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Tetsutetsu wasn't the kind of boy that you normally dated. You normally went for boys that were a little more on the nerdy side. D'n'D, not hunting licenses. Legend of Zelda, not Call of Duty. Band t shirts, not camo.
But.. he had been nice to you in the student cafe that day he met you. He had been hurrying and knocked into you, shoving your freshly poured coffee out of your hands. It had spattered on the floor, and that would be the day that you were brave enough to wear a short skirt and no leggings.
He felt terrible when he saw the mild burns on your legs. He insisted on carrying you to the bathrooms so you could clean yourself up. And maybe it said something about a boy who hunted and had burn cream in his truck, so that you could sit on the bed of his truck, the tailgate down to make a seat for you. He helped smear it on, saying again and again how bad he felt about it.
And you'd run into him a time or two after that. He always chatted with you, once he helped you carry your books to the bus, since you had to take the city bus to your apartment. It was after a week or two that he approached you, rubbing the back of his head, silvery looking eyes not meeting yours.
“Uh, my roommate and I are having a few people over.”
“Sounds like fun.” you smiled.
“It is, it is. Um, you know, bonfire and all that. So like, I was wondering if you wanted to come?”
“Do I want to come to your bonfire?” you repeated. You paused and then nodded, bnefore you could really think. After all, if it was a group get together, that was probably pretty safe.
“Yeah, sure. Um, text me the address?” you paused for a moment. “Can I bring a friend?”
“Sure, the more the merrier.” he beamed at you. You felt your phone buzz. Okay, so you had a place, a date, a time, and his phone number. Which you'd had before that, he insisted on giving it to you in case you couldn't get home with those pink patches from your coffe spilled.
He had bought you a new coffee that day, large in size. So he had that going for him.
He might have been different, you thought. But so far, your normal type hadn't really done a lot for you. And you weren't even asked on a date, you rationalized. It was a party, he wanted people there. He was just kinda shy, that was why it was hard for him
to ask you.
Tetsutetsu had even said it was okay to bring a friend without asking what gender that friend was. Either he just assumed you didn't have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, or he didn't care. Either way, you were in the clear. And the friend you were bringing was your dog. You hated leaving him home alone on weekends.
Friday night, you got out of the shower, flipping your hair upside down so you could scrunch it with the blow dryer. You thought about your options. All Might, the dog you'd named after the comic book character, laid on the floor, looking up at you with his expressive brown eyes.
“Look, I think we can both agree we've been alone for a long time.” the dog didn't respond. “Alone together, I mean. And I think it's time that we branched out and met other people. Not everyone has to be a jerk, right? Maybe by expanding my horizons, I'm opening up my chances to meet someone who treat us well. Right?”
All Might didn't respond, but closed his eyes. Sometimes you wondered if he was tired of listening to you talk. He had been grown when you adopted him. He was a little thin for his breed, they'd told you at the shelter. What breed was that?
Well... A little of everything, really.
He had a goofy looking Great Dane face, complete with the ears. He had a lab looking body. His tail curled up, sort of like you might expect a husky. He had curly hair like a poodle. Nothing on him really made sense, and you were afraid that if you didn't adopt him, no one would. Besides, he was so sweet. All he wanted was to be close to you. You took plenty of classes online, and you freelanced for money to help pad your student allowance.
So he was a little thin, and they warned you that he was kind of a lazy dog, and didn't care much for bounding around. That suited you just fine, really. You liked to lounge on the couch, All Might stretched over your legs.
“You need to get out more, anyway.” you told him, your mouth hanging mostly open as you applied your eyeliner in the mirror.
“You're a dog, you're supposed to be social.” he gave you an unamused look. “There might be table scraps!” you tempted. “I'll look the other way. Come on.” you pulled on your outfit, fleece lined leggings that didn't look bulky, a short skirt, a flannel pulled over
your favorite band t shirt. You carefully placed a slouchy beret over your hair, making it look effortlessly casual.
All Might got up once he saw you grabbing your keys and purse. He yawned and stretched and followed you down to the car. He hopped into his normal spot in the front seat, giving you a bombastic side eye. You felt like your earlier conversation with him wasn't done.
“Listen, I know. I know what you're thinking. Maybe it'll be horrible. And you could be right! It might be! But it might be a lot of fun, too.” you tempted. “Either way, it's your job to come along with me to these things. If I give you a secret sign, act sick so I have a reason to leave.” All Might sighed. You felt a little put out. He was awfully snarky for someone who paid no bills and couldn't use toilet paper.
