| Explosive Love |

The Accidental Confession

The bright, soft colors of dawn painting Bakugou's face through the panes of the window seem to match his mood perfectly. For once, he doesn't feel any anger. He doesn't feel the ever-present dread of inferiority. He doesn't feel trapped behind a mean mask. Instead, Bakugou feels as if the world had decided to be happy and kind today. The reason for his uplifted mood?

Kirishima.

A light sigh escapes Bakugou's lips as he sits up from the comfort of his pillow and stretches his arms above his head. Tranquility permeates the air. Slowly, he rises to his feet and begins preparing for the day. Luckily today is the weekend, so he doesn't have to worry about school and dealing with people like Deku.

Mina's plan drifts back to the forefront of his mind. Tomorrow, Bakugou will confess. No matter what. But what should he do today?

A set of knocks on the door breaks up his thoughts. Bakugou stalks to the door, annoyed at whichever extra decided to ruin his good mood, especially considering how rarely it comes. Although that's been changing recently thanks to a certain manly redhead.

Bakugou swings the door open to reveal just the people he didn't want to see.

"Hey Bakugou!" Mina, Denki, and Sero say loudly as they barge into Bakugou's room and take seats on his bed and desk. Of course it had to be these extras.

"Why are you dumbasses here so early in the morning?" Bakugou swings the door shut and leans against the wall of his dorm room.

The trio of intruders share a look before Mina speaks up. "We've got an idea for today's part of the plan."

"Spit it out then."

Denki rubs his hand against the back of his neck. "The only thing is, it might be just a little more extreme than what you've done so far."

"Only a tiny bit." Sero adds between snickers.

"You guys better tell me what it is or I swear to satan I'll-"

"You should ask him to hang out with you alone and then kiss his cheek because it'll be super cute and I really want my ship to sail and plus it'll probably make it easier to confess to him tomorrow." Mina falls back onto the bed, exaggeratedly winded after her monologue. Laughter fills the background thanks to Sero and Denki, but all of the noise is faded to Bakugou as the thought of kissing Kirishima in any form takes over the forefront of his mind.

All he can imagine is how soft Kirishima's skin would be against his lips. About how amazing it would be if Kirishima thought of him that way. But no. He can't let himself think this way. Rejection is on its way, and Bakugou can't get his hopes up now. No matter how nice the thought of dating Kirishima is. Still, his cheeks flush a light pink.

"Awe, look, our explosive boy is blushing!" Denki says as he points at Bakugou.

The comment brings Bakugou out of his thoughts. "Shut it reject Pikachu! At least I'm not like you around that aux cord girl."

A similar pink takes over Kaminari's face. "Whatever."

"Now you guys better get the hell out of my room or I'm gonna send you flying straight into space."

"Got it!" The trio say in unison before quickly making their way out of the room, leaving Bakugou alone with his thoughts. He flops onto the bed as his mind resumes it's daydreaming about Kirishima.

Maybe, considering that he's going to get rejected tomorrow anyways, this idea might not be as bad as he first thought.

~•~

"Oi, Kirishima, do you wanna go on a hike with me?"

Kirishima turns to Bakugou and begins dancing around with excitement. "Hell yeah bro! Hiking is super manly, so let's do it!"

"Chill out Shitty Hair. It's just a short hike in a forest near here."

"Yeah, but any time I spend with you is always fun!" At that, the all-too-familiar blush takes over Bakugou's face once again.

"Whatever. You're such a sap. I'll meet you at the school gates in thirty minutes."

"See you there bro!"

The plan is set. Now all that's left for Bakugou to do is actually follow through. But that can't be too hard, especially for someone as strong as Bakugou. Right?

~•~

Pines form a daunting wall before Bakugou and Kirishima, each tree standing tall as if to act as the guardians of the forest. But Bakugou can't focus on the beautiful way the light falls through the branches and leaves, or even the blindingly bright smile on Kirishima's face. The only thing in his mind is the daunting task he has set for himself.

Luckily, as the pair make their way down the trail, Bakugou finds that he's able to lose some of the nerves in his light conversation with Kirishima. They talk about anything and everything: hero role models, favorite foods, and even plans for their personal training schedules. Bakugou finds himself getting wrapped up within the softness of Kirishima's voice. How can such a manly guy sound so sweet and kind?

"Bakugou, I've got an idea!" Bakugou is snapped out of his thoughts and he turns to his crush.

"Oh no. The world must be ending for something like that to happen."

Kirishima lightly shoved his arm. "Whatever. I at least know that my ideas are good."

"Like your failed cookie recipe?"

"That was one time!"

"Still, almost burning the dorms to the ground once is pretty major Shitty Hair."

"Whatever bro." Kirishima pretends to pout for a moment, but the ever-present smile quickly returns. "But back to my idea! We should play questions. You know, that game where you can ask anything and the other person has to honestly answer?"

"Sure. But if this game is garbage, I'm blaming you."

"That works! I'll go first then." Theatrically, Kirishima brings his hand to his chin to exaggeratedly think. "Oh! I know! If you couldn't be a hero, what would you wanna be?"

Bakugou thinks for a moment. He's never really imagined a future without being a hero. "I guess I'd want to be a firefighter or something. It's a similar idea I guess."

The game continues between the two as they continue on the trail. It was fun. None of the questions are too personal, and Bakugou simply enjoys there presence of the literal beam of sunlight next to him. That is, until a dreaded question arises.

"Do you have a crush on anyone right now?"

Bakugou's heart immediately stops in his chest. The world crashes down around him. He feels his cheeks heat up, and his fingers begin to fidget with the flannel around his waist. Of course his fucking crush had to ask that question.

"Ooooo, you're blushing! So you do have a crush! Who is it?"

Small explosions erupt from Bakugou's palms as panic takes over. What should he say? Should he lie? No, no, cause that'd ruin his confession tomorrow. Telling the truth seems to be the only answer, and yet it's the solution he really doesn't want to pursue.

"Come on, bro, you gotta tell me! I swear I won't tell anyone. Please? I really wanna know! Who could the almighty Bakugou have a crush o-"

"It's you."

Kirishima visibly stumbles back, shock and surprise contorting his face. "What?"

"Eijirou, I like you."