A Mile In Your Shoes - Chapter 3

For the first time in months, Midoriya slept through the night. He was so used to waking every hour, body tense and mind running wild, that when he woke to see the sun shining through the curtains he was dazed.

Six o'clock on the dot, half an hour before Bakugou's alarm would go off.

He curled in with his blankets, breathing a long sigh as he bundled himself up, surrounded by the slightly sweet scent that was so strangely comforting. It had to be Bakugou's laundry detergent or deodorant or something, it was in everything, and he made a mental note to find out and buy some for himself.

The only problem that remained was a dull ache around his temples – not necessarily for the pain itself, but because he knew Bakugou would murder him if he dared to put painkillers in his mouth. His body was a temple, and all that nonsense. He reached for his phone, answering a few quick messages, then pulled up Bakugou's name.

“I have a headache, is that normal?”

He set the phone back down and snuggled in again, determined to make the most of his last little bit of snooze time in the warmth and comfort, before he had to drag himself out of bed for another day of bad acting.

The moment was ruined when his phone rang, and he pulled a face as he held it to his ear.

“Morning, Kacchan.”

“Where does it hurt?”

“Mm... Like, the sides of my head. It kind of feels like something is squeezing my head.”

“Yeah, okay. Happens sometimes when I overuse my quirk, I guess maybe you aren't used to the nitro. You ever drink coffee? Caffeine helps.”

“No, but I'll try it,” he agreed. “I have your tastebuds, it should be fine.”

“Alright, get your ass out of bed and get coffee, then. You'll be late if you don't get up now.”

“I'm already up.”

“Don't bullshit me, nerd. Also why the fuck do you have my shirt?”

“H-Huh?”

“My shirt,” he repeated. “I found it under your shitty pillow.”

Midoriya burned bright red, stumbling for a moment as he tried and failed to come up with an excuse.

“I don't know?” he answered pathetically. “Um, maybe it got stuck in my laundry? You can just give it to me and I'll put it away!”

“Whatever, nerd. Eat a decent breakfast, and don't forget to wash my face.”

He hung up without a goodbye, and Midoriya sighed, dragging himself reluctantly out of the blankets and hunting down Bakugou's uniform. The tie remained knotted from the day prior – Midoriya had been extra careful to ensure it – but he let his pants hang low again so that Bakugou wouldn't complain too much. He would grab breakfast at the convenience store when he went to grab coffee, all he had to do was clean himself up and take another incredibly awkward piss. He still hadn't gotten used to handling Bakugou's dick, showering the night prior had been awful.

Well, awful was a strong word. It had been awfully awkward and he had blushed the entire time, especially when he caught himself trailing his hands extra slow over strong abs and pecs, fingertips exploring every inch of his biceps as he lathered up. He'd been a lot more surgical about the lower regions, but his upper body was fair game, right? There was nothing weird about it!

He didn't see Bakugou on his way out, which was probably a good thing, although he would have liked to show off his freshly-washed face – his skin felt a little dry though, and he wasn't sure if that was normal or not. Did he just have a perpetually oily face in his own body that he'd never cleaned properly? Or had he done something wrong?

On his way to the convenience store he happened across a coffee shop chain, pausing to look in the window. It was probably better than the cheap cardboard cups down the street, right?

It took longer than he expected to get through the line, but soon he was walking into the classroom, a few stray crumbs on his shirt from his hurriedly scoffed breakfast, and a big plastic cup held safely in his hand.

“What are you drinking?” Kaminari asked immediately, stifling his giggles.

He could feel Bakugou's eyes burning a hole into his soul from across the room, but he ignored it in favour of taking a sip from his cream-covered rainbow-sprinkle-dotted vanilla-flavoured coffee.

“It's a rainbow vanilla iced latte!” he answered, taking another long sip through the straw. “Why?”

“No reason!” Kaminari assured him. “Just didn't know you were into girly drinks.”

“Haah?” he demanded, forcing a scowl onto his face. “You wanna say that again, Sparky?”

“It's fine, I'm just surprised! Didn't know you swung that way!”

Midoriya froze, his scowl becoming a little more genuine, a little easier to produce.

“You think a rainbow drink defines my love life?” he asked, taking a step closer to the desk. “You think it matters if I like dudes? Why the fuck am I friends with such a judgmental piece of shit, huh?”

The room fell silent, all eyes on the pair of them, Bakugou's and Kirishima's a little wider than the others'.

“They fuckin' taste good,” he continued. “You think my tastebuds make me gay?”

“N-No, Bakugou, it was just a j-joke.”

“Jokes are meant to be funny not fuckin' prejudiced.”

“S-Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it!”

