Touch Therapy

Chapter 2

Class with Yamada always left Kirishima in a great mood, but with a lingering headache.

Not that the Voice Hero meant to do it, he was simply naturally boisterous and cheerful, but due to his own hearing loss, seemed unaware of his own volume.

When class was finally over, Kirishima hurriedly shoved all his books back into his bag, trying to match Bakugou's pace in order to accompany him to the cafeteria.

He should have known, of course, that his usual crowd wasn't going to let him escape that easily.

The moment he stepped out of the room, half a step behind Bakugou, Mina latched onto one of his arms, Kaminari on his other, dragging him back a few steps to the side of the building.

"What do you think you're playing at?! Ditching us like that!" Kaminari whined loudly, Kirishima's headache immediately thumping in protest against the base of his skull.

Mina was still gripping his wrist, pouting dramatically as she nodded along with Kaminari's words.

Kirishima sighed in defeat, rubbing his free hand through his hair, eyes glued to Bakugou's retreating figure.

Before stepping into the cafeteria, Bakugou glanced over his shoulder, eyes locking momentarily with Kirishima's, before vanishing inside the building.

"Let me go!" Kirishima exclaimed, trying to push past them, feeling his lower lip jut out like a child. Mina glared at him, her warning clear in her eyes, and his struggling came to a halt.

"I just want to... ah..." Kirishima mumbled, eyes dropping to the floor, "I just... Bakugou... um..."

"Um, ah, um, ahhhhh." Kaminari mimicked mockingly, raising his eyebrows, lips curled in a teasing smile.

Mina's eyes widened, before she began jumping up and down on the spot, a high-pitched squeal ripping from her lips and assaulting Kirishima's thumping head.

"YOU LIKE HIM, ADMIT IT, YOU LIKE HIM, AWWWWW!" she shrieked, and Kirishima leapt forward, slamming a hand over her mouth as a few people glanced in their direction with questioning eyes.

"Shut up! I do not! I just... I dunno! He's cool!" Kirishima whispered urgently, feeling his cheeks flaming and an embarrassed smile appear on his lips.

Mina bit down on his hand, causing him to let go, and her grin was blinding. She glanced at Kaminari, whose eyes were as wide as saucepans as he studied Kirishima's face.

"Holy shit dude..." Kaminari muttered, still staring, "You're totally gone for him!"

"Shut up! No! I... He's just a bro!" Kirishima argued, Kaminari's responding smirk a clear indication he was still not being believed.

Kaminari lifted his hands, backing up a few steps in a mock surrender.
"Okay dude, sure, whatever. Go sit with your 'bro' then. Try not to stare at him too much!" he teased, grabbing Mina by the elbow and tugging her back.

Kirishima covered his face in his hands, the tell-tale heat burning his hands, as he avoided looking at them while they pranced off, still whispering to each other with matching grins.

~~~

When he reached the cafeteria, sure enough, Kaminari and Mina had their eyes glued to him.

He sighed, shaking his head at them slightly, before walking over and sitting down beside Bakugou, who was lounging by himself. He was the picture-perfect image of relaxed, legs propped up on the table, a book open in one hand with his eyes on the pages, his other hand holding a half-eaten apple.

His eyes flickered up when Kirishima plopped himself down in the seat next to him, who grinned widely at Bakugou, before plucking his juice box off of his tray and opening it.

"I think Yamada-sensei should hand out complimentary ibuprofens at the end of his lessons. That man seriously needs to get his volume in check." Kirishima joked, lifting his free hand to massage his temple lightly.

He peered at Bakugou from the corner of his eye and grinned wider when he heard him snort in response, rolling his eyes.
"Pikachu is staring." Bakugou mumbled, sounding disgruntled. He had moved his book up higher, so it was disguising his face, and scowled a bit.

Kirishima chuckled, taking a long suck from his juice box, before shooting Kaminari a pointed glare. Kaminari's eyebrows shot up, and with another self-satisfied smirk, turned away.

"He's just jealous that I'm not sitting with him. He can be a bit possessive, ya know?" Kirishima explained, watching Bakugou's expression carefully.

Bakugou's eyes stopped moving on the page he was reading, but he didn't look up, just grunted in response before sinking lower in his chair.

Kirishima found himself unable to stop smiling, even though he was sure he must look like a total spastic to anyone who cared to look.

"He'll get over it." Bakugou muttered after a while, eyes never lifting from his book.

Kirishima's cheeks flamed, and although he had thought it impossible, his smile grew even wider, his cheeks straining from the effort.

"I'm sure he will!" he laughed, shaking his head in an effort to gather his thoughts, "Besides, he knows you're my bro too."

Bakugou nodded slightly, a slight bob of his head.

Kirishima decided it might be okay to experiment a little bit now, so, with a quick glance to make sure Kaminari was watching, slid a tiny bit closer to Bakugou.

After a few moments, he repeated the motion, and continued this pattern until their shoulders bumped together lightly.

Bakugou's eyes lifted from his book momentarily, peering at Kirishima from the corner of his eye, proceeded to raise a single eyebrow, and then go straight back to reading.

Kirishima could feel his face absolutely on fire, and was hyper aware of the heat radiating from Bakugou's skin under his school uniform.

After a few moments, Kirishima could finally relax again, letting his shoulders slump down, and reached for his own apple, taking an enormous bite from it, when he heard Bakugou snicker from beside him.
He glanced in his direction, eyes wide with confusion, but Bakugou was looking at his apple.

"Your teeth really are fuckin shark teeth..." Bakugou hummed, his tone almost teasing, before glancing back up and meeting Kirishima's eyes.

Kirishima laughed cheerfully, lifting a hand and poking at the sharp point of one of his canines.

"They come in handy when I eat people, makes tearing flesh really easy!" he joked, eyes sparkling when Bakugou's mouth curled up into a small smirk.

"Tch. Whatever." Bakugou replied, sounding vaguely amused, and Kirishima nudged into his shoulder a little bit, feeling his own grin growing wider when Bakugou nudged him back, his eyes returning to his book.

When Kirishima finally looked back up in the direction of Kaminari, his mouth was hanging open slightly, eyes glued to where their shoulders were pressed together.
Kirishima shot Kaminari a smug look, before settling into his seat and taking out his phone, opening one of his games.

Like he had expected, this was certainly fun.