Chapter Text
“Woah, did you get out of the house?” Kaminari took in the stacks of books spread out on the dining room table and the empty food container. “And you ate without prompting?” He leaned in. “You showered, man!”
“I did,” Kirishima nodded with a slight blush. “It was well past time.”
“What is all of this?” He picked up one of the books and read the title aloud. “Speaking with the Dead? Kiri…”
“Look, it’s not…I’m just looking into it, okay?”
Kaminari seemed to hold back what he really wanted to say and nodded. “I’m not going to push this right now. This is the most active I’ve seen you in weeks. Just, uh, just talk to me if you need to?”
“Yeah, sure.” Kirishima looked back down at his hastily scribbled notes and hoped his roommate got the hint. After a few seconds, the other man moved away towards the living room.
The local library had a few books on death and afterlife quirks and he’d found more between some bookstores in the city. There’d been books on séances too and he would try one as soon as the ingredients he’d ordered online came in. He was definitely going to have to take Midoriya up on his offer for work soon after these purchases but it felt worth it. His friend would most likely give him a desk job consulting if he asked for it.
He hadn’t seen Bakugo since the first night but he felt like it was a case of missed opportunities. That was what kept him going. Bakugo was still around; they were just having trouble connecting. He was tempted to look into someone with a quirk that could reach into the afterlife but he didn’t want to involve anyone else until he’d exhausted himself. He was hesitant to even share it with Kaminari.
“Because he’ll think you're crazy,” his mind supplied. “And he’s not wrong…”
Kirishima did his best to ignore that thought and reached for a new book.
_____________________________________
“Oi, can you hear me?”
Kirishima took in a halting breath and looked around blearily. He was still seated at the dining room table and his cheek was throbbing. He raised his head to find he’d fallen asleep against the corner of one of the hardcover books. He rubbed at his face as he yawned.
“You look slightly better except for the huge red mark across your face.”
He became more alert as the quiet voice reached him. “Bakugo?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s me. Let me see if I can do this. I didn’t want to waste the effort if you weren’t going to wake up.”
Kirishima watched as a dull light grew brighter and like before, a translucent version of Bakugo hovered in front of him.
“This is fucking inconvenient,” he muttered. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for days.”
“Sorry. I’ve been watching for you but I guess we’ve missed each other.”
“I’m wondering if you have to be mostly asleep for it to work,” Bakugo considered. “I’ve been thinking about it and that makes the most sense to me. You have to turn your damn brain off for me to get through.”
“Where do you go when you aren’t here?”
Bakugo slumped and ran his hand down his face. “I’ve got no idea. It’s just dark. At least there I can still use my quirk though.” He raised the same hand and attempted an explosion, only releasing a thin stream of smoke.
Kirishima frowned. “Is there…are you alone?”
“I think so. I’ve tried moving around but for all I know I’m in the same fucking spot I started in. I can’t see a damn thing.”
It felt like such an odd thing to have missed Bakugo’s colorful language but Kirishima felt the familiar sting of tears. “That sucks.”
“Yeah, no shit.” Bakugo eyed him warily. “Are you going to cry right now? Because I’ve seen you crying a lot and you need to cut it out.”
Kirishima chuckled and wiped at his eyes. “Shut up, man, that’s rude. Crying’s manly and you know it.”
“Seriously. You aren’t going to be able to help me if you’re here being a sad sack.”
“I can’t believe I miss you.”
Bakugo grinned fiercely when he saw Kirishima’s smile. “Hell yeah. That’s more like it, Ei. What are you doing out here anyway?”
“I got a bunch of books on death and quirks and I guess I’m just trying to figure out how to help you.”
“Have you told anyone about me?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know that they would believe me, honestly. I haven’t been in the best shape.”
Bakugo reached out for Kirishima and growled when his hand went through the other man’s shoulder as if it were air. “I never meant to leave you,” he said softly.
“I know that. It should’ve been me anyway.”
“Shut your fucking mouth.”
