Music to My Ears

1

Kirishima ran to his room and slammed the door. His face was hot with embarrassment and tears as he walked over and threw himself onto his bed, "Stupid, stupid, stupid," He growled to himself as he shoved his face into his pillow. Soft muffled sobs echoed around the small room as the sound of rain started up outside of his balcony doors.

After a while his sobs subsided and he relaxed to the sound of rain hitting the glass door, but his heart was still heavy. Why did his friends act like that? Why did they have to make fun of him for being himself? He sat up, sniffling and running his hands through his thick black hair to try and calm himself down more. He sighed and reached into his pants pocket for his phone, deciding music was the best medicine for the situation; music always seemed to help him express how he felt. He scrolled through his playlists and found Self Esteem by The Offspring; that seemed like a good song to let his frustration out on.

"I wrote her off for the tenth time today," He started singing along to the music, getting caught up in the feeling on it. He didn't exactly have a voice for singing, but he didn't care. He did, however, make sure not to bother his mothers downstairs with loud music. He got through the song and decided to let the playlist go on by itself, pulling out some headphones so he could just get lost in the rhythm. Let Me Down Slowly by Alec Benjamin started up and he laid back onto the bed to look up at the ceiling.

Bakugo sat at his desk working on homework because he'd be damned if he didn't keep up his good grades to get into U.A. He had just finished his math homework when a soft tune different from the one before started to run through his brain, "Damn they're bipolar today. It's fucking annoying."

He got quiet as his brain forced the lyrics to dance off his tongue, "This night is cold in the kingdom I can feel you fade away From the kitchen to the bathroom sink and Your steps keep me awake Don't cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste I once was a man with dignity and grace Now I'm slipping through the cracks of your cold embrace So please, please..."

Now Bakugo was someone that took pride in his soothing singing voice, not that he'd let anyone hear it; he liked having that little secret. The music became consistent in both tune and genre after that. Bakugo started feeling worthless from the kind of music his soulmate was listening to. It both annoyed him to no end and worried him. He wished he could tell them to stop feeling so sorry for themselves, and teach them to hold themselves at a higher register. They were his soulmate, of course they were amazing; they had to be.

Fast forward to entrance exams and there they stood in the same room, completely unaware that they were so close. Kirishima was on edge, hoping that he could get enough points to make it in since he wasn't sure of how he did on the written test just yet. Bakugo wasn't bothered by any of it in the slightest; he was there to pass. He was already confident enough that he got first in the written test, so the practical exam would be a breeze. Kirishima looked around the room at all of his, hopefully, future classmates and tried to take a deep breath to calm his nerves.

A slightly shorter boy with yellow hair walked up to him with a smile, "Man it feels intense in here. The names Kaminari Denki."

He held out a friendly hand and Kirishima looked at it for a moment before taking it, "Kirishima Eijiro. Nice to meet you."

"Same," He grinned, "You seemed a little on edge so I thought I'd come say hi. You're the first person I've talked to."

"Oh," Kirishima chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck, "yeah, I normally listen to music to calm down, but I left my phone in the locker room. I haven't talked to anyone else yet either."

Kaminari nodded, "Well I hope we both pass so we can become friends."

Kirishima felt his heart swell.

'friends.'

"Yeah, me too."

Of course they passed, and Kirishima was belated to find that he scored second on the practical exam. He was a very close second to Bakugo Katsuki; he kept that name in mind for later so he could maybe talk to him about fighting techniques.

Bakugo knew he would pass, but he was surprised to find that second place was extremely close to being tied with him. He scowled as he read the name, Kirishima Eijiro, "Who the hell is that?"

He sat at his desk, thinking about all of the faces he'd seen that day, but he never spoke to any of them so of course he wouldn't be able to place the name with any of them. He continued reading down the list and nearly threw himself back onto the floor. What the hell was Deku's name doing on the list? Bakugou's thoughts were cut off by a song popping up into his head, Sunday Morning by Maroon 5.

Kirishima danced around his room happily as he sang along the music. He was on cloud nine knowing that he had gotten into the school of his dreams and had one of the highest scores. He was so happy to know he proved his 'friends' wrong. His quirk didn't need to be flashy to be a hero.