Chapter Text
Katsuki never really liked the idea of love. It seemed stupid, he didn’t need it. More then anything it seemed like a nuisance, a distraction. Something to stop him becoming number one.
Then he gets to UA.
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He accepts friends begrudgingly, they were just south of there and they wouldn’t leave. So he eventually stopped trying to get them to leave. They pissed him off, and they teased him and he fucking hated them at times. But he has to admit that he didn’t mind having them around. One a little more then the others.
Katsuki seemed to get closer to Kirishima without even realising that it was happening. People always say ‘falling in love’. But Katsuki didn’t fall. No, loving Kirishima was cautious, careful. He walked into it with his quirk at the ready. It was slow. It was...nice? However realising he was in love with the red head was like falling face first onto fucking concrete.
It was small things, things so small that Katsuki didn’t even notice he was doing them. He stopped blasting the boy whenever he touched him. He leaned into his shoulder when Kirishima put an arm around him. He didn’t mind the odd conversations, he even started them. He actively searched out Kirishima. Whenever they were in large groups he was always searching for the obnoxious red that nobody would miss, at least, Katsuki never missed. He wanted to talk to him constantly and one thing about Katsuki that he has no idea if anyone knows or not, is that he doesn’t like sharing. Kirishima was his friend. So when others sat too close he glared, when they talked for too long, he glared. And when people from other classes dared to ask him out, guess what he did? He pulled Kirishima the fuck away before he could answer. He claimed it was to help him out of an awkward situation. Katsuki didn’t know why he did it.
That’s a fucking lie.
Katsuki thought he knew why he did it.
He thought that he was Kirishima’s best friend and neither of them would choose anyone else. Who needs relationships when they’ve got each other?
But lately Katsuki felt odd. Whenever Kirishima touched him or chose to talk to him his stomach felt strange. Whenever Kirishima smiled that wide smile that was like the fucking sun, his breathing faltered. Whenever he insisted on coming over to watch a movie or study, Katsuki’s chest ached. He ignored it. He was Bakugo fucking Katsuki. He doesn’t get sick. Which fun fact, he doesn’t. His quirk can kill off most illnesses before they affect him.
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It was a typical Friday afternoon. Until it wasn’t.
Once again Kirishima was begging Katsuki to tutor him. “Bakugo pleaseeee.” He whined from behind Katsuki’s closed door.
”Good. Maybe that will fucking teach you to study more then just the week before.”
”Not all of us can perfect study habits Baku.”
”And that’s my fucking problem how?”
”Because if I go then nobody can protect you from the rest of the class.”
”Fucking hell. I’m not fucking weak! You don’t have to protect me from jack fucking shit!”
“Please! Baku I’m not moving until you help me.” Katsuki doesn’t fucking doubt it. He’s sure that Kirishima will just sit at his door, knocking at random intervals and not allowing him to do anything.
“God fucking Damnit.” He opens the door and allows him to come in.
”Thanks babe!” Another thing that made breathing difficult is that Kirishima had taken to calling him random names and pet names. It was driving him crazy. Such names included: Apple of my eye; Firecracker; Spitfire; My Prince; Love Bug (that one got a particularly big explosion); Sugar Daddy (apparently because he smelled like burnt sugar and looked after him? Katsuki didn’t understand. He just knew that he hated it. So he made a big show of exploding him and ignored him for the rest of the day) and the most common were simply Babe or Baby. He hated how the last one always effected him. It was bullshit.
”You shut the fuck up or you get the hell out.”
“Noted!”
“Okay! I think I got it! Check it! Check it!”
”Calm your fucking tits, Christ.” He shakes his head and looks over the questions. It’s going well until, “Shitty hair. What the fuck?”
”What? Is it not the right answer?”
”What type of question is it?”
”Algebra...quadratic.”
”So how many answers do you fucking need?!”
”Uhhh... one?”
”Holy fucking-TWO! YOU NEED TWO!”
”Okay but what about the others?” He perks up.
”You haven’t completely wasted my time.” Kirishima smiles wide at that and does the quadratic question, when he gets it right he hugs Katsuki tight. He pushes him off immediately. He starts to cough and his throat hurts. What the fuck? He shakes it off and they hang out for a while longer before Kirishima leaves to his room next door.
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Over a month later and his cough hasn’t improved. Nobody mentioned it anymore. The Bakusquad had tried and g0t an explosion to the face. They sighed and just left cough sweets on his desk when they walked by. Katsuki hated that he accepted them each time. It didn’t stop the ache in his chest but it stopped the hurt in his throat.
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A month later Katsuki had another coughing fit in his room. This time it didn’t improve within a minute or two. He ran to his bathroom and threw up. It stung and he would never admit it to anyone, but yea. He did fucking cry. He hates throwing up. But this time it burns. He flushed it and washed his mouth out. His chest still felt tight. What the fuck was happening?