“No.” Kirishima shook his head, shoulders hunching in as he hugged himself. “The guy was aiming for me. You’re the one who jumped in the way.”
“Yeah, well, I’d do it again so screw you.” Bakugo crossed his arms. “I love you so you have to deal with that kind of shit.”
Kirishima inhaled deeply. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
“Not going to say you love me too? I died for you, for crying out loud.”
“Dude!”
Bakugo’s mouth split into a grin and he was relieved to pull another reluctant smile from the other man. “So what have you learned from all your books?”
Kirishima sighed and pushed his chair back. “Not much, honestly. I’m still not sure what that quirk did to you.”
“Then find out.”
“What?”
Bakugo rolled his eyes. “Come on, Ei, you’re smarter than this.”
“I…”
“The guy got taken in, right? Or did you kill him to avenge me?”
Kirishima shot him a dark look. “It was a plan for a while.”
Bakugo’s bravado lessened. “Who stopped you?”
“Izuku. We both showed up at the holding cell with the same idea and were able to talk each other out of it.” Kirishima could see that the other man was struggling with a reply so he powered on. “He’s taken it pretty hard too. He’s working twice as much, even offered me and Kaminari jobs.”
“You didn’t take one though.”
Kirishima shrugged. “I probably will soon. It’d be easier to work with friends right now than try to get back on at my old agency.”
“So ours is just dead in the water, huh?”
“Is that supposed to be funny?”
Bakugo blinked before he realized what he’d said. “Ah, not intended.”
“I don’t know, man. Denki and I just didn’t think it felt right anymore. You were kind of the driving force.”
An awkward silence fell between them and Bakugo began to feel an annoying tug. “I think I’m about to disappear,” he warned. “Find out about the asshole who did this to me.”
“Why?” Kirishima felt his heart drop as Bakugo faded quickly from sight. He sat back in his chair with a soft exhale and looked over the cluttered table. His eyes were burning and he needed more sleep. He wasn’t going to be any good to Bakugo in this state.
He pushed himself up and forced himself down the hall. He was almost past the closed door of Bakugo’s room when he paused, putting his hand on the doorknob. Without thinking about it too closely, he opened the door and slipped inside. He’d been in the room a few times since Bakugo’s death and even more since his ghostly reappearance but he’d tried not to disturb much of anything. He’d stolen a few articles of clothing here and there but that’d been the most of it.
He carefully kicked off his slippers and slid into the bed. The sheets really needed to be washed and there was a faint musty smell lingering on the air but for the first night in longer than he cared to remember, Kirishima fell into a quick, pleasant, dreamless sleep.
_____________________________________
Kirishima breezed past a stunned administrative assistant and let himself into his friend’s office without preamble. “I need to know everything about the guy who took down Bakugo and I know you’re the one to come to.”
Midoriya blinked up at Kirishima in surprise. “Hey, Eijiro. How are you?”
“I’m fine,” he said with a wave of his hand. “The villain. Do you have a file on him?” He saw the other man’s eyes flick to the office door.
“Why?”
“Because I want to know what his quirk is and if anyone knows, it’s you.”
“What’s going on with you?”
“Izuku, come on, man. What’s his quirk?”
Midoriya caught a few of his sidekicks lingering near the water cooler and got up to close his door. “First, you tell me why you suddenly need to know now.” He opted to sit down on the weight bench in the corner of the office.
Kirishima turned to face him and leaned against the desk. “I’m curious, that’s all. It had to be something strong to kill Katsuki that quick and I want to know how.”
“So you’re just curious?”
“Yes.” Kirishima saw something flit across his friend’s face that he couldn’t quite decipher.
“I guess it doesn’t even matter at this point,” he sighed. “His quirk is deadly. He’s currently being held in a maximum security facility after killing two guards while he was in holding.”
“I didn’t hear about that.”
“It was kept pretty quiet. No one wanted to spook the public by saying the guy who took down Ground Zero was temporarily on the loose again. We got it handled quickly.”
