Spinner(snorting): Well that's an interesting chapter name.

"Okay, so I get the whole you gotta multiply before you add and stuff, but I'm still a little confused about what to do with the parentheses."

Ectoplasm: Do you require extra tutoring Kirishima?

Kirishima: Nah it's okay, Ectoplasm-sensei, I think I've got it now.

Kirishima's hair was down today and he was tugging on it with one hand as the other drummed a pencil against the table of the diner. Katsuki had to keep forcing himself to look away so he could concentrate on studying rather than be distracted just because the idiot decided to be lazy on a saturday and not gel up his hair, "You need to do the parentheses first, dumbass, otherwise you'll get the answer wrong."

"Like this?" Kirishima's face scrunched up in concentration as he solved the practice problem and Katsuki had to look down at the paper quickly to avoid getting caught staring when Kirishima glanced up at him as he finished the problem. "Is that right?"

Katsuki mentally went through the problem looking for mistakes, "Exactly like that, now why didn't you do that the first time?!"

(everyone snorted)

The stupid, distracting idiot smiled brightly and Katsuki's stomach flopped, something that was becoming more and more common lately. Pikachu and Raccoon Eyes insisted it was a crush, but they had to be wrong. Crushes implied that a relationship like that could ever possibly happen and Katsuki wasn't gonna drag his friend down like that no matter how dumb and distracting he was.

Mina: Oh come on Bakugo! You two are so sweet together!

"Aww, don't be like that!" Kirishima's laugh echoed loudly around the restaurant. "Aren't you at least gonna give me a reward for solving the problem right?"

"Are you serious right now?" Katsuki glared at him. "What would I even give you, a french fry?"

"Hmm..." Kirishima tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I was thinking more like a kiss."

Kaminari: Yeah do it! Do it!

Bakugo: Shut up dunceface!

Katsuki shoved him and ducked his head as he felt his face heat up. He felt like everyone was staring at them, but maybe that was just because Kirishima was just so loud, "I told you this wasn't a date, idiot."

Kirishima simply laughed again, then stopped, "Oh, man, are you blushing right now?!"

Mitsuki: Oh my goodness he's blushing.

"Maybe I'm just enraged because you're so stupid and keep getting easy problems wrong. You ever thought of that?" Katsuki denied. "You'd better do the next problem right before I explode on you."

"But I got the last problem right." Kirishima pointed out cheekily.

Bakugo: Shut up weird hair!

"Shut up, @#$(* Hair."

Math was their last subject before they called it a day, but despite what Katsuki said, Kirishima was actually improving and would probably do pretty well on their finals next week, which as good because if he had to go to the training camp with only the other idiot extras for company, he was gonna be pissed. He just needed to make sure the idiot passed.

"Bakugo? Kirishima? I didn't know you frequented this establishment!"

Iida: Oh it's me.

Midoriya: Since when did Iida go to places like that?

The loud voice made both of them turn toward to see Four Eyes striding toward them. As soon as he saw him, Kirishima smiled again and waved Iida over, "Hey man! It feels like it's been forever! We were all super bummed when Aizawa told us you got suspended over the whole Stain thing."

"Yes, well... " Iida pushed his glasses up on his nose. "The punishment is well-deserved and I am already taking steps to be able to rejoin you as soon as possible."

Uraraka: I'm sure you'll be back soon, Iida.

"That's awesome!" Kirishima said supportavely. "What do you have to do before they'll let you back in?"

"I have to write an essay on vigilantism laws and show improvement in therapy." Iida said. "Oh, yes, Bakugo, I meant to ask, how did your visit with Hound Dog go?"

Katsuki froze.

Inko: Excuse me Iida but therapy sessions are supposed to be private.

Iida: I'm very sorry about the other me, Bakugo.

"I have a to-go order for Iida!" The waitress behind the counter yelled. "Order for Iida!"

"Oh, that's mine." Iida said. "Sorry I can't stay and chat for long. I promised Tensei I'd bring him something that wasn't hospital food."

Joke: Oh that's sweet of you.

A heavy silence fell between him and Kirishima as Iida hurried to grab his food from the counter and left. Of course, leave it up to Four Eyes to mess everything up. He'd just kinda assumed there was some sort of silent agreement between them after they'd run into each other to never mention it again, but apparently not. He thought it was just common sense not to talk about who you saw going out of therapy, but either he'd missed something or Iida was an idiot. The second one was a lot more likely and a lot more likely to get a certain someone punched in the face.

