Chapter Text
So maybe calling Deku was a bad idea.
Bakugou doesn’t know what exactly he expected. Resentment, maybe, over the way they left off. Cold professionalism at best. What he did not expect is the pure, unadulterated delight that Deku greets him with.
“Kacchan!” Deku exclaims. Bakugou can practically feel him vibrating through the phone. “I can’t believe it’s really you! We haven’t spoken in forever.” He laughs. “When my assistant paged and said Dynamite was on the line, I was sure he was pranking me.”
“Yeah, well. Surprise,” Bakugou grumbles, feeling embarrassed. He doesn’t deserve this friendly of a greeting. Not from Deku. “Um. How have you been?” He pats himself on the back for managing to sound mostly personable.
“I’m great,” Deku says. “My agency’s doing really well, and with me in the Top Five this semester, I was able to wrangle a raise for my sidekicks. Took a lot of bureaucracy and ass-kissing, but the final paperwork came through yesterday. Congratulations on making Top Ten, by the way. I would’ve called earlier, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted to hear from me.”
Bakugou grunts. “Thanks.”
Now that he’s had some distance, Deku doesn’t seem all that bad. He was a little enthusiastic with his greeting and he’s running his mouth a mile a minute, but it’s nothing that could’ve possibly warranted the way Bakugou used to treat him.
Bakugou has a few minutes of idle chatting to wonder why he’d once spent so much time and energy hating him before Deku reminds him why.
“Hey, y’know what we should do?” he prompts.
Bakugou’s suspicious. That tone of voice is never a good sign with Deku. “What?” he asks anyways.
“We should have a U.A. reunion party!”
A beat.
“What!?”
“Yeah!” he enthuses. “I’ll take care of arrangements and invitations, since I figure you haven’t kept track of everyone.”
“Deku—”
“Oh sorry, I guess I shouldn’t assume. Maybe you still talk to a few people, but either way, I think it’s easiest if only one of us reaches out.”
“Wait, don’t—”
“I don’t have all of Class B’s numbers, but I just did a rescue with Honenuki last week, so I definitely have his contact info. I could text him and see if he—”
“Deku!” Bakugou shouts. Deku stops mid-sentence. “I didn’t say I agreed to your dumb party. I just wanted to see if you had contact info for a few—key word, few —people I want to reconnect with. That’s it.”
“But Kacchan—”
“Don’t you dare say it’ll be fun. I’m pretty sure half our class still hates me.”
“Kacchan.” Deku’s voice is softer now. “No one hates you. I know you and I… didn’t graduate on the best of terms, but everyone I’ve talked to has expressed regret over not checking in on you to make sure you were okay after our fight. Kirishima especially felt badly about not siding with you...”
“I get it,” Bakugou says quickly, wanting to steer the conversation away from Kirishima. He clears his throat. “So the class doesn’t hate me. Hooray. Still doesn’t mean I want you to throw a big party. It’s fine if you want to catch up, but can’t we just get lunch or something?”
Deku laughs. “That’s not the point! You haven’t talked to anyone from school in over a year, and I want everyone to have a chance to see you.” The sound of pages rustling filters through the phone. “So what’re you doing on the twenty-first?”
~
That’s how Bakugou ends up just inside the front doors of Deku Hero Agency, psyching himself up to walk into the large conference room turned party hall and face his old classmates. Deku’s obnoxiously cheerful invitation that he received in the mail had said the dress was casual, so he’s wearing black jeans and a faded red T-shirt underneath an open grey button-down. He’s also swapped out his favored steel-toed boots for a comfortable pair of high-tops because Deku had written a little note on the back of his invitation teasingly telling him to not show up looking like he’s about to kick someone’s teeth in.
He takes a deep breath. This will be fine. Worst case scenario, he has to excuse himself and go hide in Deku’s office. Best case scenario, he gets his friends back and stops feeling so goddamn lonely all the time. Shoving his hands in his pockets to keep his Quirk from randomly firing off, he shoulders the door open.
