Group night

What is manliness anyway?

** Uhhhh TW for Homophobia, I'm queer and sad and want to talk about homophobia. There is a slur mentioned but it is completely censored. Fun fact: I only add to this shit when I'm feeling terrible and need to project, please enjoy.

"I ever tell you guys how much I love y'all?" Kirishima laughed wiping away the remaining tears still clinging to his red face as his friends giggled alongside him.

"I think you have about three times tonight, although That's not counting the bazillion times you've told us before then since we've known you. I know you think you don't say it enough and we love hearing it but trust me, we get the message loud and clear every time. I just wish we could do the same for you!" Denki said grabbing the bags of chips from the center of the table, arm still around Kirishima's shoulder pouring the few remaining broken chips at the bottom in the direction of his open mouth but missing completely.

"HEY, you're gonna get crumbs all over the floor!" Bakugo said backing away from the mess the laughing boy had made as he went to grab a dustpan.

"awwww you're like our mom, even cleaning my room for me. what a sweetheart. remind me to find my hair curlers, I bet you'd look wicked with them on." Mina teased Bakugo gesturing at his spiky hair miming curling it up. "Oh Kirishima, stop using the tissue for a moment, I heard tears are good for your skin maybe you'll wake up glowing. I mean it's worth a try, I hope you don't mind being my tester for this; I haven't cried recently and I'm very curious," Mina said moving towards him using her finger to wipe the final tear that fell and smudging it on his forehead and cheeks.

"You really think my skins bad?" he looked towards the mirror and started pinching his cheeks.

"Can't be worse than Sero's," Denki said pointing his thumb gesturing to the dark-haired boy across a few seats away from him.

"I am shocked. I am hurt. I've been nothing but nice to you and this is the thanks I get? That's it. No more hanging tape from the ceiling so you can pretend to be spiderman. Your web-slinging privileges have been revoked, I am wounded" Sero said pouting before turning away from Denki, chin high and arms crossed.

"He still hasn't said what's bothering him," Bakugo said whilst sweeping up the crumbs, in a sing-song tune with a healthy dose of aggression.

"-WHICH is fine because we all know he'll tell us when he's ready, right?" Mina said cutting off whatever mean comment Bakugo was about to make. "Seriously Kiri, you don't have to tell us anything but I'm almost 1000% certain we would all love to relieve some of that stress working up in that big beautiful brain," Mna said striking a little pose tapping her skull while scrunching her nose.

"To be honest, I'm not too sure what's bothering me. It's like I'm a cocktail and all of my ingredients are swirling around mixing together in the shaker that is my head"

"Interesting visual, but I get it," Sero said casting his friend a bright smile. "Do you think if you listed some of the smaller stuff you'd feel better? I think it could help you connect some dots together, give you some clarity," he said up his hands and breaking them away from one another in an arch as he said "clarity".

Kirishima thought for a moment. What was he even upset about. being surrounded by all of his friends does wonders to his nerve, as anxious as he is. Finally, something came to mind as he thought back to him looking in the mirror, worried at Mina's comment on what tears supposedly do to your skin. He had been feeling a bit off when he thought about what manliness meant to him. He only had media depictions of what masculinity was and what made someone a "real man". He admired his dad, that was one of his role models, crimson riot too of course what another "real man" he looked up to. What even was a "real man"? according to Kirishima's grandfather, a "real man" was someone who wasn't a "sissy lil' bitch" who "never let a single tear fall" and "had a nice piece of ass at home working in the kitchen with dinner ready as soon as you walked in". Kirishima was lucky enough to know that was bullshit, but it's still all he had to go off of. He wasn't proud to admit that's how he thought too when he was younger. He had loved his grandfather and spent almost every weekend at his house, but then he got older and realized, his grandfather was kind of an ass.