I'll teach you everything I know! You'll be as manly as I am! Manlier even!
[Kirishima you can't Do that]
Dunno if you had anything specific in mind you wanted to do as far as 'hanging' goes, but you're in luck! I just barely scraped through Mic-sensei's last English exam, so I'll be free all day!
[No bad grades gay baby jail for Kirishima today!!]
[It wasn't exactly a secret that Tamaki wasn't the most...social of people out there. Kirishima got a taste of that first hand during his internship work with him and Fat, and he came to understand two things. The first was that Tamaki was an immensely tough person who had earned his title amongst the Big Three no question as far as Kirishima was concerned. The second...was that the poor guy really needed to learn how to relax a bit more. Maybe Kirishima just found being outgoing easy since that's just the type of person he was, but at the very least inviting the upperclassman out for udon after a patrol wasn't out of any malicious intent to force him to do something he didn't want to, or anything.
It's proving to be a bit more of a task than he initially thought to get Tamaki to loosen up, though, because before he knows it he's oozed his way to the table, talking more to the wood surface than he is to Kirishima directly.]
What? Dude, no way! If anything you've probably got the most positive attention out of anybody here! You're the closest in this place to being a Pro, after all!
[...but also maybe telling him that he was probably being watched, Judged, wasn't the right choice either.]
Okay fine...let's get some while we're here anyway.
[Thanks for fuckin' callin him out you're a real pal!!
Kirishima purses his lips though, folding his hands at the back of his head as they walk into the mall proper. It's pretty crowded since it's so cold out, full of people trying to get in from the chill of the outside.]
A game might not be a bad idea though...assuming he's not too sick to actually play it.
[He's quick to fall into step just behind the Pro hero, not wanting to get too eager and go ahead lest they actually run into something serious. He's not expecting anything serious, but...that's usually when something REALLY bad happens, he's learned.]
Kinda petty for a crime if you ask me. What kinda coward does something like that, anyway? Ruinin' somebody else's property, and for what? Just to show that they can do it and get away with it?
[Honestly, it's telling of their friendship that Bakugou even came out here to help him at all, much less this late into the night. Kirishima hadn't intended for it to take this long, but...he's really bad at math. Like, really bad. He hears that growling long before it becomes a problem, but he tries to work through it even though he has the sneaking suspiscion that his most recent try at this problem is still wrong.
The fist coming down on his head comes at little surprise, but as Bakugou expected he takes it in stride. If anything it just wounds his dignity more than his head, startling him into pressing down too hard and snapping the lead in his pencil.
He turns to look over his shoulder at Bakugou, flustered.]
You know how I am with this kinda stuff, dude! Every time I work it out I get a different answer!
[He scrubs a hand through his hair, digging at it in frustration with his fingers for a moment as he stares down at the crushed lead on his paper along with the smears of much erasing and redoing.]
If you wanna go ahead to bed you can, but I'm stayin' up. I just gotta get this stuff down before the test tomorrow or I'm sunk.
The Switch game? Yeah. [Is this too Meta, this might be too Meta] He ain't got a Switch though...but I wouldn't mind lettin' him borrow mine to play if we end up gettin' that game.
[ The bonking comes to a stop eventually, especially when Kirishima’s pencil breaks. Bakugou’s no fool; he can tell Kirishima is struggling, and they’re not going to get anywhere at this rate. Not unless they start over.
He could absolutely just ditch him and go to bed. Bakugou isn’t past dropping anyone he could perceive as a dead weight, but that’s not the case here. Kirishima is anything but a dead weight, he’s just weak in very specific areas. Particularly math, in this case. Which is required to a point in battle, but really when you consider very, VERY advanced mechanics. And honestly? That’s only really relevant to his own Quirk and its potential. Physics and all that.
Plus. Whatever. Maybe he feels bad or something. Empathy. He knows stress when he sees it.
With another grunt and partnering wrinkle of his nose and irritable pout, he grabs his own pencil and swats Kirishima’s hand out of the way. Bakugou starts writing out the values himself. ]
You’re getting a different answer every time because you’re mixing the values up. Here.
[Kirishima shifts enough to let Bakugou have a go at the problem, propping his chin up in one hand as he watches him write, hoping that watching him do it will make it suddenly click for him. Bakugou's Quirk definitely benefitted a lot from certain degrees of math, but Kirishima's...not all that much. There wasn't a whole lot of thinking involved when your Quirk was just Get Hard and Profit. But he wasn't just some lumbering meathead who solved all of his problems using his fists...most of the time. He couldn't really call himself a Hero if he did that.