You listened to your GPS, driving down back roads. The houses were spread out here. You thought, eerily, that no one would hear you scream. In some contexts, that would be perfect. For a first date that's maybe not a date context, it was slightly upsetting.
You pulled into the address. It was a trailer that looked like it had been plopped into a clearing with no planning or forethought. But, there were lots of cars and you could see bodies milling around, and lawn furniture all around. Most of it was in a circle around the fire, some of it was broke into smaller groups here and there.
“Be a good boy.” you warned. All Might blinked. “I know, you're always my good boy, aren't you?” you kissed the top of his head and rubbed his silly ears, then stepped out of the car and let him out.
As usual, the first reaction was expected.
“Aww, a doggy!” a girl with coily pink hair said. “Aww, he's so cute!”
“Thanks,” you smiled. It always took them a moment. A girl wearing a skirtall with a frog hood paused.
“Is there something—wrong with him?” she asked as politely as she could.
“Nah, he's just unfortuntely bred.” you rubbed his ears. “But he's sweet, and you can pet him! Go visit,” you directed. All Might strolled towards the girls, plopping down and thoroughly enjoying when they began to scratch him and play with his ears. His
awkward tail wagged. Several boys came over, too.
He was the perfect ice breaker. You saw Tetsutetsu walking towards you and grinned, giving a wave. He came over and chatted with you for a moment, patting All Might on the head. But then someone else called for him, and he was pulled into another conversation. Ah well, you thought. It was like that when you were hosting a party.
It was chilly outside. You didn't want to huddle close to a fire, worried that the smoke would irritate your asthma. You wandered into the trailer. It was surprisingly quiet and mostly empty. Oh well, you'd grab a drink and then head back out.
“Hey,” a voice startled you. You looked into the kitchen and saw someone with red hair. He was giving you a winning smile. You thought that Tetsutetsu had a nice smile, but this boy blew him out of the water. And he looked so kind. You gave a shy smile in return.
“Not having fun at the party?”
“Oh, I have asthma, and it's smoky.” you brushed it off.
“Can I pet your dog?”
“Yeah, sure. All Might, visit.” you directed. He trotted instantly to the boy. He dropped to his bottom. When he said he wanted to pet him, you thought there would be a few head pats. But no, the boy was rubbing him, giving him scratches, playing with his ears. All Might's tail was going a mile a minute.
Obviously he liked it much better in here. He made it clear when he located the vent in the floor and flopped down on top of it, draping himself to get the maximum amount of heat. Embarrassed, you clicked your tongue at him.
“We're in someone else's house! You can't act out the same way you do at home.”
“Aww, sure he can. If this is the only way he acts out, then he's perfect.” the boy grinned at you again, leaving you feel breathless. His hair was vibrantly red. You took in the bandana he used to keep it all pushed up.
“Hey, you hungry?”
“Sure,” you murmured. The boy nodded and moved to the fridge, taking out a package.
“My dad taught me to make sausage.” he said conversationally. “I made this myself.”
“You mean you stuffed the casings yourself and everything?” you never heard of someone your age being interested in something like that. He nodded, moving around, gathering a pan and a pot. He opened a jar of peanut butter and grabbed a few crackers.
“Take a seat. I'm Kirishima, by the way. I'm Tetsutetsu's roommate.” oh no, you thought. This wasn't going at all the way you thought it was. You nodded and softly gave your name. He smeared some of the peanut butter on a cracker and tossed it to All Might, who was so good at catching food from the air, he barely had to lift his head.
There weren't many places to sit in the little kitchen. There was a small open space of counter top, out of the way. Kirishima hoisted you up and sat you down, easily as anyone had ever done anything. You felt your heart fall into your stomach.
He kept moving around, and you noticed that there was a rifle casually resting against the wall of the kitchen. You looked at it, confused.
“Oh, yeah. Bad gun ownership to have it out. I know.” he sighed. “It's usually just me and Tetsu home, though. I kinda forgot he was having a party.”
“You don't want to go out there and see everyone?”
“Not really, I'm happy in here. I got someone to chat to and a dog.” he tossed another peanut butter cracker. “It doesn't have xylitol in it or anything, don't worry.” he said quickly.
A man who cared.
This was going in a direction you had not anticipated at all.
He was grabbing a can. You waited for a can opener to appear, but none did. Intrigued, you watched as he used what looked like a chisel, and what was certainly a hammer. With firm, sure motions, he opened the can of spaghetti sauce that way. There was something in the way his arms were moving under his tight black shirt.
