bakugou, I'm sorry!!!"
Bakugou turned and booked it out of the gym, shoulder-checking Midoriya hard who was on his way in looking incredibly frazzled.
"Kacchan! Where are you going, I thought we were—Kacchan!" He blinked owlishly at Denki, "what did you say to him?"
"...I, uh." Wait, shit. Did anyone hear that? Denki whirled around. Thankfully, everyone was still across the room out of earshot, trying to pull Kiri's pants off of Sero's arm. Fuck. He just came out. He just came out to Bakugou.
"I don't...I don't know! Must of pissed him off somehow." He laughed nervously, "You know me, always making jokes— doing things I shouldn't. Totally not serious stuff." He should stop speaking forever.
Midoriya narrowed his eyes at him, severely unimpressed, "He seems really upset and Kacchan never gets like that." His arms started to do that thing with the pink lightning. Izuku could be truly terrifying when he was angry, "Whatever you said to him you need to make it right. Right now."
Denki fled.
He decided to skip class, preferring to walk in circles around the quad and spiral instead. Okay, so this was bad. One: Bakugou will kill him. Two: he'll probably tell everyone he's gay—okay, like he's bi, but still—which maybe he could handle but it'd be really annoying. Three...he'll kill him. Most definitely. It would be rather inconvenient.
Unless.
Unless there was a fourth option.
Bakugou was a boy who liked boys in his class. The only one beside himself for all he knew. That meant...there was a chance. There was a slim chance Denki could score with him.
If Bakugou was interested of course. Which seemed very unlikely. Denki knew for certain he was no Kirishima Eijirou.
Sure, he was toned—he had to be to be a hero—but he was significantly thinner than the other dudes in his class. Last year someone in class B told him he had a pretty face, like a girls. Which didn't necessarily bother him...but he knew he lacked the handsomely masculine features Kiri was gifted with. He also had no game according to Kyouka, but that was a different tale.
And like, he'd never really thought about it before but Bakugou was attractive. He received a lot of attention from UA girls before he, you know, opened his mouth. Or snarled at them. Or insulted their clothes. He was kind of feral, a little rough around the edges, but Denki was pretty sure he could work with that.
How would it go though...hooking up with Bakugou. He couldn't imagine he'd be a very uh, generous lover. He wasn't even sure if Bakugou had been with someone else before. Which would be preferable because Denki definitely had no idea what the fuck he was doing gay sex wise.
It was a terrible idea.
Denki shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts and the prevalent horniness possessing his body, then realized at some point his feet carried him into the dorms and right outside Bakugou's door.
Well shit. Might as well shoot his shot. And apologize. Yeah.
He knocked.
"FUCK OFF."
Definitely scarier than usual.
Denki laughed nervously, "Uh, hey buddy. It's me. Don't kill me. I just—"
"FUCK OFF. AND DIE." there was a clatter from inside, like Bakugou threw something heavy towards the door.
"Heh, yeah. Good one, pal. Um. So. I'm really sorry. About all of that. I think we should—"
"I WILL LITERALLY MURDER YOU—"
"—talk about what I said, you know—"
"—NO ONE WILL FIND YOUR BODY—"
"—what I said about you, uh, having the hots for—"
The door violently burst open and a claw hooked into Denki's shirt, dragging him inside and slamming him up against the wall. Bakugou leaned threateningly into his face, all blazing red eyes and exposed canines and smoking fists.
"Finish that fucking sentence."
"Sure," Denki said easily, "For Kirishima. Having the hots for Kirishima."
He clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable smackdown...but nothing happened. He peeled them open, tensing, and Bakugou just...deflated.
He hung his head, whispering to the carpet, "Can you just...not tell him?"
Suddenly, Denki felt really bad for teasing him. Bakugou's eyes looked haunted and surprisingly misty. He was still in his dirty training clothes and his shoes, which he usually religiously left by the door, and his ash blonde hair was even more fucked than usual, like he'd been pulling at it for the last hour. He looked smaller. Beaten down. Like he'd truly lost for the first time in his life.
"Of course I won't tell him." Denki said seriously, then, trying to lighten the mood, "Cuz you know, I was being serious. I'm going for him too and would like as little competition as possible, least of all from a... formidable opponent such as yourself." A little saucy. Nice one.
Bakugou snorted, "Like you even know what that word means."
Denki frowned, "Hey! Just because I'm last in the class doesn't mean I'm a total idiot, I know words! I just hate homework, and like, can't focus or something, I don't know...what were we talking about?"
"How you think I'm hot, I guess." Bakugou sat heavily on the bed, toeing off his shoes.
Denki hummed, "Oh yeah. Well totally. In fact, I have a bit of a proposition for you."
"Not interested."
"You might really like it! It could lead to, I don't know, some mutual orgasms."
"..."
"..."
"So you're actually gay then? What about Ears? Didn't you, you know—" Bakugou swept his hands in front of his chest in a very out of character, very suggestive way, "feel her up behind ground beta or some shit? Doesn't sound very gay to me."
"You have no idea." Denki said cryptically, collapsing beside him on the bed. Groaning, "Eegh, does everyone know about that? Mineta is such a douchebag. I didn't even see him crouching in the grass, like some pervy mountain lion."
"You were dating for a while though, right?" Bakugou stopped himself and scowled, "Not like I care what gross shit you get up to."
Nice save, Baku. "Well yeah...we did some stuff. I guess. But like, it's complicated."
