The Tinker

Chapter 41 - Date with Red

"So how did things go down with Bakugou?" Kirishima asked.

Him and Y/N were sitting at a small booth in the cafeteria together. He'd bought them some rice balls and steak, a favorite of his, and he was desperate for details on her and Bakugou's interaction.

"About as good as you'd expect," Y/N grumbled, taking a bite. "He pretty much just sat there. I'm not dealing with it anymore. He can talk to me when he figures his shit out."

Kirishima chuckled. "That's fair." He took a moment to shovel food in his mouth, then looked at her questioningly. "Are you hurt?"

Y/N looked down at her plate. "I think it's more... disappointment, I guess. But it was on me for getting my hopes up. I mean... it's Bakugou we're talking about. I doubt he's ever had feelings for anyone."

"We thought he was asexual for a while, actually," Kirishima said matter-of-factly. He took a swig of his orange juice. "Until you came along. It confused all of us when he started showing interest in someone."

"Showing interest?"

"C'mon Y/N, you can't pretend you haven't noticed," he deadpanned. "We've known him for three years, some of us even longer than that. Kat has never touched a girl outside of a fight, let alone gotten a crush, and then suddenly you come along and now he wants to do that stuff."

"You sure about that?" Y/N grumbled.

"He kissed you!" Kirishima scoffed. "Of course he wants to!"

"Then why is he fucking ignoring me?!"

"He's scared!" Kirishima huffed. "This is all new to him. He doesn't know what he's doing. He's probably confused with all those new emotions, man."

Bakugou? Scared?

Y/N wanted to argue, but Kirishima had a point. If this really was his first experience with... whatever this was, then it was bound to be weird for him. "I shouldn't have confronted him. I'm an idiot," she groaned. She put her face in her hands, her face burning red. "He's never gonna talk to me again."

Kirishima laughed and leaned back in his seat. "Don't stress, Y/N. I'm sure everything's gonna be fine." He took another swig of his orange juice, still smiling at her. "Maybe you need to make a move."

Y/N almost choked on her food. "Huh?"

Kirishima shrugged. "Show him what he's missing. Seduce him or something."

"I don't know how to fucking seduce someone! Let alone Bakugou," she hissed. Her cheeks warmed and her ears pounded with embarassment. "Even if I wanted to, I don't think Bakugou can be seduced."

Eijirou found that hilarious for some reason and barked out a laugh. "Are you kidding? You should've seen him at the agency event. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull when he saw you. Trust me, anybody can be seduced."

Y/N shook her head. "Absolutely not. I don't know the first thing about that shit, and even if I did... whatever, it doesn't matter. Not happening."

"Suit yourself," Kirishima sighed. "That would've been hilarious."

~~~

"We learned this shit two years ago, Pikachu! You should know this!" Bakugou snapped, jabbing his finger at Kaminari's textbook. "It's basic formulas!"

"Dude, that was so long ago. I don't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning," Kaminari said as he shrugged.

Bakugou was fuming. Denki was impossible sometimes. They'd been in the common room for two hours now, Katsuki trying his absolute hardest to get Kaminari to understand the math homework but failing miserably. "Did you even read the damn textbook?"