Chapter Text
It’s a Thursday evening when Katsuki’s making his way down to the dorm kitchen for a bite to eat. He’s never usually one for unnecessary snacking but after that doozy of a tutoring session with the (his) idiot squad, he needs a little something to replenish his fucking brain cells.
He attempts to stifle a stray yawn as he makes his way over, stopping short at the threshold at the sight of one Candy Cane bastard already in the kitchen.
He lingers at the entrance, partially hidden by the wall and just barely out of sight. And he watches.
He takes a quick glance over at all the ingredients splayed out over the counter. Holy shit, is Icyhot trying to—is he baking? Without supervision?
Who the hell allowed that?
And aside from that shocker in and of itself, doesn’t Todoroki usually have his stupid weekly Catan and Katsudon night with his nerd friends? It’s been his Thursday night thing for the past five months now, even since Eyebags had brought it up one time and they’d made it a weekly thing. So, it’s odd that he’s apparently sitting one out.
Todoroki’s a creature of habit, much like himself (how unfortunate). Katsuki knows that Saturdays are when he visits his family, Tuesdays at 4 is when he does his laundry, he always drinks green tea in the mornings with a teaspoon of honey and the weird lavender-chamomile shit before bed. And Thursday nights are for the nerds.
Todoroki never changes shit he’s familiar with (though lately…).
So, what the hell is he doing standing alone in the kitchen, hand under his chin, all head empty as he stares at the oven like he’s trying to solve a goddamn puzzle.
Fucking hell.
“The hell are you doing here, aren’t you supposed to be with Deku?” he asks while walking in, giving up on being discreet.
Todoroki startles but turns to him with wide eyes. Katsuki heads straight to his cupboard where he stores his bag of pistachios.
“Oh, hi Bakugou,” he hears as he’s reaching high up into the top shelf to snag a pack from its hidden corner. But Todoroki doesn’t say any more or even bother answering his question.
Bag of pistachios acquired, he settles back down on his heels and spins around, eyebrow raised. “Well?”
Todoroki’s line of vision quickly rises from somewhere near his waist. His stupid hamster cheeks turn pink when he sees Katsuki looking back.
“We decided to move our game night to tomorrow since Izuku’s having dinner with his mother tonight for her birthday.”
Oh, right. He’d better check if the present he ordered her got delivered yet.
“Hm.” Katsuki reaches into the bag and grabs a small handful which he then drops onto a clean part of the kitchen counter. He puts the bag back on the shelf, still feeling Todoroki’s eyes on him.
“I decided to bake some cookies instead,” he tells Katsuki when he’s surveying the mess of ingredients now close up, idly prying open a shell and popping a pistachio into his mouth.
“Oh, yeah? What kind you makin’?”
“Chocolate chip. I got a recipe from Satou.”
“Why aren’t you baking with him?”
“He was busy.” There’s a lingering pause and Katsuki looks up through his lashes to find him looking sheepish. “And I wanted to try and make them myself for once. For yo—for my friends.”
Katsuki eyes him intently. Since when is Todoroki ever this…squirrelly?
“Yeah, alright. D’you even know how to work our oven though?”
That’s when the bastard’s face falls, slightly dejected. Katsuki would feel bad if he didn’t wanna laugh at how ridiculous (and adorable) his pout is.
“There are just so many buttons and I’m not sure which ones I need to push for the temperature and which ones for the timer.”
“Uh, okay. So, you haven’t pre-heated it yet?”
“Pre-heat?”
Great. “I’m gonna help and show you so that you don’t, I dunno, burn the place to the ground or something.”
“I could always use my ice if that happens.”
“I don’t think you realize how that’s not any better.”
And so Katsuki helps him out. Well, more like tells Todoroki what to do and how to do them, because he needs to learn goddammit. And he listens without a question, so that helps too.
And it’s fun, even. Usually watching Todoroki do anything inside the kitchen gives him a certain level of anxiety, especially if chives and knives are involved in any way. But apparently, he’s a lot better at baking. Probably has to do something with fifth floor baking thing he does with Sero and Satou every other Sunday.
Soon enough they have about two dozen balls of chocolate chip cookie dough neatly lined up in two baking trays. Todoroki sticks them into the pre-heated oven and sets the timer just like how Katsuki showed him. The way he hums contentedly after has something warm bubbling up inside his chest, and Katsuki tries hard to ignore it.
He goes back to his pistachios as Todoroki begins to wash up the bowls and whisks and spatulas, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he works.