Finally, Kirishima broke the silence, "I didn't know you were seeing Hound Dog. Is that where you've been going during the times you don't hang out with us?"

Sero: Uh huh.

"Drop it." Katsuki growled. He wanted to disappear. It was only a matter of time before Kirishima told the other extras he was weak and then they'd stop inviting him to hang out at all. Stupid four eyes. Stupid therapy.

Kirishima shrugged, acting for all the world like he was talking about the weather or something like that, "You could have told us man. We would have stopped pestering you so much to hang out with us."

Kirishima: I shouldn't have said it like that should I?

Katsuki's heart sank at the confirmation that Kirishima didn't want to be friends anymore. Burying his... was this disappointment? Whatever !&*%^# emotion it was, Katsuki buried it under a layer of anger as he started to gather his things.

"Whoa! Dude! Where are you going?" Kirishima looked flustered. "We still haven't finished studying for math yet!"

"I thought you weren't interested in hanging out with someone who had to go to therapy." Katsuki accused, slinging his bag over his shoulder and standing to leave. "Figured I'd save you the trouble of pestering me or some !@#$."

Kirishima: Bakugo that's not what I meant!

"What?" Kirishima's eyes widened after a split second and he grabbed Katsuki's wrist before he could take more than a few steps away. "Dude, that's not what I meant at all!"

"Yeah? And what did you mean?" Katsuki turned on him. "I know I don't deserve to be your friend, so just &@*(#$ off and stop dragging it out. You can go study with the other extras if you're so concerned about finals."

Mitsuki: Katsuki

Bakugo: I know you old hag!

"Bakugo, wait!" Kirishima stood hurriedly and stood in his way so he couldn't leave, "You've got it all wrong! I'm not gonna stop hanging out with you for something like that! I'd never do that!"

"So what?" Katsuki glared at him. "You're just gonna act like you're not judging me for having to go talk to the mutt every week? Yeah right."

Sero: Dude he's not!

"Is that you think?" Kirishima ran a hand through his stupid, @^%$ hair. "Bakubro, it's not like that at all. I think that'd be pretty hypocritical of me to judge you anyway, considering I've got a therapist too."

Katsuki blue-screened, "... What?"

Bakugo(shooting a double take at Kirishima): Hold on a second you too?!

Mina: Well you learn something new everyday...

Kirishima: I mean it's not really regular therapy for me... I kind of went just once and then forgot about it mostly...

Kirishima chuckled, "I've been going to therapy since middle school, so trust me when I say it's super manly. Now can we sit back down? People are starting to stare."

Katsuki huffed and ignored the way his face turned red as he slouched back to their table and slumped down in his seat. Kirishima awkwardly slid into the seat opposite him and there was a long moment of silence before he cleared his throat, "So... ?"

"You're literally the walking embodiment of sunshine." Katsuki interrupted. "Why the hell would you ever have to go to therapy? Are you just lying to make me feel better or some @#&*($?"

Tsu: Well considering Midoriya's also an embodiment of sunshine and he's going through all... that stuff, I don't think you're exempt from therapy just because you look happy all the time.

Kirishima sighed, "I wouldn't do that, man. Besides the fact that lying just isn't manly, I care about you too much for that. Bakugo... I've got depression."

Hound Dog(sighing): And adding another one to the list of kids who need therapy.

Tamaki: How long is it now?

Hound Dog(tidying up his enormous pile of notes): You don't want to know.

Katsuki did a double take, "But..."

"But I act so happy all the time?" Kirishima shrugged. "A combination of good coping skills and fake it 'till you make it. It's got a lot better, mostly because of therapy and other stuff, but it got pretty bad back in middle school. I didn't really have... well, I didn't have friends back then, you know?"

Katsuki looked at him suspiciously, "I thought you went to the same school as Raccoon Eyes."

Mina: Yeah but we didn't really talk that much until the third year. Different classes and all that.

"I did." Kirishima nodded. "But we weren't really friends until, like, halfway through our third year. I thought she was cool, sure, but I was too shy to reach out."

Momo: You used to be shy?