“BAKUGOU!”
He’s one step in when he’s practically tackled by Sero and Kaminari. He grunts and struggles against the bodies plastered to his front. When did these two morons get so damn strong?
“Geez, you two, let him breathe,” a tired voice drones. Bakugou cranes his neck to see past Kaminari and Sero—who are decidedly not letting him breathe—and finds that Shinsou is the one trying to help.
He wheezes when Sero hugs him tighter, his elbows adding two points of extra pain. “Can’t you—fuck—can’t you brainwash them or something?”
Shinsou shakes his head, smiling slightly. “Sorry, but no.” He waves to someone who’s obscured from Bakugou’s vision by Kaminari’s big, stupid head. “A little help?”
Without warning, Bakugou’s two assailants are lifted off of him, and he’s relieved to see Kendo holding one in each fist.
“Hi, Bakugou!” she greets, holding fast to her captives even as they struggle to free themselves. “Sorry I didn’t catch them sooner. Izuku warned me they might get a little rowdy.”
Bakugou rubs his arm, where one of Sero’s elbows had been pressed. He can already feel the bruise he’ll have tomorrow. “It’s fine. Thanks for the assist.”
“Don’t mention it.” She turns and begins to walk away, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll get these two out of your way.”
As Kaminari and Sero’s protests get swallowed up by the crowd, Bakugou finds himself swept up in a slew of more, but thankfully less violent, greetings.
Shockingly, Todoroki is one of the first in line to say hello, despite his reserved nature. They exchange a few short words before Todoroki bows slightly and says he should let Bakugou say hello to other people.
Ashido and Hagakure catch him next, in a second double-hug, but they’re at least nice enough to not try and crush the life out of him.
Asui, Iida, and Uraraka approach him together and ask him how his agency is doing. At their insistence, he exchanges personal numbers, ostensibly for work purposes, though Bakugou has a feeling that they’ll be making personal use of it as well. He’s surprisingly okay with that prospect.
Ojiro and Satou come and say hi as a pair, followed by Shouji and Tokoyami. Yaoyorozu and Jirou are next—Bakugou notes that they’re holding hands—and finally, Aoyama and Kouda.
After that, Bakugou gets a small breather. He was never that close to anyone in Class B, so aside from a few friendly hello-s on his way to the snack table, they don’t hound him like everyone in Class A.
Or mostly everyone. The whole time he’s being accosted by people, Bakugou looks, but he doesn’t see Kirishima anywhere.
He thought he’d be with Sero and Kaminari, or with Ashido and Hagakure, but none of them so much as mention him. Bakugou scans the room as he pours himself a cup of soda, hoping to either catch a glimpse of spiky red hair or hear Kirishima’s loud laughter floating over the other voices, but to no avail. He does see Tetsutetsu, though, so he heads that way.
“Well, look who finally decided to show up!” Tetsutetsu greets, holding out a hand. Bakugou clasps it, and they give each other a friendly slap on the back. “Lemme guess, Midoriya had to make you come.”
Bakugou snorts. “No, he didn’t make me, but I think there was an implied threat of kidnapping me in his invitation.”
“Eh? Midoriya?” Tetsutetsu laughs. “No way, he’s not capable of it.”
Bakugou thinks about the times he’s seen Deku get really serious about accomplishing what he wants—that determination he can channel into defeating villains and forcing Bakugou to attend a party in equal measure. “You’d be surprised,” he says. “Anyway, I wanted to ask if you’d seen Kirishima tonight. He’s the only one from Class A I haven’t gotten to say hi to.”
Tetsutetsu scratches his head. “He’s got some sort of mission tonight, so he couldn’t make it. Midoriya tried to convince him, I think, but he said it was something important. He’s lead on the op too.”