Kirishima felt his fist harden and creak under the strain. “You should’ve called me. Did you beat him to a pulp?”
“I did.”
“Good.”
The men shared a look of understanding before Midoriya continued. “The guy’s quirk is two-fold. Sometimes it works one way and sometimes it works another.”
“I don’t understand. You mean like Todoroki’s fire and ice?”
He shook his head. “Not really. I don’t think he can control how his quirk is used. While his quirk is strong, he isn’t. I don’t think he ever had any proper training for it.”
“I’m finding it hard to feel pity.”
Midoriya pursed his lips. “I know. I’ve been struggling with the same thing.” He picked up one of the smaller dumbbells and began to use it to keep himself from fidgeting with something else. “From the guy’s track record, most of the time, his quirk releases an energy beam that stops the heart and kills on site.”
Kirishima made a face. “Which is what happened.”
“Well, maybe.”
“Just spit it out already, you damn nerd,” he growled. He was blinking in shock in the next second. “I…I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”
“You sounded just like Kacchan.”
“I know; I…”
Midoriya dropped the dumbbell without any caution. “Eijiro, be completely honest with me. Have you see Kacchan?”
He internally deliberated for a few long moments before he finally nodded. “Yes,” he whispered. “Have you?”
Midoriya shook his head. “No, but that still means we have hope.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Most people the villain used his quirk on did die. He’s killed over two dozen.”
Kirishima tried to hold back the growl rumbling in his throat.
Midoriya caught it and powered on. “But there were two cases where victims were hit and simply appeared to have died.”
“I don’t understand.”
“These people had been buried and mourned and considered dead for months.” Midoriya licked his lips. “Eijiro, what if Kacchan can come back?”
“The people came back?”
“Clawed their way out of graves,” he nodded. “Who knows how many other victims may have come back and weren’t able to get out of their burial ground. But if Kacchan is one of them…if he can come back, he’d be able to blast out.”
Kirishima stood and paced the small space. “This is crazy. This…he’s dead.”
“You said you’ve seen him.”
“Well, yeah, like a see-through ghost version of him. He’s shown up twice now but he says he’s seen me a lot more. I think it’s hard for him to make contact.”
“That has to be a good sign though!” Izuku’s eyes were a little too wide. “The two survivors were completely healed. They’d both been through autopsies and one had been fighting cancer before she’d been killed. All traces were gone during their preliminary exams afterwards. That could happen to him too!”
“How does that even work?”
“I don’t know!” Izuku tugged at the roots of his hair. “I. Don’t. Know. It doesn’t make any logical sense. I’ve studied quirks forever and I’ve reached out to experts and no one can explain it. Something about this guy’s quirk is an anomaly.”
“You look a little crazy right now.” Kirishima attempted a smile but felt it fall short. The other man seemed to come down a little in response though.
“Yeah, you’re not the first person to tell me that actually.”
“Who else have you told about this theory?”
“Uraraka, Shoto, and Tenya.”
“What’d they say?”
“That I needed to accept things and move on,” he sighed. “You know, in the nice way friends do when they’re worried about your sanity.”
“Yeah, I’ve been getting heavy doses of that from Denki.”
“He’s come in to talk to me a few times about you,” Midoriya nodded. “He’s at a loss.”
“I know.”
They both stared at the looping pattern in the carpet. “So we just have to wait?” Kirishima asked. “What if he never comes back?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I don’t have any other answers. Maybe you can tell Kacchan about all of this and see what he thinks.”
“Yeah…”
“Or we could, you know, maybe go talk to the guy. See if there’s any way he knows how to make people come back.”
Kirishima’s eyes shot up. “I thought you said he doesn’t know how to use his quirk well.”
“He doesn’t but it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”
“We’d need to be careful. I think the less people who know about Bakugo, the better right now.”
“Agreed.”
“But it might not be the worst idea to bring backup.”
Midoriya rounded his desk and reached for his phone. “I know exactly who to call.”