Kirishima(a little red): Yeah, really shy.

Katsuki leveled him with a look, "You? Shy? You really expect me to believe that?"

Kirishima laughed, "You don't have to believe me, but it's true! I, uh, kinda had a realization though that I didn't want to keep going like that and thought, well, what's holding me back from changing? So... I remade myself. My parents were pretty shocked when I came out of the bathroom with bright red hair, I'll tell you that."

(everyone snorted)

Katsuki couldn't help chuckling as he envisioned Kirishima's parents calling him down to dinner and seeing a completely different kid, "Dying your hair doesn't count as therapy, dumbass."

Hound Dog: Eh, it helps.

"Maybe not, but have you really been a teenager if you haven't impulsively dyed your hair in the middle of a mental breakdown?" Kirishima said cheekily. "No, my parents offered to have me start therapy after I told them why I dyed my hair, and I haven't looked back since. The whole hair color thing and making a resolution to be bold and cheerful worked well for the first few days, but honestly I probably wouldn't have been able to keep it up if I hadn't ever started talking to someone about it. I still have days where my smile is mostly fake, but what you gonna do?"

"I..." Katsuki blinked a few times. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Kirishima shook his head, "It's not something I talk about a lot, but going to therapy doesn't make you weak or a wimp or whatever you're thinking. That's one thing my therapist was very clear on from the get-go and she's pretty much always honest, so... I think you'd probably like her."

Kirishima: I'm going to have to visit Hound Dog too aren't I?

Hound Dog: At this rate we should just add therapy to the class schedule. Everyone in 1A needs it.

1A: ...You might not be wrong.

Katsuki couldn't even imagine any therapist other than Hound Dog, "What's she like?"

"Oh, Cece's fun. She's always brutally honest, because of her quirk so..." Kirishima stopped to think for a moment and grimaced, "Actually, I'm not sure if you'd love her or hate her."

Mirko: Too similar?

Katsuki raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Well, uh..." Kirishima chuckled awkwardly. "Imagine if Tsu was an alcoholic and that's pretty much Cece. You two would either get along like a house on fire... or you'd set the house on fire. It's probably best if we just never find out."

Mitsuki: Well, she sounds fun.

Bakugo scoffed, "I don't wanna meet your stupid therapist, !@#$*( Hair."

"Just saying!" Kirishima gave him one of those stupid bright smiles and Katsuki felt his stomach flip again. "I'm proud of you. It takes a lot of determination to admit that you need to get better and actually takes steps toward it. I think you're really strong, Bakubro. It's one of the things I admire most about you."

It was then that Katsuki did something impulsive as he reached out and grabbed Kirishima by the front of the shirt. He let out a small squeak and his eyes widened and Katsuki dragged him partway across the table and kissed him before he could think any better of it. Katsuki's brain kept screaming at him to stop, that he'd regret it and he didn't deserve it, but like Kirishima had said, could he really say he'd been a teenager if he didn't do impulsive things once in a while?

(everyone stared before looking at Bakugo who seemed to be bluescreening)

Kirishima(gasping): Oh my goodness.

Mina(squealing): He kissed Kiri!

After a few seconds, though, Katsuki realized that his brain kinda did have a point and let go of Kirishima like he'd been burned, "I... I'm sorry, I don't know what came over..."

Before he could probably apologize for randomly kissing his best friend, however, Kirishima smiled and pulled them back together for another kiss, "Don't you dare apologize, Baku-boyfriend. Totally not manly."

Mitsuki: Katsuki are you gay?

Bakugo: I have no idea mom.

Mitsuki(freaking out): Did you just call me 'mom'?!

They were interrupted by their waitress coming over, "Well, I totally owe the cooks money now. I thought for sure the redhead would make the first move."

(everyone burst out laughing as Kirishima and Bakugo both went red)

Joke: They were betting on them!

Kirishima turned almost as red as his hair, "Uh... what? You were betting on us?!"

"Are you kidding? This is the most entertaining thing that's happened all day." She grinned and put a giant milkshake down on the table. "On the house, congratulations."

"Well, uh..." Kirishima smiled shyly and rubbed the back of his neck. "We're not finishing math today, are we?"

Sero(chuckling): Nope.

Kurogiri: Why are teenagers so complicated to deal with...?