Ah. No getting out of that then. Bakugou can’t help but feel disappointed. Out of all the people Deku invited, Kirishima is the one Bakugou was most looking forward to seeing. They used to be so close—used to do everything together. Studying, training, sparring, vacationing. Wherever one of them was, the other wasn’t far. They always walked to and from the dorms together; Bakugou probably spent more time in Kirishima’s room than his own. When Bakugou figured out he was gay, he came out to Kirishima first, and Kirishima returned the favor by coming out to Bakugou as bi just a few months later. Bakugou even comforted him through the end of an ill-fated relationship with a guy the year above them. They trusted each other. They were friends.
And now they’re nothing.
He must not hide his disappointment well because Tetsutetsu gives him a sympathetic smile and a pat on the shoulder.
“Sorry, man, I know you two used to be tight. Y’know, if you want, I’d be happy to give you his number. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.”
Bakugou swallows thickly. Would he? Frankly put, his friendship with Kirishima ended badly. He regrets the way he handled Kirishima taking Deku’s side in that fight, and he thinks that if Kirishima wanted to talk to him, he would’ve reached out himself. It’s not like Kirishima was ever shy about being involved in Bakugou’s life.
“No, thanks,” Bakugou decides. “He knows how to reach me at my agency. I’ll leave it to him to decide if he wants to talk.”
Tetsutetsu frowns. “Dude, he thinks you hate him.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope,” Tetsutetsu says. “He never fucking shuts up about it. Every time we have game night, he always goes on and on about how much he misses you and wishes you were there until Kaminari electrocutes him or Sero tapes his mouth shut. It’s pathetic.”
Bakugou shouldn’t feel so good about hearing that. Tetsutetsu’s right, it is pathetic. But it’s also kind of touching. Even after a year of radio silence, Kirishima still thinks about him.
“Tell him he’s a rock-brained idiot and that if he wants to talk to me, he should call,” Bakugou says. “I’d call him myself, but…” He hesitates. “Well, I’d feel better if he were the one to call first. Don’t ask why.”
“Wasn’t gonna.” Tetsutetsu grins. “But sure, I’ll pass the message on.”
“Kacchan!”
Their conversation is cut short by the sound of Deku’s voice. Bakugou turns and sees him waving him over.
He says goodbye to Tetsutetsu then and joins Deku, who’s standing with Uraraka and Todoroki. “What?” he asks. Deku gestures to Uraraka.
“Hi, Bakugou,” Uraraka says, once Bakugou’s attention is on her. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Nice to see you too,” Bakugou says neutrally. He doesn’t really have a strong opinion on Uraraka, but he remembers their fight from their first sports festival like it was yesterday. She’s a force to be reckoned with, and he can respect that. “What do you want?”
Uraraka smiles brightly. “Okay, I know you don’t team up usually,” she says, “But I was wondering if I could convince you to come help out sometime. See, we’re having some trouble with these villains that always leave a huge mess behind, and we could use someone like you to help catch them. I always get so close to apprehending them, but they’re just fast enough that I never manage it. If I just had someone to cut them off so I could touch them, that’d be great.”
“Um.”
Bakugou finds himself at a loss for words. It’s an odd request. Again, he’s not exactly a team-up type of Hero, and Uraraka isn’t even on his list of people he wanted to reconnect with tonight. Not to mention, he’s mature enough now to admit that he’s not the Hero best suited for this job. He’s fast, sure, but he’s not like Deku, who’s fast and has a Quirk to capture villains with. One for All, especially with Blackwhip, is nothing to laugh at.
“Please?” Uraraka asks. “It would really mean a lot to us to have you come help out.”
Bakugou squints. “Who’s we?” he asks slowly.
“My agency.”
“Hm.” She’s up to something. Bakugou doesn’t know what, but he can tell by the nervous look on Deku’s face that it’s something he definitely wouldn’t go along with if he had all the information. “No,” he decides. “I’m too busy. Team up with Deku or something.”
“What!?” Uraraka gapes at him. “Since when do you turn down an opportunity to beat up villains?”
“Since I figured out you’re trying to trick me into doing something,” he sniffs. “You’re a pretty good liar, I’ll give you that, but Deku’s still shit at it.”
