I only have fries for you [IidaBaku] - Part 3

[Part 2] 

For months Bakugou had been resisting the urge to kick his feet up on the desk, had restricted himself to tucking them up on his chair instead, where at least no one would complain about hygiene. It was weirdly irritating, trying to keep it in mind, to remind himself not to just sit back and get comfy like he’d always done. No one even seemed to have noticed the change, so it seemed kind of pointless to even keep going with the charade, in all honestly.

Fuck it.

He pushed his chair back, the legs grinding against the floor loudly, and slammed his feet onto the table. He was done being polite, it wasn’t making a difference anyway, so why bother?

Stupid prissy asshole with his fancy food. Why the hell had he thought it was a good idea to offer Iida his homemade food? Sure, yeah, he seemed to like it, but that was probably just pity. What the hell had he been thinking, offering Iida stupid baked chicken thigh doused in a blend of a thousand spices and balls of plain rice. Why didn’t he ever stop and think for once?

Then again, Iida did buy himself fries more days than not, so maybe his tastes weren’t too rich. Either way, he was gonna get sick of Bakugou’s freeloading ass soon enough.

Good! It couldn’t come soon enough! He didn’t need any stupid food and approval from their nerd-ass class rep. He was gonna put his feet wherever he wanted, eat whatever he wanted, say whatever he wanted.

Iida walked in, and Bakugou held firm, daring Iida to say anything about it. It had been a while and he had never said a word, never thanked him or whatever for stopping, so what was the point?

Behind thick glasses, Iida’s eyes twitched, and Bakugou gave him a smug smile. Maybe he’d push his luck a little, see how much it would take to break him.

He opened his mouth, and a dozen pairs of eyes turned his way when he spoke, blinking at him in surprise. He wasn’t even a hundred percent sure what he’d said, had just blurted out the first snide remark to come to mind, but he’d certainly managed to shock everyone, with how long it had been since the last one.

“Bakugou,” Iida sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What?” Bakugou demanded, narrowing his eyes.

There was a pause, then Iida sighed once more, shaking his head.

“Nothing.”

“Haaah? The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Just let it-”

“Don’t you tell me what to do!”

“Kacchan,” Midoriya hissed from behind him. “What’s gotten into you today?”

“The fuck do you care, nerd? Keep your shit to yourself, I don’t give a shit what you-”

“Bakugou!” Iida cut him off, his voice dropping low. “Enough! I thought you’d grown out of this childish nonsense. Stop being so rude and uncouth, and mind your manners!”

The room fell dead silent. Even a pin dropping would have echoed through the halls, down to where all the other classes settled in for their afternoon classes, completely unaware of the absolute landmine sitting in the middle of Class A at that very moment.

And for maybe the first time in his life, Bakugou was speechless.

Iida stood there, frozen, his expression slowly morphing into one of realisation and regret. And all Bakugou could do was stare back, stunned. His stomach was swirling in a weird way, like he’d never felt before, and he felt like if he tried to speak, something stupid was going to come out – whether it was words or something a lot messier.

For some reason, though, he kind of liked it. What the hell kind of weird shit was going on in him, to make him enjoy being yelled at? Was he going to have to be extra annoying just to make Iida snap at him again?

“Kacchan,” Midoriya whispered again. “Don’t do this, just let it go.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” he growled.

“Kacchan, just tell him.”

“Haah?! What the fuck do you think you know, nerd?!”

Midoriya sighed, shaking his head faintly, and Bakugou felt his cheeks flush. It was bad enough getting that reaction from Iida, but from Midoriya too? He wouldn’t stand for it.

“It’s fine,” Iida said finally, when Midoriya opened his mouth to argue. “I’m sorry for snapping at you, Bakugou. I’ve been trying my best not to, so you won’t be so frustrated all the time, and I’m sorry for my lapse in behaviour today.”

Trying not to. Trying not to? All that damn time he’d spent trying to be good or whatever, and Iida was sitting there trying to keep his mouth shut? He could have done whatever he wanted the entire time? What the fuck.

“It’s whatever,” he huffed finally, hyper aware of every eye in the class suddenly locked on him, waiting dead-silently 7for his response. “Forget it.”

“Thank you, I appreciate the forgiveness.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes slightly, but he didn’t bother to argue, just turning away with a huff and ignoring the way his heart pounded extra quickly.

