Kiribaku Week - Day 7 - Cooking
Rating: Gen Warnings: None For: @kiribakuweek2k18
READ ON A03
“This is so embarrassing.” Eijirou whimpers, staring at the array of items Mina is unpacking from a shopping bag and onto his kitchen worktop.
“This was your idea.” She reminds him, rather unhelpfully.
“I was just gonna buy him some chocolates.” He grumbles.
“It’s Valentine’s day! You’re supposed to make them, it’s tradition!” Mina doesn’t let him argue, instead shoving him towards the sink. “Wash up before we start!”
He does as he’s told, vaguely wondering how Bakugou will react to a confession like this. Eijirou is expecting a punch in the face, or maybe an explosion or two. Wait, why is he doing this again?
“Okay, let’s get started!” Mina tells him when he’d dried his hands. “First, mix the power and the butter together to form a paste.” She reads the directions off her phone.
“Aren’t you going to wash up as well?” Eijirou asks.
“Nope, this is all you, buddy.” She replies, grinning widely.
“If you say so.” He answers with a huff, complying with her instructions.
They spend a large amount of time following the recipe carefully, making sure no mistakes are made, since they only have enough ingredients for one batch.
“Now you just have to pour the mixture into the molds, and stick them in the fridge!” Mina finishes reading directions with a flourish.
Eijirou nods, flushing a little bit at the heart-shaped molds they’d bought at the store. This really is embarrassing.
He finishes up pouring the mixture, slightly clumsy in his movements, getting a few drops on his hand the the process. He licks them, tasting his own creation and making a sound of surprise when they actually taste pretty good.
“Hmmm.” Mina hums as she swipes a finger through the remains of the empty bowl, trying the chocolate for herself. “We did good.”
“We?” Eijirou asks skeptically, picking up the mold to put in the refrigerator.
“Yes we.” Mina tells him stubbornly. “You’d be lost without me.”
Eijirou couldn’t dispute that.
“Well,” Comes a familiar voice from the doorway, and Eijirou is so startled he almost drops the mold. “This is not what I expected to come home to.”
He finishes putting the chocolates carefully in the refrigerator, before turning to see his Mom leaning against the door frame. She looks vaguely amused by the mess her kitchen is currently in, though Eijirou can tell her curiosity is piqued.
“Hey Mrs Kirishima.” Mina says, smiling at her. They’ve met in the past, whenever Mina had come over to study, or to play video games, but this wasn’t exactly the norm when it came to their friendship.
“Hey Mom.” Eijirou greets her, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “I thought you’d be back at six.”
“It is six.” She tells him mildly.
He blinks in surprise, not realizing how long they’d been cooking.
“I think it’s pretty obvious what you guys have been up to here.” His Mom continues, walking into the room to inspect the ingredients packets and dirty dishes, “But I have to ask Eij, shouldn’t you keep the chocolate a secret from the person you’ll be confessing to?” She look pointedly towards Mina.
It takes them both a second to process what she had said, Mina having understood a moment before him, bursting into giggles.
“Mom.” Eijirou groans, hiding his blushing cheeks in his hands, “I’m not confessing to Mina.”
Mina herself was slowly starting to calm down, before promptly losing it again at his embarrassed whine.
“Oh.” His Mom says, soundly slightly disappointed. It makes Eijirou’s heart constrict tightly in his chest for a split second, worried at the thought of his Mom disapproving of Bakugou. The thought leaves him as soon as it comes though, knowing she would accept whoever he chose to give his heart to. She was awesome like that.
“Who, then?” She asks, leaning against the counter.
“Uhh.” He hesitates, glancing over to Mina who is staring pointedly at her nails. He could practically hear the ‘you’re on your own’ vibes from across the room. He looks back at his Mom, who was beginning to frown.
“If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to sweetie.” She says softly.
“No, it’s just um. It’s...It’s Bakugou.” He sees his Mom’s eyebrows raise at the admission.