Bakugou raised his eyebrows, "Because she's a lesbian?"
"WHAT," Denki sputtered, "HAHA NO, SHE'S TOTALLY NOT—"
Bakugou gave him a deadpan look, "Save it. She's the most LGBTQA+ person I've ever met in my life."
Denki blinked, "Wow, I can't believe you said every letter and symbol of that."
"Unlike you, I actually do my fucking homework." He said nastily.
"Hehe. Yeah."
"..."
Denki nudged him with his knee, "So you like Kiri too, huh?"
"Ugh. Fucking obviously." He sighed deeply, flopping back against his pillows and covering his face. "He's such a dumbass. But like..."
Denki took it upon himself to finish his thought, "...those thighs right? Dat ass?"
Bakugou roughly shoved him off his bed, "Do you have any fucking shame? It feels gross to talk about him like that. You're no better than Mineta."
"Jesus! I have eyes, Bakugou! I'm calling it as I see it. He's hot. Sue me." He pulled himself up beside Bakugou on the bed again, unfazed.
"But like...it's more than that." Bakugou flushed pink, staring down at his feet, "He doesn't treat me like everyone else does...and like, his fucking smile and shit. His teeth. When he laughs so hard in the middle of telling a story he has to stop...the way his eyes get when he sees me...I don't know..."
"You are literally twirling your hair right now, oh my god." And he was. His fingers had crept into his hair and were worrying it into a bigger mess.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP DUNCEFACE!"
"HOLY SHIT ARE YOU A BOTTOM?!"
He kind of expected to hit the floor that time.
"Can you be fucking quiet??" Bakugou hissed at him, "Ears might be in the dorms and I don't want her eavesdropping on this embarrassing shit."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Kyouka never plugs in when she's here." Denki elaborated, "Once she plugged in to listen for a burrito she popped in the microwave and she said she was so traumatized by what she heard that she swore to never do it again."
"...what the fuck did she hear?"
"I don't know. But I'm guessing Iida masturbating."
"Ugh, fucking stop with that shit," Bakugou turned to face him, pinning him with his eyes, "So like. Ears. That wasn't..."
"Nah, I mean—I liked it. Pretty sure I'm bi." He sighed when Bakugou bitchily motioned him to continue, "But you know, I got the feeling she wasn't into it when we got to...the big stuff. Like sex stuff. So I stopped before we were about to do it to ask if she was okay, and she started crying and...came out to me. Pretty traumatizing for both of us." He smiled a little painfully, "but hey, we're best friends now! She knows my secret and I know hers. Don't tell her I told you. I'm pretty sure she'd actually kill me and not just threaten it the way you do."
"Technically I guessed it, so it doesn't count." Bakugou paused, skating his eyes away from him uncomfortably, "Um. That sucks though. Sorry about it, I guess."
"Wow, you're actually a big softie aren't you." He really had no idea Bakugou has this side to him. Like they were actually having a conversation. For minutes.
"Shut the fuck up, idiot." Still, he was almost smiling. It was kind of eerie. "I guess I feel...kind of free? I've never told anyone any of this shit before. About Shitty Hair. No one knows I'm...you know..." He waved his hand around, intentionally going a bit limp at the wrist.
Denki laughed, "You can say gay, Kacchan."
"No, I fucking can't. Not where I'm from." Bakugou said cuttingly, "My mom would flip her shit if she heard any of this. No one in the top 50 is an out homosexual man."
"Hmm, that's why you like Mirko so much, huh?" She was the only out top hero after all.
Bakugou smirked, probably thinking of the rabbit pin on Denki's backpack, "Yeah, well you like her too."
"I mean, yeah. She's awesome."
They shared a long comfortable silence. Denki propped himself against the wall at the end of the bed, making room for Bakugou's sprawling limbs. It felt nice in a way he never expected. He realized it was actually his first time in Bakugou's room. It was about as tidy as he suspected, but he would have never guessed the small shelf of premium All Might merch over his desk, the framed photo of the Baku-squad at the beach, or the stacks of glossy fashion magazines at the foot of his bed. The walls were painted a soft sage green and the duvet was a dark emerald color, unexpected with his usual choice in color palette. He found it relaxing.
Bakugou nudged him with his foot, "So. Your dumbass proposition. Let's hear it."
"Oh, perfect!" Denki clapped his hands together once, "I think we should have sex."
"WHAT?!" He exploded.
Denki laughed, "How could you not expect me to say that!! I said mutual orgasms!!"
Bakugou's face turned bright red, "I THOUGHT YOU WERE FUCKING, FUCKING JOKING WHAT THE FUCK."
"Well, we're the only boy kissers in our class! This could be our only chance to experiment before we leave UA," Denki reasoned, "A fated sword-fight between men! Even if it's just for practice."
Bakugou choked, "Fucking—what???"
Denki laughed, "It's honestly cute how appalled you are right now, Baku. Or should I say," He bat his eyelashes, jokingly making a move to crawl up the bed, "Katsuki-kun?"
Again, he wasn't totally surprised when his ass hit the floor.
"GET THE FUCK OUT!" Bakugou yelled, but he was fighting down a strangled laugh—which was a win in Denki's book.
Denki saw himself out. It's not like he actually expected anything to come out of propositioning Bakugou. Really it just felt nice to know someone else in their class was like him and that he can be there for that person if needed. Even if that person happened to be Bakugou Katsuki.