Was it true what Mina said?

She’d certainly given him enough hell about it, over the past... God, almost a year. Had it really been that long already? A year since he’d started glancing that direction, trying not to be spotted. A year since he’d started sitting a little closer, waiting to see if he’d look his way. A year since Iida had started offering to share his food, and Bakugou had only just managed to return the gesture. For someone so good at everything else in the world, Bakugou couldn’t help but think that he kind of sucked at doing nice things.

Iida looked a little reluctant as he stepped away, like there was something else he wanted to add, but he’d thought better of it. Katsuki bristled at that – he hated knowing that people were holding back, that he wasn’t being given a chance to defend himself. In Iida’s case, though, he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that he wanted to know.

And yet, he was still thinking about it when they got back to the dorms for the evening, when everyone else was planning out their dinners and how to get enough homework done before they got to head to bed, trying to fit everything in before they did it all over again in the morning, rinse and repeat, like they’d done for most of their lives, and would continue to do until graduation.

School was kind of nuts like that, Katsuki had always thought – so repetitive, so exhausting, filling every moment of their day like it was the only way to keep them out of trouble or something.

And somehow, in that time, they were meant to form these lasting relationships with people, even when they had no energy to hang out with anyone or do anything. How the hell was he supposed to know what all those stupid feelings meant when he never had any time to sit down and consider them, properly, with a clear mind?

He was still thinking about it when Iida passed him in the common room, shooting him a quick smile amid his conversation with the halfie, but not stopping to pay him any mind.

“Oi,” he said quietly, kicking Iida in the back of the shin before he could get too far away – lightly, admittedly, if he did say so himself.

“Oh!” Iida jumped, spinning around to look, his eyebrows knitting together. “You know, if you want my attention, you can just call my name.”

Katsuki pulled a face at that. He hated names, they were all weird and awkward. Last names were too polite and formal, first names were too intimate, it was easier just to pick on a random characteristic and pretend he didn’t know their actual names.

“It’s Iida,” Todoroki supplied, in what Katsuki suspected was supposed to be a helpful manner.

“I fucking know that, half-n-half,” Katsuki scowled. “Piss off, I wanna say something.”

“Oh? Finally?”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Todoroki smiled knowingly, patting Iida on the back lightly. “Let’s catch up later.”

“O-Oh. Sure. Thank you, Todoroki. It was good to talk with you.”

“You too, Iida.”

He gave Katsuki a pointed look as he said it, then turned away, hurrying off to grab Uraraka by the arm and whisper something to her. Katsuki hated that he knew exactly what was being said, hated that he’d been so painfully obvious, and hated the most that Iida seemed to be the only one blind to it, while everybody else was gossiping around them.

“What can I do for you, Bakugou?”

“Buy me dinner.”

Iida froze, eyes wide, and Katsuki found himself doing the same. He hadn’t meant to blurt that out, hadn’t even thought of the words before they’d just tumbled out of him – he’d had no chance of stopping them, stupid mouth. It seemed to be doing that a lot, lately, and he was already debating how much it would hurt to just staple his mouth closed to keep it at bay.

“Sure.”

“What?” Katsuki asked stupidly, convinced he must have misheard.

“Sure,” Iida repeated. “What would you like?”

“I... don’t know.”

“Oh. I thought you must have had something in mind.”

“No, I... don’t know why I said that.”

Iida’s face hardened a little, and Katsuki mentally kicked himself for it – why the hell was his brain malfunctioning so much all of a sudden?!

“I want to,” he clarified quickly, cheeks warming. “I just... didn’t expect it to come out.”

“Well, why don’t we go somewhere?” Iida suggested. “I mean, I could order pizza or something, if you’d prefer to stay in. But we could... go out, instead. And talk about why the words came out, or something.”

“When did you become such a smooth fucker?” Katsuki grumbled, folding his arms.

“Me?” Iida chuckled. “Bakugou, that might have been the most awkward thing I’ve ever said. I’m not sure where you got smooth in that mess.”

Katsuki huffed, and Iida paused a moment before he continued.

“I guess I’m just... hoping.”

“Hoping?”

He glanced away at their thankfully-distracted classmates for a moment, then back to Katsuki’s nervous gaze, face softening again in what Katsuki couldn’t help but think seemed like fondness.