And Katsuki finds himself watching again though he makes sure to instantly evade his gaze whenever Todoroki glances up. He doesn’t need Icyhot calling him a creep, ‘coz he’s not. The bastard is a walking flag for fuck’s sake, it’s hard not to have your eyes drawn to him. To notice him even when you’re not actively looking out for him. It’s been taking him so much effort to make sure he doesn’t get caught staring, and lately it’s only been more of a challenge.
It’s like the universe wanted to give him a hard time, as if his stupid crush isn’t threatening to consume him already. Though maybe it’s not the universe’s fault. It’s Todoroki’s.
What’s been up with him these past few weeks anyway?
It started with the haircut. It wasn’t even bad, just…different. Katsuki had been so used to his pretty boy idol hair so it kind of came as a shock. He didn’t think he liked it at first but shit, it looked so light and feathery and he just couldn’t resist the urge to touch. So of course he had to give an excuse to fix his bangs even though they were mostly fine, just so he could run his hands through the strands. And he was right too, his hair was light and feathery. And it didn’t hurt that they hung out a little after in his room.
Then the earrings happened. And apparently, so did the belly button piercing which he didn’t know of at the time.
Belly button piercing.
That’s some kind of teenage rebellion shit, right? Some kind of life crisis maybe? Is Todoroki going through something right now that he doesn’t know about?
Katsuki scans his face a bit while his focus is zoned in on scrubbing the doughy gunk off the bottom of the bowl. Todoroki’s humming a little something under his breath as he does so (ugh, it’s cute), and looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world. He finds himself relaxing a little at that.
But. The earrings. He can’t believe Todoroki had bought those ridiculous fang ones, what was he thinking? At least Katsuki has good taste to cover for him. Those black diamonds he bought him are pretty darn sexy, and it actually suits him.
But he might have self-sabotaged himself with that one.
Because not even a couple days later, Icyhot had showed up looking like—like he’d just made out with some idiot trying to eat his face. His lips, oh god his stupid pretty pink mouth had looked so glossy and plump and just kissed.
Kissed.
Katsuki’s blood still boils like it did that day at the mere memory.
He’d been the one to fix Icyhot’s hair and he’d been the one to get rid of those horrendous earrings for the sexy studs he has on now. All just for some other extra to snag the chance to lock lips now that Halfie looks even hotter? Unbelievable.
And the scary part is maybe the person that got to kiss Todoroki like that, enough to leave the evidence behind for a good while after, might not have been an extra at all...
Shitty Hair’s never really shown any interest in Todoroki, not in that way. Not that he knows of at least, and he’s pretty sure he knows practically everything about Eijirou. The idiot tells him everything anyway. And he’s sure that he’d have been the first to hear about how “manly” his first kiss with Todoroki was had it happened.
But the nail paint. Literally everyone knows that Eijirou’s color is red. It’s his whole shtick. He’s Red Riot. And he also knows that for personal reasons, Todoroki’s not one to be flaunting the color red even if it’s half his own color scheme. Halfie’s favorite color is blue, so why the red?
And when Eijirou had complimented him on the nails, Katsuki saw with his own two eyes how Todoroki’s cheeks reddened to match his damn nails. He saw it. And he’d felt a bit hurt, which only pissed him off more.
He knows neither of them have really done anything about it, much less openly acknowledged anything. But he’d been sure they’d had something going on between them. Him and Todoroki. Something…more. But maybe it had been between Halfie and Eijirou all along. He’s usually hanging out around Katsuki anyway so maybe he’d just read the signs wrong.
He’d been more upset about it than he’d liked and sulked in his room like a loser. But he’d quickly shaken it off. He wasn’t the one that caught Todoroki’s eye, his attention, but so what? He doesn’t owe Katsuki anything of the sort and can like whoever he wants. Besides, Eijirou is the nicest fucking person ever and Katsuki will even vouch for him if he has to. Because if there’s anything Todoroki deserves it’s a nice person who’d cherish the hell outta him. And he knows Eijirou would do a good job with that.
But the moment Todoroki had approached him with that ridiculous outfit, his selfish streak had kicked in again. He wants this bastard for himself.
He’s still not sure if Halfie had been trying to make fun of him or something, and for the record it was not funny if he was. But holy shit did he look good.
He never thought that seeing Todoroki in a goddamn crop top was something he’d ever needed to see, but apparently it was (he will never admit it out loud though, don’t try him). And the ripped jeans, showing off flashes of creamy skin just enough to tease and nothing more? It had him wanting to claw the rips to shreds even further. The belly button piercing surprise on top of all this and the way his stupid chisled abs had shown all cut and sharp in the lighting was just the cherry on top.