Despite the commotion – or maybe because of it – as Midoriya dropped into Bakugou's seat he didn't feel embarrassed, didn't blush or hide from prying eyes. If anything it felt kind of freeing. He'd never dare speak to anyone in that way when he was himself, but as Bakugou he could say whatever he wanted and it wouldn't seem out of place!

“What the hell, nerd?” Bakugou whispered from behind him. “What was all that about?”

“I stand by my words,” Midoriya said firmly. “You got a problem?”

“Jesus Christ, are you turning into me?”

Midoriya turned around, eyes narrowed as he met Bakugou's confused gaze.

“Do you have a problem with the way I'm acting?”

“No,” Bakugou snorted. “I'm fuckin' proud of you right now and it's weird.”

He cracked a smile finally, the two of them exchanging little smirks, and as the bell rang Midoriya quickly drained the last of his coffee.

“But I swear to God if you put whipped cream in my body again I'm gonna kill you in your sleep.”

“Noted!”

─────

The two of them were the last ones left in the changing rooms, when it was time for Heroics class, and Bakugou was spitting curses under his breath as he tried to squeeze his way into the green jumpsuit. He knew it was supposed to fit, but somehow he just couldn't seem to contort himself the right way to get everything in place.

“Kacchan, help me?”

He looked up to see Midoriya stuck halfway into a tight black singlet, and snorted as he abandoned his own issues, crossing the room to yank it down. Midoriya was pouting, a weird look to see on Bakugou's lips, and Bakugou didn't bother to say a word as he yanked the pants up to match, belting them in place, and bending down to lace up the heavy boots.

“Do you need help too, Kacchan?”

Bakugou paused, biting back the stubborn insistences that he never needed help with anything. He nodded instead of trusting himself with words, and Midoriya smiled as they both stood up.

“Here, let me.”

Under Midoriya's touch, the jumpsuit slid on smoothly, and Bakugou couldn't for the life of himself work out what he was doing differently. He zipped it up, even though Bakugou really could have done that part himself, and set to work fastening pieces of brace and armor plating in place.

“Thanks,” Bakugou grumbled, as Midoriya fastened the red belt and stepped back with a smile. “You really need to stop making that face though.”

“So do you,” Midoriya laughed. “We both look wrong.”

“I'm trying.”

“I know, me too.”

They walked out side by side, and Bakugou caught a few teasing smirks from his friends, grateful that the hint of colour in his cheeks didn't look out of place on Midoriya's face.

“Remember to think about that mix,” Bakugou said quietly. “Let them mix and ignite.”

“Uh-huh! And you remember SMASH!”

Bakugou snorted, a smile tugging at his lips, and he nudged Midoriya lightly with his fist.

“Good luck, Kacchan,” Bakugou teased. “Have fun.”

“You too!”

─────

Bakugou was standing over the stove when he heard the voices, cursing himself for not cooking a little faster and being out of the way by the time they returned. Most of them remained in the living area, but luck had not been on Bakugou's side recently.

“Smells good, Deku!” Uraraka praised, leaning into his side to take a whiff. “Mmm!”

“Ah, thanks,” he mumbled, turning off the burner and moving his pot to the bench. “Um, did you have fun at dinner?”

“Yeah! You should have joined us! Is your head still hurting?”

“Yeah, a bit.”

“Aww, you poor thing!” She touched his forehead lightly, and Bakugou found himself blushing – he wasn't used to people being so close, how did Midoriya deal with it?? “Is there anything I can do? Do you need anything?”

“N-No, just gonna get an early night.”

“Okay, well, you know where to find me! Oh, wait, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Has Bakugou seemed weird to you lately?”

He tensed up, eyebrows dropping a little as he glanced over at her.

“Weird how?”

“Like, this morning he was super nice! Said good morning, asked how I slept and stuff, he never does that! But then, like, I tried to have a conversation with him this afternoon and he barely said a word to me, practically ran away! Usually he's just kind of in the middle, you know? But lately it's been up and down a lot!”

“He's probably just busy, you're reading into it too much. K-Kacchan is a busy dude, after all.”

“Why do you always have to defend him?” Uraraka sighed. “Anytime Bakugou is involved you're so quick to jump to his defense! I was just curious is all!”

“I'm not being defensive,” Bakugou argued, cringing at the irony. “I just think, um, that's how Kacchan is, right? You get used to it.”

“Whatever you say, sweetie,” she smiled wryly. “You don't have to make excuses, I get it.”

“Get what?”

“You know,” she winked, nudging him lightly. “Enjoy your dinner, I hope you feel better in the morning!”

As Bakugou poured his food into a bowl, Uraraka practically skipped out of the room, leaving him confused in her wake.

What the hell had been going on where Midoriya had been jumping to his defense?