No, he was plenty smart in other ways, that much he was confident in. He'd have been in real trouble during his internship if he wasn't...it's just the math he truly sucks at.
He flips his broken pencil around between his fingers, brows furrowing as he watches Bakugou write.]
[Kirishima sighs, immediately feeling guilty for snapping at him. Kaminari is just trying to help...and he can't help it if he's a little dumb, he just Is.]
Nah, it's fine...I mean, I wouldn't...mind buying him one at all if I had the money. But maybe that would be too much just for him being sick and all.
[ Bakugou knows strength when he sees it. Kirishima is pretty goddamn capable on his own; sure, dude’ll never beat him, but Bakugou at least recognizes his talent.
Plus... yeah. He respects the guy.
Bakugou continues writing out the problem, but only to actually work out the numbers. When he’s done, he slaps the pencil down and shoves the paper Kirishima’s way. ]
That’s because I don’t piss my pants at the sight of numbers dressed up as words.
Well I'll have the best teacher around, so I'll certainly do my best!
[GanbaRuby. She claps her hands again, bouncing on her toes in excitement for him.]
Oh, congratulations! His exams are rough, especially since he screeches so much if you don't do well!! Do you wanna grab some sweets? There's a little cafe near where I used to live that has a sale on mochi today! [She loves mochi. Let her show you the world of mochi, Kirishima.]
[Kirishima can't help but pout when he says that, snatching the pencil back up.]
As far as I'm concerned, numbers and words were never meant to be together! Just keep 'em all seperate and everyone wins!
[Do people even use word problems in real life? He doesn't think so!!
Having the numbers actually out in front of him outside of the paragraph though...it helps pretty immediately. The tension in his shoulders relaxes somewhat as he starts to work out the problem as normal, all while the thought of future word problems just sort of...looms in the back of his head, reminding him that he still has to learn how to do them on his own.
When he's calculated the problem, the answer he finally reaches is actually correct. He just wishes that the victory didn't feel so bittersweet even though Bakugou only really just pulled out the problem and recontextualized it into something he could understand more easily. He flops back against the back of the couch with a heavy sigh.]
See, I can figure it out when it's all like that, but...ain't like I'm gonna have you there to do that for me during the test, yaknow?
[He says that but it's not like they're actually going to buy the Switch at this point. He. May or May Not have enough for one on his own because he looks like a rich boy with bad taste so until proven otherwise thats my hc but he also doesn't want to drop 30,000 yen on something like that...]
[ Bakugou leans back and watches Kirishima solve the problem, not at all surprised he was able to figure it out. He’s a doofus, but he’s not stupid. His arms cross and his legs lazily spread as he slouches a bit and waits. At this rate, he’s gotten his second wind and probably won’t be able to go to bed for a hot minute. Good thing they’ve got one day off before the test on Monday. ]
Never thought you couldn’t, granite-for-brains.
[ You can’t... tell someone they’re smart and then call them stupid, Katsuki. ]
You need to slow down. Ain’t gonna be any sort of timer until the actual test. If you’re stumped, move on to the next one and come back to it later.
[Kirishima stares at Kaminari for a second like he's grown a second head before he finally starts to walk again, expecting him to just follow.]
Wouldn't it make more sense to get him somethin' like that...yaknow, on Christmas? Nothin' sayin' we can't actually get him the game now...but then we could pitch together and surprise him with his own Switch on Christmas. Right?
[He'd probably enlist the help of Sero and some of the others because that is just So Much Money, but.]
Well, yeah...but then half the test ends up being problems I have to skip. I get kinda worked up at the end knowin' I still have so much left to do that I couldn't figure out anyway...
[He brushes his fingers through his hair again, staring at the paper on the table like it personally offended him somehow.
He sits there for a moment after saying that, turning his head to look over at Bakugou with it still tilted back against the back of the couch.]
Thanks for helping me anyway, though. I really didn't mean to keep you up so late.
[Denki excitedly follows after Kirishima, a wide grin spread on his face as he falls into step beside him.]
He'll probably be annoyed that we got him a game he can't play without your permission, so the look on his face when he opens that on Christmas is gonna be great! I can probably add another game with the Switch too, but he has to buy the rest on his own.
[Kirishima you might be her new favorite. She bounces again and then rushes forward, hooking her arm through his at the elbow to drag him out of the classroom.]
Great!! Off we go. Where did you live with your family before we moved into the dorms, Kirishima-kun?
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