Some spicy KiriBaku fics seriously twist their rivalry dynamic way past the usual 'frenemies' thing you see in canon. They’ll take Bakugou’s aggression and Kirishima’s stubborn cheerfulness and push it into this physical, almost ritualized contest where every shove and insult is secretly an invitation. I read one where Bakugou kept challenging Kirishima to spars after class, and it was all about testing each other’s limits, but the tension was clearly sexual from the start—Bakugou winning meant pinning Kirishima down and holding him there, Kirishima 'winning' meant enduring until Bakugou wore himself out. The rivalry becomes a safe channel for Bakugou’s intensity, a way to engage without having to be soft, which he’d never admit to wanting.
What gets me is how often the stories flip the script on who’s really in charge. Kirishima looks up to Bakugou, right? But in a lot of these fics, his unshakable patience and willingness to take the explosions head-on turns into a form of control. Bakugou might be the one initiating, but Kirishima’s the one setting the boundaries by not breaking. The rivalry isn’t erased; it’s the core of their intimacy. They fight, they yell, they end up tangled together, and it makes sense for them because talking it out calmly would feel more out of character. The best ones keep that competitive edge even in the moments afterward, like Bakugou grumbling about Kirishima’s hardiness being annoying while secretly being totally into it.