Chapter Text
Kirishima doesn’t like to use the word “never”. Life is just too complicated and uncertain for such a definitive word, especially when you’re training to become a pro hero. He knows from experience that things he’d thought were impossible can happen at any moment.
But he’s absolutely, completely, without a doubt certain that he will never get used to Midnight’s flirting.
“Oh my god, I can’t handle it! How is a boy as handsome and chivalrous as you even still on the market? If I were ten years younger I would have snatched you up in a second! Hell, even now I’d be open to the thought!”
Kirishima blushes, suddenly wondering if he needs to take the word “chivalrous” out of his vocabulary. All he’d done was gotten a rare answer right in class, and the woman immediately started in on her usual behavior, clutching her face and swooning. He’s been a target of her odd behavior ever since the Sports Festival last year, but it never fails to make him blush.
He swats half-heartedly at Kaminari and Sero as they snicker at the whole ordeal, though there’s little he can do about the comments Mina makes under her breath, loud enough for him to hear from across the room. He chances a look over at Bakugou, who’s smirking, clearly amused at his boyfriend’s squirming. Traitor.
In an attempt to get her to cut her embarrassing behavior short and finally move on, he decides to ignore the compliments entirely and just focus on the one bit of her rant he can respond to without wanting to crawl into a hole. “Um, actually, I’m not. Y’know, ‘on the market’ or whatever.”
They’ve only been going out for about a month now, but Kirishima’s already positive that getting to call Bakugou his boyfriend is easily the best thing to ever happen to him, only rivaled by getting into UA. He’d been pining for his best friend for so long, never even entertaining the idea that he might like him back. He swears he didn’t stop smiling for a week after the blonde had confessed to him and they officially became a couple.
“Oh, is that so? Tell me, then, which one of these lucky young ladies has stolen the heart of our fine Red Riot?”
Kirishima glances over to see Bakugou’s annoyed eyeroll and hears Kaminari and Sero holding in their laughter. He gets it. It’s kind of funny when people just assume, after all, especially when they get all embarrassed once they’ve realized. Still, he can’t help but feel a bit sheepish to be correcting the teacher in the middle of class as he answers, “Heh, no ladies, actually. I’m dating Bakugou.”
Midnight’s face falls and she turns to look at the boy in question, who just leans back in his chair with a raised eyebrow and an almost condescending look on his face. Kirishima watches as she processes this clearly unexpected information and mentally prepares himself for the stuttered apology he’s had to have heard dozens of times at this point.
“Oh, I see. Huh. Well, isn’t that such a waste.”
The giggles from Kaminari and Sero stop, as does all sound in the classroom. Or maybe Kirishima’s just too shocked to hear anything. He shivers, feeling like he’s just had ice water dumped on him, and chances another look at his boyfriend, though he almost immediately regrets it.
Bakugou looks like he’d just been slapped in the face.
Kirishima suddenly feels compelled to say something, to defend his relationship. Dating Bakugou could never be a waste. If anything, it’s a privilege! He gets to be with one of the top students at UA, one of the best future heroes anyone’s ever seen!
But Midnight’s already moved to the front of the class and started back in on the lecture, everyone else already scribbling in their notebooks to follow along. He briefly considers interrupting her anyways because what the hell even WAS that?! Before he can, though, an eraser hits him right on the temple. He rubs at the spot on his face and looks over to see Bakugou giving him a stern look, clearly able to tell what Kirishima had been thinking and shutting it down immediately.
Right. They’re in class. It’s not an appropriate time to challenge his teacher’s prejudices.
Kirishima tries his best to shake off the unpleasant feeling that’s settled under his skin and focus on the lecture. He doesn’t do a very good job, but he figures it’s not much worse than his typical notetaking, anyways. And besides, he can always use it as an excuse for extra study time with his boyfriend.
As soon as the bell rings, Bakugou stomps over to Kirishima’s desk and snatches his hand up, making sure their palms smack together loud enough to make a sound. He even glares over at Midnight’s desk for good measure. Whatever reaction he'd been hoping for, their teacher just frowns at the display before turning back to the stack of papers on her desk. The blonde huffs and clicks his tongue in response.
Kirishima lets himself be pulled up out of his desk and into the hall, where their friends are waiting for them with matching looks of hesitation on their faces, clearly aware of the discomfort hanging over the couple but not entirely sure how to bring it up. Sero ends up being the first to brave broaching the subject.
“Hey so, are you guys……. ok?”
Bakugou lifts an eyebrow and speaks before Kirishima can even begin to figure out how to answer that question. “Of course he’s not ok, idiot, didn’t you hear? I’m stealing him away from all the lame ass chicks who never had a chance with him.”
Kaminari, catching on to Bakugou’s attempt to lighten the mood, immediately jumps on it, dramatically swooning into Ashido. “Oh yeah, all the girls are totally crying their eyes out that they missed their shot with, big, handsome Red Riot, who got his arm stuck in a wall during training last week cuz he forgot to turn his quirk off again! What a TRAGEDY!”
Everyone laughs, and just as easily as it’d been created, the tension in the air disappears. They all make their way to their next class, joking around and teasing each other as always, and Kirishima feels as though they’ve all silently agreed to forget about what happened.
Still, when everyone else’s back is turned, he quickly brings the hand in his up to his face and brushes his lips gently against Bakugou’s knuckles. Even if he isn’t all that bothered by it, Kirishima still feels compelled to remind the blonde that he’s cherished and appreciated in their relationship.
And besides, it’s always nice to make his boyfriend blush every once in a while.