“Oh. Well, I’m sure he’ll love the chocolates.” She tells him, letting out a confident grin, “And if he doesn’t, he’ll have to answer to me.”
Eijirou rolls his eyes, but is grateful for her support.
“He doesn’t like chocolate anyway. I’m doing this more out of… tradition’s sake, I guess.” He looks away, flushing slightly. “I just want him to know I mean it.”
“Eij, sweetie, you know he’s gonna take you seriously, no matter what,” His Mom moves forward quickly, sweeping him into a strong hug. “And I’m sure he’ll appreciate the chocolates anyway, because they’re made by you.”
“Thanks Mom.” He says quietly, hugging her back tightly. She pulls away, resting her hands on his shoulders.
“And, I’m really happy you told me about this. You know I’ll accept you, no matter who your heart chooses to love, right?”
“Of course I know that Mom.” He tells her lightly, “You married Asami, right?”
“Right.” She laughs, pulling away from him.
He looks towards Mina, cringing at the fact she had to witness that moment between him and his Mom. He needn’t have worried though, seeing her put down her phone when she realizes their hug is over, and giving him a subtle thumbs up.
“Well, your chocolates might be in the fridge right now, but that doesn’t mean the work is over.” His Mom tells them, putting her hands on her hips. “It’s clearing up time!”
“We’re on it, Mrs Kirishima!” Mina exclaims, hopping off the stool she was perched on, and grabbing the empty mixing bowl to take to the sink.
“Yeah, we’ve got this.” Eijirou tells his Mom, “We’ll let you know when everything’s cleared up.”
“Okay, but make sure everything is put away where it belongs!”
Eijirou hums in agreement, going to help Mina out before his Mom stops him.
“I’m proud of you, Eij.” She says softly, giving him a warm smile. She squeezes his arm before letting go and leaving the kitchen.
That went better than he thought it would.
--
The next day is Valentine’s day, and Eijirou is a buzz of nerves throughout the whole of the school day. Why had he decided to wait for the end of the day to confess?
He’d arranged for Bakugou to meet him at one of the courtyards outside the main building, somewhere quiet enough for them not to be overheard, but close enough to the exit of the school to make a quick getaway… if it came down to that.
The note he’d slipped into Bakugou’s locker was plain, not like the other two confession letters he’d received that day, full of flowery language and scented like perfume. Eijirou couldn’t help thinking the people who’d sent those letters didn’t know Bakugou at all. Not like he did.
The final bell rang for class, Eijirou jumping up quickly, wanting to beat Bakugou to the meeting point. Some of his classmates looked at him strangely, but he didn’t pay much attention. At this point, he just wanted to get this over with.
Eijirou knew him and Bakugou had been dancing around a thing for some time now. If he didn’t know for sure that Bakugou felt at least something for him, he definitely wouldn’t be doing this. But unspoken feelings and accepting a confession were two very different things.
He paces up and down the meeting place, suddenly very aware of the fact he’d not planned anything to say. ‘Hey Bakugou, let’s date’ seems a bit too forward, but stuttering out his feelings doesn’t really appeal to him either.
“Oi, Shitty Hair.” He hears Bakugou’s voice approaching and he finds himself rooted to the spot, blinking in the direction the voice was coming from.
Bakugou is walking towards him, keeping a casual pace, hands shoved into his pockets. He’s scowling slightly, which seems to be his resting face though it does nothing to help Eijirou’s nerves.
“Hey,” He replies, congratulating himself internally for keeping his voice from shaking. Bakugou comes to a stop a few feet away from him.
“So.” Bakugou prompts. “Why did you ask me to come here?”
“I didn’t leave a name on the note," He says nervously, "How’d you know it was me?”
“Idiot,” Bakugou mutters, “I help you study three times a week and you think I don’t know your handwriting by now?”
“Right, right.” Eijirou lets out an anxious laugh, suddenly feeling like this was a very bad idea. Is it too late to back out?