“Just you and me?” Iida asked. “For dinner.”

“Yeah.”

“Good. That sounds... perfect.”

“Obviously. I’m always perfect.”

“Yeah,” Iida smiled faintly. “So I’ve been told.”

“Just... let me go change first.”

“Of course. I’ll meet you back here in... ten minutes? Is that long enough?”

“Yeah. Ten minutes.”

“Great,” Iida smiled nervously. “Think about what you’re in the mood for, we’ll decide together when we get back.”

“Okay,” Katsuki agreed, despite the weird part of him that felt like he should argue. “Sounds... good.”

“I’m glad.”

Katsuki practically ran to the stairwell, face burning bright red, and did his best to ignore the hurried footsteps behind him. He knew Iida was about to get mobbed by his friends, asked a thousand awkward questions, but Katsuki would let him handle that himself – he probably didn’t need Katsuki yelling at his friends, after all.

The next problem that arose, after his stupid mouth not behaving itself, was his closet. What the hell was he supposed to wear? It wasn’t a date, so he didn’t want to look too nice lest he give away his fee- No. Bad brain. That word was banned from his brain.

Regardless, it was not a date, so he didn’t need to stress too much about how he looked. If they went somewhere fancy he was gonna need a button-up shirt, but if they went out for burgers that was going to look ridiculous. They really should have settled on a place first, but once again his stupid brain had refused to cooperate.

Okay. Deep breaths. In and out, slowly.

It wouldn’t be a fancy place, they wouldn’t be able to get in without a reservation. More likely it would be one of the little ramen or yakitori stores a few streets over, or maybe a tonkatsu place if they felt like walking a little further. Hell, it could even be cheap burgers and fries, given Iida’s lunch choices, or pizza, Iida had mentioned pizza.

So casual it was.

Dark jeans – the baggy kind, not like his shitty former-mentor – and a v-neck t-shirt, to show off a little of his chest and shoulder muscles. A dark shirt over top for a little extra warmth, sleeves rolled to his elbows. Simple, classy, tried-and-true.

See? He could do this. Just in and out. Slowly.

At ten minutes on the dot, he was back at the front door, watching as Iida stepped out of the elevator and smiled at him across the room. He refused to smile back – that would have been far too obvious – but he nodded faintly, to at least acknowledge he’d seen him.

“Shall we?” Iida offered, holding the front door open.

“Sure.”

They stepped out into the cool evening breeze, walking silently toward the school gates, the grounds almost empty around them. While it was perfectly acceptable for them to leave to get dinner, or go shopping, or whatever, it wasn’t super common on school nights – most of the students were just too damn exhausted to do much other than collapse into bed.

“Did you have any thoughts on food?” Iida asked, when they were out of view of the dorms. “It’ll have to be something we don’t need a reservation for, but other than that, I’m happy with whatever you’d like to eat.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said quietly. “Something casual.”

“Where we can sit and talk?”

“Sure.”

Iida hummed thoughtfully, and Katsuki just stayed quiet, letting him think. Even though it had been Katsuki who suggested it, Iida had seemed more than happy to take the reins, and Katsuki kind of appreciated that. As much as he was usually the leader, usually wanted to be in charge, he kind of liked letting Iida do all the planning and work for him, just once.

“There’s a curry rice place that just opened near the supermarket,” Iida suggested. “Have you seen it?”

“No,” Katsuki admitted. “Didn’t know there was a new place.”

“I haven’t been yet, but some of the others did, and they were raving about it. We could try that, if you like, for something different? Or would you prefer a more familiar place? Monday nights aren’t always the best time to try something new, I know.”

“I’m fine with new,” Katsuki shrugged. “If you want.”

“Great, let’s try it out then.”

Katsuki let him lead the way, taking a moment to eye him over as they walked. He wore a button-up shirt, but he somehow made it look normal, not prissy and overly formal. It was a deep blue, not far from the colour of his hair, and it worked surprisingly well. Katsuki had always felt like an idiot any time he wore yellow, thinking it way too close to his blond hair, but somehow on Iida, it just worked.

Fuck, he was such a sap.

The rest of the walk was quiet – not awkward, but peaceful. It only took a few minutes to get to the restaurant anyway, but there was no obligation to force small talk on the way, they just kind of... existed together.