He looks pointedly at Deku, who’s staring at the ground with a red face.
“Look, Kacchan, it’s not what you think. We—”
“We were trying to get you to team up with us because Kirishima will be there,” Todoroki cuts in, the first words he’s spoken since Bakugou walked over. “Midoriya had a feeling you’d like to see him again, and since he couldn’t come tonight, we thought it might be a good idea to try this.”
Bakugou’s hands curl into fists in his pockets. His first instinct is to start yelling and blowing people up, and the Bakugou from a year ago would’ve probably done exactly that. He’s trying to be better, though, he reminds himself as he takes several deep, centering breaths. Starting a fight with Deku—in the middle of the party Deku’s throwing for his sake, no less—would be plain idiotic. Their last fight had been over Deku doing something kind for him too.
“I’m not teaming up with you,” he reiterates. “I don’t do team ups.” He hunches his shoulders and looks away. “But… thanks for the offer, I guess.”
Deku nods, mouth pressing into a small smile. “Anytime, Kacchan.” He lifts his hand as if to… hug Bakugou? Pat his shoulder? But just as quickly, he drops it.
Bakugou clears his throat. “Well, I’m gonna go then. Probably should make sure the idiot brigade doesn’t destroy your agency or whatever.”
Giving the trio a curt nod, he turns and walks away.
He spends the rest of the party with his old friends, namely Kaminari, Ashido, and Sero, attached to him like a set of lost ducklings. Once they have him back from Deku, they all but refuse to let him go. It’s either Kaminari draping his arm around him, Sero resting his elbow on his shoulder, or Ashido linking her arm through his. He pretends to be irritated with them for appearances—he does have an image to maintain—but he might let a couple small smirks lift the corner of his mouth when none of them are looking.
He doesn’t get away until well after midnight, which he knows he’s going to regret come morning when he has to show up to work.
“Bakugou!” Ashido calls after him.
“What?” he snaps.
She holds our her open palm. “Phone. Now.”
He squints at her. She wants to exchange personal numbers? Ashido lifts an eyebrow, tapping her foot expectantly, and Bakugou sighs. Hell, why not?
He fishes his phone out of his pocket, unlocks it, and slaps it into her hand. A bright smile lights up her face, and she excitedly types in her number.
“I’m gonna put Denki, Hanta, and Ei’s numbers in here too, m’kay?”
“Not Ei’s,” Bakugou says quickly. Ashido glances up from his phone, brow furrowed. “I don’t want Kirishima’s.”
“Dude, don’t be an idiot,” she says. “He won’t mind.”
“Maybe I do, though,” he shoots back. “I haven’t talked to Ei in over a year. I don’t even know what I’d say to him. Not after… well, you know.”
Ashido’s face softens. “He misses you, Bakugou. You guys were best friends. I’m sure you’d find something to talk about.”
“Were. We were best friends. If he wants to talk, he can call my agency.” He holds his hand out, and Ashido gives him his phone. He pockets it and turns. “Night, Raccoon Eyes.”
It’s only after he gets home that he realizes she never put his number in her own phone. She’s leaving it up to him to text her and the others first. He sighs and scrubs his hands over his face. Well, at least he had a good time.
~
The next couple of weeks see Bakugou diving back into work. It’s intense as ever, fast-paced and full of enough boring patrols and heart-pounded crises to make him want to tear his hair out.
He does end up texting Ashido. It takes him five whole days, but he does it, and he finds himself dropped into a rather chaotic groupchat with her, Sero, and Kaminari. He doesn’t talk much, leaving that more to the idiots. And they fill the silence enough for ten of him. He hates to admit it, but it’s kind of nice to get a check-in text while on patrol, or to come home to a long list of notifications. Even if they are stupid.
He doesn’t quit sleeping around. His friends can be as pushy as they want, but they don’t satisfy that particular itch. He doesn’t particularly want them to. Predictably, Kaminari ribs him about his sex life. He keeps asking if he’s slept with various old classmates, and he refuses to shut up, even after Bakugou tells him he wouldn’t be caught dead with anyone from U.A.