“Well I um- It’s Valentine's day so I-” Eijirou begins to stutter, desperately hoping to develop a secondary quirk in that moment that would allow him to sink through the floor.
“Just spit it out.” Bakugou says after a moment of silent flailing on his part.
At this point it’s probably best to just give Bakugou the chocolates and be done with it, Eijirou decides.
“Here.” He says, hastily pulling out the decorative box from his bag and shoving it into Bakugou’s hands.
He blinks down at the box, his look of surprise turning onto a frown. When he looks back up, Eijirou flinches slightly at the angry glare directed towards him.
Oh boy.
“Is this some sort of a joke?” Bakugou growls, rattling the box around in his hands.
“No!” Eijirou denies vehemently, trying to do some damage control before the situation escalates. “Why would I make you chocolates as a joke?”
“You made these?” Bakugou replies after a moment of silence, looking back at the box in his hands.
“Yeah.” Eijirou confirms quietly, as Bakugou undoes the ribbon, opening the lid.
Eijirou fidgets as he inspects the contents of the box. They’re by far not the best looking chocolates in the world, but he had tried his best, and that’s all that matters, right?
“I don’t even like chocolate.” Bakugou mutters, looking back up at Eijirou. There seems to be a slight blush on his cheeks, though it could be down to the frigid February winds.
“I know.” Eijirou tells him, chewing on his bottom lip nervously. “But I wanted to do this confession right. The whole shebang.”
“Confession.” Bakugou repeats slowly. “You’re confessing. To me.”
“Yeah.” Eijirou states, smiling at his baffled expression. “Yeah, I’m confessing to you. I like you, Katsuki.”
Bakugou blushes darkly at his words, and Eijirou can’t help but feel a rush of affection towards him.
“Do you accept my confession?” He asks after a short pause. His hands are clenched into fists at his sides, trying to relieve the tension from his whole body. Bakugou is staring at him, lips parted, and eyes wide. His expression is so openly bewildered Eijirou’s heart melts at the sight.
Bakugou’s answer comes in the form of a shaky nod.
“Yeah, okay.” His voice is gruff, and Eijirou lets a a huge grin at the words.
“Seriously?!”
“I said yes didn’t I?” Bakugou huffs, avoiding his eyes, but that won’t do.
Eijirou steps forward, into Bakugou’s space, reaching out to him.
“Can I hug you?”
“What? Why?” Bakugou asks defensively, though he doesn’t step away.
“Because we’re dating now!” Eijirou laughs giddily, pulling him into a soft embrace, easy to break away from if Bakugou wasn’t comfortable. He didn’t pull away, though his voice sounds hesitant.
“Dating?”
“Yeah, that tends to be what happens when people accept a confession.” Eijirou tells him lightly, before pulling away. “Unless that’s not what you want. I totally understand if you don’t want to-”
“I want to date you!” Bakugou says loudly, pulling him back towards his body. Eijirou can’t help the blush that crawls up his cheeks at the statement, looking up at Bakugou who also looks slightly flushed.
“That’s good.” He tells Bakugou joyfully. “‘Cause I wanna date you too.”
“I think we’ve established that.” Bakugou retorts.
“I just like saying it.” Eijirou tells him innocently.
“You sure had a hard time spitting it out five minutes ago.” He answers with a cocky smirk on his face.
“Yeah, well I said it first!” Eijirou says triumphantly. “I win.”
“So what? I have chocolate now, so that means I win.”
“You don’t even like chocolate.”
“But I’m the one who has the chocolate, and you don’t. It doesn’t matter about liking it.”
“What sort of fucked up logic is that?”
“Economics.”
“Bo-ring.”
Bakugou rolls his eyes at his tone, pretending to be exasperated, but Eijirou can see the smile tugging at the corning of his lips.
“But I know I’m the real winner here.” Eijirou says after a beat. “Because I get to date you.” The look on Bakugou’s face is priceless, causing him to laugh loudly. “And besides,” He continues, “This means you have to get me something for White Day.”
