Monday morning, the movie night felt like a strange dream. Shinsou kept his earbuds in walking down the hallway like always. He sipped coffee from his thermos and trudged zombie-like along with the flow of traffic. When the stream of people curled towards the wall, he went with it. When it ground to a halt, Shinsou stopped, too. He was just considering dozing against the wall til whatever it was was resolved when the obstruction walked up to him.

Shinsou raised his head and squinted blurry eyed at a scowling Bakugou. Shinsou sighed. He was not caffeinated enough for this. Reluctantly, Shinsou pulled out an earbud.

Bakugou jabbed a finger at Shinsou's chest. The mildly threatening gesture was enhanced by the fact that the hand six inches from Shinsou's sternum could literally shoot explosions.

Shinsou raised an eyebrow.

"Coffee?" Bakugou growled.

Shinsou felt his other eyebrow join the first. That… was not what he had been expecting. His snark too suddenly redirected to come up with a witty reply, Shinsou seriously considered the question.

Bakugou was… not horrible. He wasn't scary in-your-face nice like his weirdo friends. Some might say he was scary, but those people hadn't seen Bakugou babysit Midoriya, or sip fruity tea, and well - those people would say the same thing about Shinsou. So, not cloyingly nice, good taste in soda, and no one came out of the 1A training regime unattractive. Bakugou had nice shoulders, alright. Shinsou had noticed. So what. Sue him.

And if Shinsou was being honest with himself, Bakugou's scowl was starting to grow on him. It did adorable things to the blond's nose. Like right now- oh. Bakugou was still there. Looking tense and glaring at him. Shinsou should say something. Not his fault it was seven in the morning. Shinsou sipped his coffee.

"Sure."

Bakugou only glared harder. "Coffee," he gritted out.

Shinsou squinted. He felt he was probably missing something, but he'd already decided on the outcome he wanted from this conversation. Did this count as a conversation? One… two… three words. Probably not. Interaction, then.

"Yes." Shinsou said slowly. "I like coffee. I have it in my hand. It is written on my sweater. I will be going and getting it after class ends today. You are welcome to join."

Bakugou blinked at him. Somehow he made confusion look aggressive.

"Your sweater… All it fucking says is coffee over and over?"

Shinsou rolled his eyes. "As opposed to being solid black all over? Or covered in All Might's face all over? Yes. There are more clothes in the mall and internet, Bakugou, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Shinsou looked at the clock. He hated walking into a full classroom. "And lovely as this has been, now I need to get to class. So if you would please…" Shinsou made a shooing motion.

After a blank-faced moment, Bakugou got the hint and backed away.

"See you after class," the blond muttered as he passed. Shinsou rolled his eyes.

…

After class, Bakugou was waiting alone. Shinsou had half expected to see Midoriya. Maybe even the self-proclaimed Baku-squad. They hadn't explicitly said it was a date, after all. But it was just Bakugou, lounging against the wall and looking uncomfortable. He nodded stiffly when Shinsou arrived.

Shinsou resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Emotionally constipated teenagers were the worst, himself included. Eye rolls could not become his default response.

"Well," Shinsou drawled. "There's a cat cafe I like three blocks over. No clue if they do tea but they definitely have coffee and cakes. That alright?"

"Tch. Everywhere has some sort of tea. I'm not fucking picky about it."

Bakugou made to start walking, then paused. "Lead the way."

Shinsou stepped past him. Bakugou had suspiciously started in the correct direction.

They walked in silence. It wasn't terribly uncomfortable, but Shinsou kept glancing at Bakugou. Something about his appearance was different.

"Are you… wearing eyeliner?"

"Fucking keeps the mask from gapping. Takes forever to get all the way off."

Shinsou nodded. "It's not a bad look." He was aware his surprise may have come off as judgmental. Also, it was true.

Bakugou nodded in agreement.

"I thought you wore make-up at first. Under your eyes. You should fucking sleep more."

Shinsou shrugged noncommittally.

They walked another half-block.

"You have nice eyelashes." Bakugou was staring pointedly ahead, but Shinsou figured the compliment was for him.

"Thank you," he replied dryly.

They reached the cafe at that point, and some of Bakugo's awkwardness melted away as he looked around for cats.

They settled into a booth and Shinsou decided it was time for the important questions.

"So, cats versus dogs?"

Bakugou looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"Tch. Cats. And what? You'd expect me to say anything else where the fuckers can hear me?"

Shinsou snorted.

Bakugou ordered honey green tea with citrus popping boba from a menu Shinsou had never noticed.

As Shinsou watched Bakugou slurp his drink, he couldn't help but ask, "So do you like pop rocks, then?"

"Why?"

"If you can decide what fruit flavorings I like based on my hair color, I can judge you based on your quirk."

"I would ask if you like mind games, but you like these fucking fluff balls." Bakugou had somehow acquired a cat. Shinsou was almost distracted by jealousy, but not quite.

"You didn't answer the question."

"Tch. They're alright."

"Awesome." Shinsou grinned lazily. "When's your birthday? I'm getting you pop rocks and a shirt that says tea." He realized what he'd said and groaned. "It'll be a tea-shirt. Ah shit. I don't know if I can do that." He frowned. He'd been thinking Bakugou needed that shirt since this morning. But the punnery… Just, no.

It hit Shinsou that he had recently met a group of people who would have no such hold ups. "Got it. I'll tell one of your Baku-squad loonies to get it for you." Satisfied, Shinsou focused his attention on ignoring the nearby cats so they would come to him.

Bakugou grimaced. "They would." He watched Shinsou struggle to coax over a ragged-eared tabby and smirked as he stroked the cat curled in his lap.

They chatted easily enough. Bakugou had a sarcastic sense of humor almost on par with Shinsou's own. And Shinsou had finally acquired a cat. So overall, the date could be called a success. Except neither of them had actually acknowledged that's what it was.

Walking back to campus, Shinsou could almost swear Bakugou's hand twitched towards his a few times. But Shinsou was hardly going to grab the hand of someone who sweated explosives without an explicit invitation.

Instead, when they parted at the dorms, Shinsou leaned forward and pecked Bakugou's cheek. The blond stared. A blush crept up his neck, but there were no explosions. Shinsou held his breath.

Bakugou cleared his throat awkwardly, eyes everywhere except Shinsou, then abruptly darted forward. Shinsou felt lips against his own cheek - dry and a bit forceful - before Bakugou whirled away and speed-walked (not ran) into his own dorm.

Shinsou raised his hand to his cheek. He knew he was smiling like a dork, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy" - Shakespeare