Todoroki is just a whole ass meal at this point and Katsuki just wants to fucking dig in and holy shit his brain needs to shut up.
“I think they’re coming along quite well, Bakugou.”
Todoroki’s voice shakes him out of his frankly embarrassing spiral of thoughts. Halfie is no longer in front of the sink, the clean utensils and bowls now neatly stacked to dry on the rack beside the sink. Instead, he’s now down on his haunches in front of the oven door, peeking inside at the cookies. Katsuki can just about make out the corner of his lips from where he’s standing, quirked up in a pleased smile.
Why does that make the shitty butterflies in his gut flutter around? He needs to get a grip.
“‘Course they are, it’s Satou’s recipe isn’t it?”
Todoroki hums and then stands back up, turning to face him. He just looks so good.
“Also, you helped. Which means it’ll definitely be good.”
Katsuki wills the blood in his system to stop rushing to his face.
“Yeah, whatever. We got another, what, three minutes left on the clock?”
Todoroki glances at the timer along with him. “Yes, and then they have to cool for three to five minutes after. But I feel like I won’t be able to wait.”
Katsuki snorts. “Impatient bastard. You wanna burn your tongue?” Todoroki blinks and yeah, even he feels a little dumb. “Forget I said anything,” he grumbles before collecting all the pistachio shells into his palm and carrying them over to the trash bin.
When he looks up again Todoroki is untying his stupid cat apron and hanging it on a hook off to the side. He’s discreetly observing (checking out) the way the bastard’s back muscles oh so casually ripple under the thin tee when he notices the tag brushing against the ends of the hair at his nape.
He can’t hold back the huff of laughter even though it’s not necessarily funny, just ridiculous and god, fuckin’ adorable.
“Oi, dumbass,” he calls out. “Your T-shirt’s inside out. You half-assing changing clothes now too?”
Todoroki looks around at him, eyebrows pinched in mild confusion as he looks down at himself. He pinches the shirt between his fingers to stare down at it which makes Katsuki rolls his eyes. It’s a plain ass shirt, it’s gonna looks the same.
“How do you know?” he asks Katsuki, which makes him huff. He really is head-empty isn’t he?
He gestures to the back of his own T-shirt. “The tag’s sticking out the back, moron.”
“Oh.” Todoroki tries to turn his neck like he’s an owl to look at it instead of just taking Katsuki’s word for it. He feels for the tag and when he touches it, his cheeks heat up a little, sheepish. “I didn’t realize.”
“No shit.”
And what Todoroki proceeds to do next should absolutely be considered a crime and he should also be responsible for Katsuki’s medical bills forever until the end of time because, what the fuck.
The bane of his existence grips the back of the T-shirt and starts yanking it over his head right there in the goddamn kitchen like that’s a normal thing to do.
Katsuki sputters. “The hell do you think you’re doing??”
“Fixing my T-shirt,” Todoroki responds, though it comes out sounding more like a question as if Katsuki can’t tell. But it also comes out muffled ‘coz the bastard’s head seems to be stuck, his hands still trying to pull it off. “Ow. I think it’s caught in my earring.”
Why is this happening.
“Can you help?” the idiot asks as if Katsuki is not already shuffling over to do just that despite his own internal crisis.
“Yeah, yeah—shit, hold still.” It doesn’t take long as Katsuki feels through the fabric for where a thread is snagged on the earring, carefully unhooking it, all the while too aware of how close he’s standing near Todoroki and his bare skin.
Once he’s free, Todoroki then continues to pull the T-shirt off, eyes focused on his task of turning it right side out. And all Katsuki can do is…stare at him like a total creep.
He eyes the earring to make sure it’s not hanging loose, though the skin on his lobe looks a bit red. His short hair kinda stands up in the back and a little on the top from being ruffled by the shirt. It takes every ounce of self control to not reach out and pet it down.
Katsuki comes to his senses enough to take a step back before he gets elbowed in the face as Todoroki starts to shrug the T-shirt back on. He gets only a few seconds to take in the belly button piercing before it’s covered up again.
Luckily, before Todoroki can notice Katsuki’s flushed face or the way he’s absolutely just ogling him at this point, the oven timer beeps and Todoroki’s face lights up as he goes to turn it off.
Katsuki watches as he peeks inside again before opening the oven door, waves of heat escaping and giving Katsuki a good cover for why his face is still warm. Todoroki then reaches inside with his bare hand, the left one, and grabs the first pan and then the second, setting them on the marble countertop.