“Oh, that counter is pretty,” Iida said, when he pulled the door open to wave Katsuki through first. “Looks like we’re the early birds tonight.”

Sure enough, the shiny wooden counter was clean and new, very artsy looking, and almost devoid of patrons. Only one lone businessman sat at the far end, shovelling rice into his mouth, and Iida headed for the other side, to give them all privacy. Katsuki was incredibly grateful that he didn’t immediately try to befriend the poor stranger, like some of his friends would have.

Iida sat down first – another bonus point, since he didn’t attempt to pull the stool out for Katsuki or something equally stupid – and picked up one of the menus, leaning in close when Katsuki joined him, to share the menu between them.

“Oh, these look interesting,” Iida said immediately, eyes running down the page of flavours. “Five mushrooms? Spinach, cheese and tomato? I wasn’t expecting that, I always think meat when it comes to curry.”

“The chicken and egg one looks really good,” Katsuki hummed quietly. “Or the beef and tofu one.”

“They all look good,” Iida chuckled.

“I should probably pick one with vegetables in it, at least.”

“You’re allowed a break from being healthy once in a while.”

“We’re heroes.”

“Even heroes get breaks!”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, and Iida just chuckled at him for it, pointing at the bottom of the page.

“Let’s get a salad to go with it, then,” he suggested. “You can pick whichever curry you want, and we’ll have some salad to be healthy.”

“Fine,” Katsuki agreed. “What are you gonna get?”

“Maybe the beef and tofu one, you’re right, that sounds really good. Do you want to try some?”

Katsuki glanced at him again, and Iida just smiled, shrugging slightly.

“I don’t mind sharing,” he continued. “Like we do at lunch. You could get a different one and we can share.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” Katsuki agreed. “Which second one should we get, then?”

“You liked the look of the chicken and egg, right?”

“Yeah but the others look good too. Did you want one of the vegetable ones?”

“I like meaty dishes.”

“Okay. Chicken and egg? Or butter chicken? Apparently the chef recommends the butter chicken.”

He waved at a little sign on the counter, and Iida smiled, nodding just once.

“It’s probably really good, then. Do you want to try it?”

“Unless you’d prefer the egg.”

“I’m not a picky eater, Bakugou,” Iida chuckled. “You choose, I’ll be happy either way.”

“Okay, butter chicken then. I can have eggs any time.”

“Alright!”

Iida waved to the waitress, and Katsuki just watched in silence as Iida ordered for them both, picking the extra-spicy butter chicken and adding extra rice and the salad on the side, even drinks for them both without having to ask – though in fairness, everyone in the class knew that Katsuki didn’t like his drinks fizzy, he stuck with water or tea, maybe the occasional fruit juice on a hot day.

“Thank you very much!” Iida said brightly, setting the menu back in the holder. “We’re excited to try it!”

The lady walked away with a last smile and a bow, and then it was just Katsuki and Iida left behind, the businessman already paying his bill and stepping out. The silence was deafening, and Katsuki knew the time was coming where he was going to have to talk about shit, but he still hadn’t figured out what to say, let alone how to say it.

“Am I doing okay so far?” Iida asked, with a little smile. “Am I winning?”

“Winning?” Katsuki snorted. “What, you think you’re gonna beat me at eating curry?”

“Winning you over.”

Katsuki blinked at him, mind emptying like someone had yanked a plug out of it with no warning, and Iida’s smile twitched a little, betraying his nerves.

“Cheesy as fuck,” he huffed finally, cheeks warm. “Sure, you’re winning.”

“I’m glad.”

Iida, it turned out, was surprisingly good at keeping a conversation going. The awkwardness quickly slipped away, the tension seeping out of Katsuki’s hunched shoulders, and he even found himself managinga little smile when Iida cracked a stupid joke.

“Oh!” Iida piped up, when the waitress returned with their plates. “Wow, it looks delicious!”

“Thank you,” Katsuki mumbled, when she set a plate in front of him. “Looks good.”

As soon as she left them to it, Iida was holding out a spoonful of curry and rice, his face burning bright red as he offered it to Katsuki. For a moment Katsuki just stared at him, stunned, then a snort came out, his hand clapping over his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“Who have you been taking advice from?” he spluttered. “Fucking Round Face or some shit?”