While he pondered the information – or lack thereof – the real Midoriya sat in a corner of the living area with his homework books, determined to get every question right lest Bakugou yell at him about it later. He had wanted to just switch papers later, but it seemed their handwriting was attached to their bodies rather than their minds, so that plan had gone out the window in a hurry.

“Hey Blasty,” Kaminari dropped beside him with a thud, making Midoriya jump. “Can you help me with mine, too? Pleeeeaaaase?”

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed, immediately wondering if he should have played hard to get, since Kaminari blinked at him in surprise. “But you owe me a favour.”

“Oh. Sure! Wait. Is it gonna be a weird favour? Like, you're not gonna make me do something gross or awkward, right?”

“Dunno. You want my help or not?”

Kaminari paused, but finally nodded, opening his books in his lap.

“Yeah, I trust you. Kiri? Not so much. Mina? Hell no. But you're alright.”

“Whatever.”

He helped him through a few of the easier questions, leaving him to suss it out with little nudges in the right direction, while he puzzled over the more difficult ones himself.

“What are you doing after dinner? We were thinking about a movie marathon. You can go to bed when you want, we won't keep you up all night!”

“Oh. Uh. I have plans, but, thanks I guess?”

“What kind of plans?”

“Um, me and Deku are training together.”

“Ohhh?” Kaminari sat up a little straighter, a grin stretching across his lips. “You finally asked him out?”

“Huh? Yeah, to the training grounds? Didn't I just say that?”

Kaminari laughed at him, but Midoriya didn't understand the joke, so instead he just turned his attention back to the math problems in his lap.

“Well, have a great time,” Kaminari grinned, elbowing him lightly. “I'm sure it'll be great.”

“Y-Yeah...”

─────

Midoriya's world came crashing down around him the moment his back hit the ground, his own triumphant face grinning down at him as he easily pinned him to the ground. Bakugou was finally getting the hang of One For All – not full cowl, and not more than one percent at the most, but activating it all the same. Midoriya, on the other hand, was still trying to remember to use his newfound quirk. He was so used to just throwing punches and kicks that explosions were the last thing to come to mind as they fought.

“Fuckin' finally,” Bakugou sneered, shifting his hand to Midoriya's throat and pushing him into the ground. “I win, loser.”

“Yeah,” Midoriya squeaked, his arms pinned by Bakugou's hand and foot, the free leg bearing down on his stomach to keep him immobile. “You win, Kacchan.”

The big hand wound around his throat made his heart pound a little faster, and when he failed to move his hands to defend himself, a flush rose to his cheeks.

Why was it so damn hot all of a sudden?

The moment Bakugou moved, Midoriya was turning away, hiding himself in a hurry as he wiped sweat from his face.

“That's enough for tonight!” he stumbled out. “I need a shower and some sleep!”

“Alright,” Bakugou conceded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Get some rest.”

For a moment, when Midoriya turned around, Bakugou looked like himself again, with his lazy pose and carefully neutral face, his eyes narrowing a little as he looked away. It was the colouring that gave him away, the weirdly-short green hair and bright eyes to match, not to mention the messy scars poking out from his tank top. Midoriya rarely wore them, himself, but Bakugou didn't seem to care about the scars. Comfort was more important.

“Thanks!” Midoriya answered in a hurry, grabbing his towel and hoodie from the side and rushing out the door. “See you in the morning, Kacchan, byeee!”

He ran all the way to the dorms without looking back, breathing roughly as he stumbled up to Bakugou's room and locked himself inside. It was still too hot, his clothes too confining, he needed... he needed a cold shower, that would help.

Grabbing some clean pyjamas, he rushed back down to the bathroom, grateful to find it empty as he quickly stripped off and stepped under an ice-cold stream. It was painfully cold, and Midoriya could hardly breathe under it, but when he looked down, things seemed to be returning to normal.

He was extra careful as he soaped up, deciding to just avoid his crotch entirely even at the risk of smelling bad later. If he touched, he wouldn't be able to stop – and as tempting as that was, every time he even looked at the thing he was so painfully reminded that it was Kacchan's. He wasn't sure how he felt about that information, his mind was a mess, but he knew that he definitely shouldn't just wrap a hand around it and go to town like his hormones wanted him to.

He waddled up to bed with it still stiff between his legs, even the ice-cold water apparently not enough to entirely dull his needs. And that thought was gonna haunt him forever, too – Bakugou could keep it up for a long time. Great, thanks brain.

The warmth and comfort of Bakugou's bed were still there, and somehow, once again, he managed to drift off quickly. When he woke up late in the night, though, he felt it immediately.

He was gonna have to wash Bakugou's sheets.