And then, being the impatient asshole that he is, proceeds to hover his right palm over the rows of fresh-baked cookies, channeling his cold side just enough for a cooling effect to speed the whole process up.
Once deemed satisfactory, Todoroki grins up at him, and yeah, Katsuki is a fucking goner.
“Should we dip these in a glass of milk?” he asks, eyes twinkling at his own brilliant plan.
“Yeah, sure,” he manages to choke out. He’s not sure how much longer he can hold all this in anymore. His chest feels like it’s about to burst and it’s all this idiot’s fault.
He moves to the cupboard, grabbing them both a glass each, and then pulls out the milk from the fridge to pour into them. He needs to keep his hands busy, so this is good.
When he makes his way over to the counter with the glasses of milk, Todoroki’s already sitting on one of the stools, two small plates of cookies ready to go. The one in front of him has five cookies and the one next to his—Katsuki’s, evidently— has only three.
“Oi!” He sets the glasses down and glares. “The hell is this?” he gestures to the two plates.
Todoroki just looks at them and back up. So damn infuriating. “The cookies we just baked.”
“Fucking—yeah, but, why d’you think you get to eat more than me, hah?”
“Because you like to be more healthy with your eating habits.”
“And what about you, then? You’re supposed to be giving a shit about that too!”
“I do care about my health. Which is why I’m eating five. It’s supposed to be good for the soul.”
As much as he wants to find a retort for that, something snarky or witty, he can’t. And if there’s one thing he’ll never bother fighting is Todoroki’s right to self-indulge because if there’s anyone that deserves that kinda freedom, it’s this dumbass.
But he’s still gotta set some limits to that shit so he makes his way to his seat, snagging one of the cookies and placing it onto his own plate.
He scoffs at the pout directed at him. “Four and four, bastard, it’s only fair.”
Todoroki doesn’t argue back and he already knows that he’s planning to sneak a couple more later when Katsuki’s not looking.
They dig into the cookies, dipping them into the milk for the full experience. The way Todoroki’s face lights up after every new bite, the way he hums in satisfaction is so childlike and pure, filling Katsuki’s heart with so much affection. He will steal the whole moon outta the goddamn sky if he gets to see Todoroki like this for the rest of his life.
Since when did he get so sappy??
It doesn’t take Todoroki long to inhale all his cookies, finally taking a long sip of his milk. It’s when he turns to Katsuki with a milk mustache does he reluctantly accept that he’s now lost any and all ability to supress his feelings.
He just stares at Todoroki’s mouth, all shiny and sweet. He’s reminded of the lipgloss and he just—can’t.
Todoroki’s eyebrows furrow when he notes Katsuki gaping.
“What?”
Katsuki can’t even speak so he just points at his own mouth.
Todoroki looks confused still, so Katsuki points at his mouth and then back to his own.
Something like realization seems to dawn on Todoroki and then his cheeks start turning a pretty pink, which uh okay but it’s not really that embarrassing and Todoroki never really gets embarrassed anyway so why—
There’s a pair of soft lips pressing against his, slightly sweet from the remnants of melty chocolate chips. Katsuki doesn’t even close his eyes, body frozen as Todoroki takes up his entire field of vision.
And then he’s pulling back, but still close enough that their breaths are mingling. His lips feel sticky.
Todoroki is still just looking at him, his gaze mildly anxious but also content and delighted.
Katsuki has no idea how to react, eyes still wide. He’s not even sure if he’s blinked yet.
“Bakugou?” Todoroki says softly, tone a bit uncertain. But then he seems to spot something on Katsuki’s face and reaches over the counter to grab a napkin. He hands it to him.
“You have some crumbs in the corner,” he says, pointing at his own mouth.
The irony of the gesture is what finally shakes him out of it. He grabs the napkin and aggressively swipes at his mouth, then folds it to a clean side, then grabs Todoroki’s jaw with a hand and wipes off the now smeared line of milk above his mouth.
“You had a milk mustache, you idiot,” Katsuki says, voice weirdly hoarse, his tone of voice wavering between shock and annoyance and absolute joy.
Todoroki’s nose scrunches at having his face handled roughly. “Oh.” And then his two brain cells seem to finally rub together and his eyes go big. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Katsuki deadpans, though he’s going absolutely batshit inside.
“I’m—I’m so sorry,” Todoroki says, looking kinda horrified it’s almost funny. “I didn’t mean—I wasn’t thinking, I just thought you were asking for—oh my gosh.”