You got the feeling he wasn't wearing it tight on purpose. You got the feeling he didn't even know that his shirt could have been labeled obscene in certain lights. It keeps riding up on his abs. It also doesn't help that he's wearing sweatpants.
Gray sweatpants. Because of course he is, because God has to get His kicks somewhere, and it seems to be from tormenting you. He's got his phone playing Spotify at a low rate, seems to be some randomized playlist.
“Oh, man, I love this song.” he grins at you as it begins to play. He swayed his hips in time, lip syncing as he poured the sauce in a pan, put the spaghetti in the pot of water already boiling on the stove.
Not only did the shirt ride up, but the sweats rode down. You could see the waist band of his boxer briefs. They were red. Your cheeks were red. You couldn't even blame it on the heat of the room, since your dumb dog was taking up all the heat, and it was really kind of chilly in the room if you were being honest. You were actually wondering if you could get pregnant just by arousal. If so, you were screwed.
You were smiling then at Kirishima, gripping the counter tightly. He kept tossing All Might peanut butter crackers. The dog caught your eye and seemed to make it want to clear to you that he approved of this match.
Dumb dog, you thought. With his stupid ears.
“Here we go!” Kirishima said after he drained the noodles. He dished up a plate, putting on plenty of the sauce. You didn't move off the counter. He handed you the plate and a fork. You took a bite, careful to make sure you had some sausage in it.
“Oh wow!” you gasped. It was delicious, and you wouldn't let yourself scarf. You ate every bit on your plate though. You'd sort of forgotten you were supposed to be at a party. You'd been eating your pasta, enjoying every bite, and looking at Kirishima. He
leaned against the skin, his legs casually crossed. That damn t shirt was riding up, and his sweats were riding down, and you promised you weren't going to look too hard a those pants.
You didn't need to know.
“This is so good.” you praised. Kirishima gave you another toothy grin, and you wondered if you were going to faint. You always made fun of people who fainted at concerns, and now you weren't even at a concert, and you were pretty sure you were going to faint right in this kitchen.
“I'll get you some to take home.” he was reaching for a container. You had expected two college bachelors to have a butter bowl with a mismatched lid, or maybe a sytrofoam bowl that he'd cover with used tin foil.
But no. This was real and actual Rubbermaid, with the matching lid. He put a heaping portion in the bowl, covered fit with the lid and looked satisfied. You spread your knees as he approached you, still sitting on the counter.
He held it out to you, standing between your knees. He was so close to you! You could smell the faintest cologne. You knew people who hunted didn't often wear strong smells. So this was sublte, but you loved it. Sage, that was one smell. You couldn't quite name the other.
“Thank you.” you murmured taking the bowl. He stood there, looking at you. “I really should be going.”
“Sure.” he made one more cracker for All Might, you stood up and stretched carefully after he noticed you were grabbing your purse and your keys. He was wagging his tail even as you told Kirishima good bye and went to the car. He hopped into the front seat and looked at you pointedly as you started the car.
“I didn't even tell Tetsutetsu good bye.” you realized with a cringe. “I'll have to text him.” you swore if a dog could roll his eyes, All Might would have, and went to look out the window. You knew he didn't believe for one second that you were still interested in Tetsutetsu.
Honestly? You weren't. You only had eyes for the red haired boy and his stupid sausage making skills and his lack of a can opener and the fact that he was giving your dog peanut butter and the way that he smiled so beautifully.
Or maybe you were still interested in Tetstetsu. You hadn't gotten the opportunity to hang out with him as much as you had hoped tonight. Was that your fault? Or was it because you had heard Kirishima singing under his breath to that stupid song, and you saw the waist band of his underwear? You felt so muddled up inside, unable to say or even feel anything clearly.
You put the Rubbermaid in the fridge. No way were you going to pass up the chance to eat all that tomorrow. You were trying to figure things out. How could you return the container, anyway? Should you give it to Tetsutetsu at school? Be like, hey your roommate was nice, tell him I love his sausage.
Or maybe, I saw your roommate's gun. How does yours compare?
Or even, your roommate looks really good in gray sweats. I'm going to need to see how you look before I'm able to make a decision about anything. You lightly banged your head against your fridge. How in the world were you going to get out of this mess?
Your phone chimed, and you fished it out of your pocket. Tetsutetsu, because of course it was.
Tetsutetsu: Kirishima asked about you tonight. You should come over tomorrow and bring the container. He's going to make stew. I just know he'd love to see you. We'll make sure there's a space for All Might, too.
A slow smile spread across your face.
You couldn't wait for Saturday night.