| Explosive Love |

The Friend Date

"Bakugou!" Mina's shout brings Bakugou's attention away from the math homework he's working on and up to the pink hand slamming a piece of paper onto the table. He eyes the sheet in front of him before picking it up and examining it. "You have to take Kiri to this. I mean, it's gonna be super cool and you could do it as a friend thing but make it a little romantic and it'll be perfect and amazing."

Taking a closer look at the sheet, Bakugou realizes that it's a flyer for the grand opening of an ice cream shop near UA that night. The light pink paper advertises the cozy lounge areas and countless flavors of ice cream, and Bakugou can't help but to imagine going on an actual date with Kirishima there: the hand-holding, the kisses on each other's cheeks, the sweet taste of ice cream on Kirishima's lips. It'd be more than Bakugou could ever hope for. But a friend date would work, especially since there's no way in hell that someone like him could ever like Bakugou.

Bakugou rolls his eyes and sets the paper down. "I'll think about it."

Evidently excited by the fact that Bakugou hasn't flat-out rejected the idea, Mina begins to hop excitedly around the table. Everyone knows that it's not often that Bakugou will even take other people's ideas into consideration, especially when the suggestion concerns his self-proclaimed nonexistent love life.

Finally calming down from her glee, Mina begins to outline her plans for the date. Of course, it's almost all nothing Bakugou would do, but he doesn't mind listening to her and daydreaming about Kirishima and what could never be.

"You better do this Bakugou!" Mina shouts as she begins backing into the hallway that leads to the dorm room. "Remember, you gotta do something today for my amazingly awesome plan to get Kiri as your boyfriend by the end of the week and you might as well show your cute side and set up a date tonight!"

"What did you say raccoon eyes?! I'll make sure there's nothing left but ash if you say shit like that, got it?!" Bakugou yells as she sprints through the hallway, obviously having already guessed the outcome of her statement. Huffing, he sits back down at the table and looks over the flyer once more before starting again on his homework. "I guess it wouldn't be the worst idea. Might as well."

~•~

After rushing to complete his homework, Bakugou makes his way to Kirishima's dorm room. He takes a deep breath. What's the worst that could happen? Friends hang out all the time. This is no different. Other than the fact that Bakugou has a huge, fat, stupid crush on the redhead he wants to hang out with.

Calming his nerves, Bakugou brings up his hand and quickly knocks twice. Within a matter of moments, the door swings open and a pair of ruby red eyes meet his. Surprisingly, though, Kirishima's hair lacks the usual spiky height it always has. Instead, it hangs in a red halo around his head, perfectly framing his face and accenting his facial features. Bakugou can't help but admit how cute it looks, even if he only admits it to himself.

"Hey Bakugou! What's up?" Kirishima asks, shining one of his dazzling smiles.

Bakugou fights the urge to kiss him then and there. "Nothing. I'm just bored as hell and I was wondering if you wanted to go get ice cream at a new shop opening tonight."

"Hell yeah bro! That sounds like fun!"

"Great. Let's go then." Bakugou turns and begins walking down the hall. He doesn't need to check that Kirishima's following him because within a few seconds, his arm is once again draped around Bakugou's shoulders and the hall is filled with his chatter. Bakugou can't find a single thing he doesn't like about it. Any time spent with Kirishima is life in heaven for him.

~•~

The walk to the shop is short, and soon the boys arrive at the small store. A bell lightly rings as they walk in, and Kirishima immediately runs to the counter displaying all the different flavors like a little kid. A slight smile adorns Bakugou's face as he watches. He's pretty sure that it's illegal for someone to be so incredibly adorable.

Bakugou approaches the counter, and the two try as many flavors as possible, although Kirishima is the one who's doing the majority of it. Eventually, they both decide to get cookies and cream, which, as he states multiple times, is Kirishima's favorite flavor. With a bit of an argument, Bakugou forces Kirishima to let him pay and they head to one of the lounge areas. Kirishima immediately jumps onto the couch, almost causing the stack of ice cream on his cone to drop, and motions for Bakugou to take the seat next to him. With how cute Kirishima looks, Bakugou could never say no to that.

Licking his ice cream, Kirishima immediately begins to strike up a conversation. The two chat for the next hour, staying long after they've finished their ice cream. Bakugou doesn't mind, although he isn't talking a whole lot since he's using up his time taking in every aspect of Kirishima and making sure that he never forgets the magic of this moment.

Soon, though, everything must come to an end, even if Bakugou wishes he could spend the rest of his life sitting in that shop, eating ice cream and talking about anything and everything with his perfectly amazing crush. He'd give anything up for that. But he doesn't mind the walk home, especially since it means seeing how Kirishima's face glows in the low light of the sunset. They walk in silence to the dorms, yet it's not uncomfortable. It feels warm. Kind. Loving. It makes Bakugou feel just like he does whenever he's around Kirishima: happy.

Sadly, they eventually reach the dorms. Bakugou sulks slightly as he makes his way with Kirishima down the hallway to their dorm rooms, dragging his feet with every step as if that would slow time and let him spend forever with the boy standing next to him. They stop in front of Kirishima's door.

"Thanks for taking me to that shop tonight. It was a lot of fun, and I know you don't normally do stuff like that with people so I really appreciate it." Kirishima says as he shyly rubs the back of his neck and sends another one of his glaringly bright smiles at Bakugou.

"Great, I guess. See you tomorrow then Shitty Hair."

"You too, Bakubro." Just as Kirishima begins to turn towards his door, Bakugou leaps forward and wraps his arms tightly around Kirishima's waist in a hug. A blush creeps onto his cheeks as he feels his crush's muscular arms wrap around him. After a moment of standing in their own little world, Bakugou reluctantly pulls away and quickly walks to his room. After slamming the door shut, he slides his back down it, taking a seat on the floor as he presses his face into his hands to hide the widening smile on his face. He wishes he could go on "dates" with Kirishima every day. Even if he'd never say anything like that out loud.