The Definition of Red [A KiriBaku Fanfiction]

Chapter Thirteen- Winter Weather

     "Bakugou, wake up," Kirishima said as he poked the sleeping blonde in the back, breaking through the pleasant dream Bakugou was having. God, he really picked the worst times to bother people. Bakugou groaned and rolled over, his face disappearing into his pillow. He felt a tug on the back of his shirt, "C'mon Bakugou, we have to go or we're gonna be late."

     Ah. That's right. He'd stayed at Kirishima's house throughout the whole weekend, and with much complaining to his mother, Bakugou had managed to stay an extra day. Nevertheless, he still had to go to school.

     With an expression of pure annoyance, Bakugou hauled himself to his feet, with a little help from Kirishima, and dragged himself into the bathroom, Kirishima tailing closely behind him. He went through his morning routine with half closed eyes; brush teeth, wash face, fix hair, get dressed, he did it all through his tired stupor. Next to him though, Kirishima did the exact same thing but with a much, much more energetic vigor. If Bakugou didn't know any better he'd think that Kirishima wasn't human.

     All in all, it took them thirty minutes to get out the door. Bakugou would say it was surprising that they managed to get up and ready so fast but with Kirishima's rushing, it was hard to take it slow. Still, though, Bakugou couldn't help but like the hustle the Kirishima brought about. It made mornings feel more natural and pleasing, especially when Kirishima was walking beside him, a red scarf bundling up around his face in such a way that made him look even more innocent than he already was.

     Bakugou wasn't a fan of winter. It was too cold and to say in the least, he hated extra layers of clothing. So, walking along the sidewalk in on top many jackets, with his breath billowing around him, Bakugou couldn't help but frown.

      "Are you cold," Kirishima asked from beside him, tugging gently on Bakugou's sleeve to get his attention beforehand.

     Bakugou shrugged, "A little." In all honesty, he was freezing his ass off. Not even the thick scarf paired with the two hoodies he had on could withstand the cold temperatures of winter. He was half debating calling his Dad and having him drive them to school. Too bad his pride would be the death of him one day. Walk to school or get help from Dad? The answer was obvious for him.

     Kirishima looked around at their surroundings before grinning, "I have an idea to keep us both warm."

     "Oh really, what brilliant idea have you come up with this time that clothing can't solve, " Bakugou said grouchily, one hundred percent sure that whatever Kirishima was about to say would make him lose all faith in the teen.

     "Well," he began excitedly, "I read somewhere that penguins huddle together to preserve body heat so I thought we should give that a try!"

     Bakugou rolled his eyes, "Yeah, let's just stop here and huddle cause that will-" Kirishima stopped Bakugou before he could even finish belittling his idea. The red-head reached out and grabbed Bakugou hand, their gloves fingers curled around each other. Without wasting even a second of time, Kirishima fell perfectly into step with Bakugou, their shoulders pressing against each other tightly.

      Kirishima grinned, not seeming dazed at all by their closeness, "You see, since we're not penguins I thought we should try it a different way. Are you warmer now?" Bakugou swore to every God that had ever existed in the mind of every person alive and dead that he was going to have a heart attack. Either that or he was just going to drop dead right where he stood. He was sure his face was so red that it would have blended right in with Kirishima's hair. What have this idiot the right to go and act like he was right now. It was too early for Bakugou to being feeling this way.

      "Yeah, I'm fine," Bakugou sputtered out, his eyes averting to the frosted sidewalk beneath his feet. Maybe winter wasn't so bad.

----

     Bakugou stared out the classroom window, his fingertips dancing over the area where Kirishima had held his hand. To be honest, he was still in shock after the intimacy of the moment and just hadn't been able to get over it. He'd been so flustered that he hadn't even paid any attention to the lesson that Mr.Ishiyama was going over. It wasn't like him to be distracted by something so simple but God dammit how could he not be preoccupied with thinking about the events of this morning when Kirishima's hand was just so warm and he was so close that Bakugou could practically smell the small amount of cologne that he'd watched Kirishima put on that morning.

     He sighed and smacked his hand against his forehead gently. He really was a weirdo, wasn't he. You weren't supposed to think of friends like that, though, Bakugou was willing to say they were a little more than just friends after Kirishima had helped him through his honestly quite embarrassing mental breakdown. They'd made promises to each other that no sane person would make. If only he'd just-

     A hand was suddenly square in the middle of Bakugou's back and despite his best efforts, Bakugou still jumped in shock. Mr.Ishiyama was standing next to his desk with a comforting smile, his greying hair pulled back into a loose ponytail.

     "Class is dismissed, young one, but if you'd stay for one moment, I'd like to talk with you," he said, tapping lightly on Bakugou's desk as he took a seat in the chair next to his. "You've been distracted as of late, and while I'm not worried about your grades, I am quite curious. Did something happen recently?" Bakugou was a little taken aback by the question. Most teachers wanted little to do with their students and the ones that did were mostly interested in the student because they coddled to their teacherly desires (and not in that way), but Mr.Ishiyama seemed genuinely interested. Something about the way he spoke made Bakugou want to open his guts.

     "Well," Bakugou said, looking away before looking back, "I guess I met someone I like." It was embarrassing to say aloud, and to a teacher at that. Who talked to teachers about this sort of thing? Damn this old man for talking like a therapist.

     His response seemed to make Ishi smile with delight, "Oh! That's amazing! I remember when I was younger and had schoolyard crushes." He glanced upward, his eyes thinking as if he was remembering someone from a long time ago. "She was a pretty one, that Ilene. Anyways, who is the lucky patron that managed to distract you from my lectures."

     Bakugou grimaced, he really hoped that he hadn't noticed that Bakugou hadn't been paying any attention to be at all for quite a while now. "Sorry," Bakugou said in a surprisingly earnest tone.

     "Don't worry about it, kid," Ishi said, resting his hand on top of Bakugou's head, "Even I know my lectures are boring."

     Bakugou was silent for the most part. He didn't know how to answer the teachers question but it wasn't like he could just non-awkwardly avoid it. He obviously couldn't just outright tell this teacher who his heart had done somersaults for. That would be wayyy to awkward and open for Bakugou and he had never even had an actual conversation with this man until now, he was more adept to talk to his own father about this situation than he was a a teacher. Thankfully though, Mr.Ishiyama seemed to realized that rather quickly.

     "Ah, excuse my harshness, I didn't mean to pry. You see, this old man has a soft spot for romantic stories. " Bakugou raised an eyebrow as he looked over the subtly muscular but otherwise normal teacher. He did seem like the my-looks-may-deceive-you-but-im-really-a-softy type of guy. Bakugou made a mental note not to be surprised by any other strange interests this man had.

     The two where silent once more before Ishi looked at Bakugou and tipped his head to the side.

     "What," Bakugou questioned, his usual gruffness coming back into his voice.

     "Bakugou, tell me, have you ever thought about getting hearing aids?" Bakugou froze. Need thought about it plenty of times. He'd actually asked for some at one point but had been immediately shot down by his parents due to the fact that they were an unholy amount of money.

     "Not really," Bakugou said, standing from his chair and grabbing his bag. "Cya old man." Bakugou rushed out that door and into the hallway were he was greeted by the excited figure of Kirishima as he came bouncing down the hallway. He gave a weak greeting, his mind still preoccupied with his previous conversation.

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    I went absolute sicko mode and wrote this in 30 minutes so please excuse my typos and writing mistakes. I'm on the verge of death due to a cold. Forgive me.