Near the end of the second week, Sero breaks the exciting news that he’s bought himself a new house and is throwing a housewarming party that’ll double as a late birthday party for himself and Ashido. Everyone in their little group chat is invited, of course, and Sero tells Bakugou he’s inviting a few other friends too.
“Just enough to make it fun, y’know?”
And like a goddamn idiot, Bakugou believes him.
He shows up to Sero’s new house half an hour late. The party is already in full swing, the music pumping loud enough to rattle Bakugou’s teeth and most people already well on their way to tipsy. Bakugou is going to kill Sero. “Just enough to make it fun,” his ass. If Bakugou had known Sero was inviting half the Tokyo Hero scene, he wouldn’t have come. Which, come to think of it, might’ve been a strategic move on Sero’s part. Bakugou makes a mental note to yell at him later.
After giving Sero his housewarming gift and filling a plastic cup with punch, Bakugou sticks around just long enough to say hi to Ashido, Kaminari, and a handful of others before he escapes to the back porch.
The door swings shut behind him, muting the sounds of the party, and he takes a deep, steadying breath. Rolling the tension out of his shoulders, he sits down on the steps and raises his cup to his lips. The punch is sweet but has a kick to it, and it tastes like something Ashido probably made. He nurses his drink slowly, letting it wash coolly down his throat, even as the warm air seeps into his skin.
The sound of the back door opening and closing breaks the reverie, and someone sits down next to Bakugou.
“Fuck off,” Bakugou says automatically. “I’m not interested.”
In his periphery, he sees the movement of the person shrugging, but they don’t say anything. They don’t leave either. Sighing, Bakugou takes another sip of his punch.
He and the newcomer sit in silence for several minutes. Inside, the music plays on, loud enough for every beat to pump through Bakugou’s body. He reaches up and turns off his hearing aids.
As he does that, he thinks he sees the stranger’s shoulders start to shake a little with laughter. Fucking asshole. Where does he think he gets off laughing at Bakugou? Bakugou’s ears are bad enough already—he doesn’t need Sero’s damn house party music to make them worse.
He sets his drink down next to him and turns, ready to give the stranger a piece of his mind. And he stops.
Red hair. Red eyes crinkled with laughter. And a familiar, sharp-toothed smile.
Kirishima.
He turns his hearing aids back on. “Ei?”
“What’s up, Katsuki?” Kirishima greets. “Didn’t think I’d see you here tonight.”
“Yeah…”
He looks good, Bakugou thinks. He’s taller than when they last saw each other, and it looks like he might have a couple inches on Bakugou now. He’s also filled out and put on more muscle, evidenced by his t-shirt straining across his chest and around his biceps. His hair is longer too, pulled into a messy bun at the nape of his neck. The style suits him, and Bakugou wonders if he’s totally moved on from spiking it the way he did in school or if this more casual look is just for when he’s off the clock.
When Bakugou realizes he’s been staring a little too long, he looks away. He hates how awkward it feels. After Kirishima’s inability to make Deku’s party and Bakugou’s refusal join Uraraka’s team-up, he’d kind of given up hope of seeing Kirishima again. Kirishima hadn’t called him, even though Bakugou is sure Tetsutetsu made good on his word to tell him he could, and with a guy as straight-forward as Kirishima, that seems like a message. Or maybe not. Bakugou knows he has a bad habit of jumping to conclusions.
He’s also not sure what to make of them still being on a given-name basis. He probably shouldn’t have started with the nickname—that’s another conclusion he shouldn’t have jumped to because he doubts they’re close enough anymore for it to be the same. But Kirishima had responded in kind with Bakugou’s given name, and it’s… nice, actually. It’s been a long time since anyone but his parents called him Katsuki.
“Um, how have you been?” he asks, keeping his eyes trained forward.
“I’ve been good! Lots of Hero work, so y’know, busy. But good.”