Seeing Todoroki lose his cool like this is something he never thought he’d ever get to see, and the asshole part of him kinda finds satisfaction in being the cause of it. It also somehow calms him in a way to finally start thinking coherently again.
“Oi, calm down. It’s fine.” It’s more than fine actually and he wants it to happen again. Wants to get Halfie’s lips looking like it that day, all plump and pink.
Which brings up a…concern.
“But don’t think I won’t kick your ass if you ever pull something like this again and break Eijirou’s fuckin’ heart, ya hear me?” It hurts him to say but it’s true. He fuckin’ wants Todoroki, alright?! But he ain’t about to get between something that’s already happening.
Todoroki just stares at him like he’s spoken a different language, embarrassment already dissipating and bewilderment taking its place on his usually placid face.
“What about Kirishima? His heart? I don’t understand.”
Seriously? “Don’t play stupid with me, asshole. Especially when it’s about my—my best friend. I know you’ve been after his ass what with all the—the—“ Katsuki doesn’t really have words to describe all the changes so he just gestures at Halfie’s entire being.
But Todoroki’s eyebrows remain pinched and it’s starting to get on his nerves.
“I’m not sure exactly what you mean but I’m not after Kirishima. I do like him, he’s my friend, but I’m not looking for anything more though.”
The relief Katsuki feels at those words should not be allowed. But—
“Then what the hell is up with the make-over if you weren’t try’na, I dunno, look good for him or whatever?”
“Oh,” Todoroki’s eyes widen again, his microexpression changing to something Katsuki can’t place. “So you did notice. You were paying attention?”
“The fuck? Of course I did, who didn’t notice? Always been the same shit with your hair and your clothes since first year and suddenly you’re out here getting a belly button piercing??”
“Do you like it?”
“What?”
“The piercing. And my ears too. And the hair and the clothes. The lip gloss too, did you like them?”
Katsuki swallows thickly at being bombarded with these questions and forced to externally face his fucking feelings about all this.
“Lip gloss?” He asks instead, trying to buy more time but also…Huh?
“Yes, the one I had on last week. It was supposed to have a special effect to make my lips look better.”
So he hadn’t just made out with some extra, it was just fucking lip gloss??
“The hell you need that shit for?”
“To look nice.”
“Nice? For what?”
“F-For you.”
All the gears in Katsuki’s brain grind to a halt. Then start whirring at high speed.
“Hah?”
“I—I tried all these new things to try and look nice for you, not Kirishima. Though, I am grateful for his compliments and everyone else’s too. But…”
Todoroki hesitates and instead starts chewing on his bottom lip, which is so fucking tempting right now especially after hearing all this now, all the pieces finally clicking in his stupid head.
“But?”
“I never got one from you. Not a real one, anyway, so I was worried you did not like any of it.”
“Are you kidding me, half n half?” Katsuki blurts out, his mouth already saying shit before his brain can even give it any instructions. “I’ve been losing my damn mind ‘coz you look so fuckin’ hot. I gotta look away.”
Yeah, he can’t believe those words just left his mouth. He’s ready to just spontaneously combust and leave this entire plane of existence, but the way Todoroki’s face lights up as if Katsuki just dumped a whole pile of kittens on his lap has him standing his ground. It’s all the goddamn truth anyway, so what?
“You like how I look now, then?”
Katsuki clicks his tongue. “How you look now, how you looked before, same difference, dumbass. So, yeah I like how you look. For fuck’s sake, I like you.”
He knows his face is a whole ass tomato right now but he doesn’t care anymore. It’s out there now and that’s all that matters to him. Todoroki fucking matters to him.
The soft grin on Todoroki’s face is absolutely fucking priceless. He could change his hair and his clothes and get whatever piercing he wants to try and look good. But this? This smile will always be the best thing he could ever adorn.
Todoroki’s leaning forward again and Katsuki instantly cups his jaw, pulling him back in for a real kiss this time. The I like you too is murmured against his lips, which, yeah fuckin’ duh at this point. But the words still make him feel all stupid and giddy.
And honestly, he’s okay with feeling this way. He’s fine with this bastard taking over his brain, his heart, and whatever else from now on.
Because two days later when they’re on their first date, the way Todoroki looks at him over their shared neapolitan milkshake, just-kissed lips (all him this time, baby) sipping away contently while his lovey-dovey eyes bore into Katsuki’s just a mere two inches away, Katsuki knows for sure now that there’s no going back. He’s been pulled under and he’s okay with it. He’s got it bad for this fool, and he can’t pay attention to anyone else ever again, doesn’t want to, and so yeah, maybe he’s an absolute fool for him too.