“I knew it was too much,” Iida chuckled, setting his spoon back on his plate. “I should have trusted myself more! I’m sorry.”

“Don’t,” Katsuki shook his head, still grinning stupidly behind his hand. “I uh, appreciate the effort, I guess, but what the fuck.”

“I know!” Iida sighed, leaning his head on his hand to watch Katsuki fondly. “I shouldn’t have asked her, I should have known it would be stupid.”

“Why the hell were you asking their advice anyway?” Katsuki asked, his bout of laughter finally subsiding. “What’s so hard about buying me dinner, huh?”

Iida didn’t answer right away, and Katsuki felt his face warming again, looking down pointedly to shove curry in his mouth.

“Here, try some,” Iida insisted, pushing his bowl a little closer. “You can use your own spoon.”

Katsuki snorted again, but reached over obediently, taking a spoonful of beef and tofu to try. He nudged at his own bowl pointedly, and with a smile Iida reached over, taking a scoop in exchange. It might have been the most cheesy thing Katsuki had ever taken part in, but somehow, he didn’t mind.

Considering how stiff and formal Iida usually was, he seemed surprisingly laid back as they ate, sharing their plates with an ease and comfort Katsuki rarely felt with anyone. Considering how much they’d been at each other’s throats when they first met, he would never have guessed they’d end up so relaxed in each other’s company.

“So,” Katsuki began, when the conversation paused. “How long have you had a crush on me?”

Iida choked, almost coughing up his food as he spluttered, thumping himself on the chest to help get some air back in his lungs. His face flamed, whether from the choking or the embarrassment Katsuki couldn’t be sure, but he just waited patiently, letting Iida gather himself.

“Forever,” he said finally, his cheeks turning impossibly redder. “Like, two weeks in.”

“That long?” Katsuki smirked. “What was it, the incredibly good looks? The amazing quirk? The unmatchable talent?”

“I didn’t realise until recently,” Iida clarified, ignoring the teasing. “I’ve never had one before you, so it took a while to understand what was going on, I suppose.”

“My impeccable abs? Biceps? No, I bet you’re a pecs man, that’s it.”

“When you eat food that you like, you get this soft look on your face, all peaceful and content. I always liked sharing my food with you so I could see that face.”

It was Katsuki’s turn to blush, at that, and Iida shot him a tiny smile for it, barely containing his amusement.

“I don’t care how ‘hot’you are,” he said, complete with finger quotes that made Katsuki ache to call him a nerd. “But I do care about the fact that you’re stupidly cute.”

“Shut up,” Katsuki huffed, shoving him lightly. “Don’t say that shit.”

“Too late. You asked.”

“Gross.”

Iida just grinned at him, well-accustomed to Katsuki’s personality, and Katsuki couldn’t help but smile faintly again, covering it up with a spoonful of beef and tofu curry stolen from Iida’s plate.

After a moment, when he’d gotten his face under control, he took a deep breath and began again.

“I was trying to be... Nicer. In class.”

Iida just blinked at him, waiting, and Katsuki grimaced as he searched for the right words.

“You always got pissy at me for the feet and stuff, so I was trying not to, but you didn’t even seem to notice it, so-”

“I noticed,” Iida corrected him quickly. “I didn’t want to say anything, I thought maybe you’d go back to doing it just to spite me, or to make a point. I didn’t know it was intentional.”

“I didn’t want to keep pissing you off.”

Iida smiled softly, understanding, and Katsuki felt his face burn under the fond gaze.

“I appreciate it, Bakugou. Thank you.”

Katsuki just shrugged slightly, not willing to attempt to make words and have them come out wrong in his embarrassment, so just keeping his mouth shut instead.

“I’m not very experienced at all of this,” Iida continued, waiting for a snort or a sarcastic look that, surprisingly, didn’t come. “But I’d like to do more of it, if you’d join me.”

“What, eating curry?” Katsuki smirked. “You seem to be doing alright, are you struggling with the spice or something?”

“I’m definitely not struggling,” Iida chuckled. “I’m having a great time. With the spice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Then sure. I could always do with more spicy dinners.”

“I’ll do some research, find us the best restaurant in town for spicy food.”

“It’s a date.”

[Part 4]