Bakugou hums and runs his finger along the rim of his cup. “You still at Fat Gum’s?”
“Yeah,” Kirishima says. “Tetsutetsu and I are looking to start our own agency soon, though. Haven’t come up with a name yet, but you better watch out ‘cause we’re about to be the manliest agency out there.”
Bakugou snorts. He’d expect nothing less from the two of them. “Tetsutetsu didn’t mention it at Deku’s party,” he observes.
Kirishima scratches the back of his neck. “Ah, well we’re keeping it under wraps until all the paperwork is sorted. We agreed not to tell people yet, but since it’s you... ” He shrugs, as if that’s enough of an answer. Setting his drink down, he leans back on his hands. “What about you?” he asks. “Heard you made Top Ten this semester.”
Bakugou nods. “Yeah, Number Eight.”
“Hey, man, that’s great!” Kirishima nudges him with his knee. “You should be proud.”
“I’m always proud,” Bakugou retorts. He pauses. “I could be better, though,” he says quietly. “Deku’s Number Five.”
Kirishima eyes him. “Midoriya? Don’t tell me you’re still comparing yourself to him. That guy’s got like a million Quirks.” He shakes his head. “Y’know, after he told the class about the whole One For All thing, it took me a while to wrap my head around it. It was like, can you believe that All Might, the Number One Hero in the world—the Symbol of Peace—was born Quirkless? I think it changed a lot of opinions at U.A. about Quirkless people, so I’m honestly shocked Midoriya hasn’t gone fully public with One for All. I get that it could be really dangerous for people to know about such a powerful Quirk, but he could really make a difference.” He picks up his cup and takes a sip. “Were you surprised when he told us all?”
“I already knew.” Bakugou scuffs his shoe against the step. “I’ve known since we were first years.”
“Huh,” Kirishima says. “Can’t say I saw that coming, y’know, what with your history with Midoriya. When did you…?”
“After Kamino. That fight we had at Ground Beta—it was over One For All. I’d started putting the pieces together pretty early on after we started at U.A. For one, he straight-up told me. Obviously I didn’t believe him at the time, but the facts eventually started piling up. Things he said, all the weird ways his Quirk behaved... It wasn’t until Kamino, though, that I knew for sure. So after the exam, I confronted him because I couldn’t accept that All Might had chosen him to be his successor. Our whole lives, Deku was this weak, scared, Quirkless kid. I was always more powerful. And then all of a sudden, he was All Might’s protégé, and I was the guy who caused All Might’s fall. It was hard on me.”
He swallows past the lump in his throat. Never before has he said that much about his feelings to anyone, and he curses himself for dumping it all on Kirishima after so long apart. Kirishima came here to enjoy Sero’s party, not listen to Bakugou feel sorry for himself.
Kirishima’s hand falls on his knee, making him jump. “I had no idea. Sorry, Katsuki.”
Bakugou pulls his knee away. “It’s fine,” he says, unsure of what Kirishima is apologizing for. The only thing he can think of is that Kirishima is sorry for turning his back on him after the fight with Deku, but Bakugou never blamed him for that. He ignores the look of hurt that crosses Kirishima’s face and stands, brushing the dirt from his pants. “I should probably get home,” he says. “I have to go in and do some reports tomorrow, and I’ve already stayed up too late.”
Kirishima stands quickly. “Can I walk you home?” he asks, the words tumbling from his mouth in a rush. “You’ve had a lot to drink, and I don’t want you to pass out or get attacked by a villain or something.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Bakugou says, waving him off. “I don’t live far.”
Kirishima’s face falls. “Oh. Okay.” He picks up both his and Bakugou’s cups and turns to head back inside, hesitating a little in the doorway. “It was nice seeing you,” he says softly.
Bakugou’s chest aches—and it’s a familiar ache—but his brain is too fuzzy for him to make sense of the feeling. “Yeah, you too, Ei. See you around?”
Kirishima smiles sadly. “Yeah, Kats, see you around.”