Chapter Text
1(i).
With the dorms at U.A. as extravagant as they are, it goes without saying that the walls are mostly soundproof. It would take a Quirk like Jirou’s to eavesdrop on a conversation, and when the girl plays her instruments, even if she’s not wearing her headphones (so long as it isn’t the drums), it only acts as a slight buzz to her neighbours. So when Kirishima finds himself waking up a couple days after the license exams to a loud explosion from next door, damn, does he freak out about what the heck just happened—because really, there’s only one person that could be coming from if it’s so close.
The redhead knows full well that it’s ages past curfew, but he doesn’t hesitate to fling on a loose t-shirt and jump out the door. Shouji doesn’t seem to have woken up (at the very least, there’s no sign of the door opening), and as far as Kirishima is aware, the floors are as soundproof as the walls, so there’s a chance whoever is above and below may have heard, but at the moment, he’s the only one in the hallway, and he can’t help but feel that’s for the best.
Thank God I’m his only neighbour, huh? the boy muses to himself as he strides to Bakugou’s door. Some part of Kirishima finds himself imagining the worst – that someone’s here to kidnap Bakugou again, and he’ll be useless this time, as well. But then he remembers that they’re in the dorms, that security has only been heightened since the incident at USJ.
(He tries as hard as he can to push the pessimistic ideas that if it happened once, it can happen again straight out his head.)
(He fails.)
“Bakugou? Bakugou, you all right in there?!” Kirishima knows he’s probably shouting way too loud, his volume is the last thing on his mind; if his friend is in trouble again, he’s not going to be useless this time—he’s not going to be a disappointment.
“Of course I am! Now fuck off!” he hears from behind the door—not surprising, still worrying.
“I heard an explosion coming from your room. Did something happen?” Kirishima isn’t shouting so desperately anymore, now that he knows Bakugou is at least conscious and able to respond, but there’s a short silence after his question that starts to make him consider breaking the door down.
“What did I just say?! Fuck off and let me sleep!”
Kirishima’s face pulls into a frown as he acquiesces with a muttered apology. The aggression was expected, but at the same time, almost felt too aggressive. He knows that Bakugou has his good days, where the anger comes out as little more than irritated-sounding quips, and he has his bad days, where his responses are like now. But that’s where the concern reaches in: what makes a good day or a bad day for Bakugou? What makes a day so bad that he’s stuck lashing out at everyone? With a dejected sigh, the redhead pulls open his door, and falls back into his bed.
(ii).
Kirishima can’t say he didn’t expect the knock on his door that pulls him back from the edges of sleep – he knows exactly who it’ll be. With each bedroom having its own fridge and bathroom, there is little need for any of the U.A. kids to be wandering around outside their room at night. As their teacher, it’s Aizawa’s duty to check up on the tiniest things, including a kid being out of their room past curfew, even if it’s just for a few minutes. With a sigh, Kirishima rolls himself out of bed (sort of glad that he hadn’t taken off that t-shirt, because he really doesn’t know if he could be bothered grabbing one this time) and opens the door, a guilty smile on his face.
Right enough, standing there is Aizawa, eyes looking about ready to murder. The man is in what is clearly his night clothes, but the pulled back hair tips Kirishima off to the fact that the man was probably still awake anyway. Although it probably shouldn’t, it still shaves the guilt off a little.
“Want to explain why you were out of your room at one in the morning, Kirishima?” the man grumbles, tone threatening enough to give Kirishima the shivers. The redhead averts his gaze, hands coming together in a nervous tumble as he tries to decide what to say. Would telling the man about Bakugou be a breach of his friend’s trust? But even if he didn’t tell him about the explosion, could Kirishima even forge a believable excuse? His mouth opens, shuts, and opens again, before Aizawa chips in with a, “If you don’t give me an honest answer, I have no qualms about cancelling your internship.” Those words are all it takes to rip Kirishima’s wide eyes back up to his teacher.
It doesn’t take a genius to guess that Bakugou comes before anything – it just isn’t manly to betray a friend for your own gain. But then, is telling Aizawa really a betrayal of Bakugou’s trust? What exactly would he be hiding by not telling their teacher? An explosion? But surely that explosion wasn’t just nothing. Something must have caused it. Maybe…telling Sensei is best for Bakugou, too. Sighing, he lowers his eyes again, hand tugging loosely at his shirt.
(He may have also prayed a little that Bakugou wouldn’t explode his face off if he ever got told what he was doing right now.)
“There was an explosion. From Bakugou’s room. Tried to check on him to see if he was alright, and, well, you can probably guess how he responded,” Kirishima chuckles, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. Aizawa looks at him for a while before giving a sigh of his own.
“This happened before?” Aizawa asks, leaning his arm against the door frame as he runs a hand through his hair.
“No… This was the first time. I think. Well, I mean, it’s the first time I’ve woken up to one, but…” Kirishima pauses as he considers the question. Who said it hadn’t happened before? What if it had, just the explosions weren’t loud enough to pass through the walls? He wouldn’t be surprised if the blonde’s smaller crackles wouldn’t pass through. In fact, he’s pretty sure they wouldn’t—they aren’t that loud even if you’re right beside him when he lets them off. “I don’t think Bakugou’s been doin’ so hot since he got…well.” Kirishima doesn’t finish, doesn’t want to finish, teeth beginning to nibble on the inside of his bottom lip.
He doesn’t need to finish, though. Aizawa knows exactly what the boy is talking about and he can’t help but flinch.
'Without realising it, we neglected to care for his mental health. This fight was brought about by the failure of us adults.’
All Might’s words haven’t ever really left him. He knows how stupid he was to ever think Bakugou could just deal with everything by himself. Bakugou’s needed support since day one, and the blame is largely with him for not realising that.
He won’t let this mistake continue.
Aizawa lets out another sigh, running a hand tiredly over his face. “Bakugou’s on house arrest, so I don’t think I’ll be able to approach him without him getting suspicious of me. If that happens, I won’t be able to get anything out of him. So, Kirishima, can I ask you to keep an eye on him for the next couple of days? No one’s managed to gain Bakugou’s trust as much as you have.”
Kirishima’s almost taken aback by the sudden request coming from his teacher (when did Aizawa ever try to get so involved in a student’s private affairs?), but he nods straight away. “Of course!”
“I’ll change the settings for now so that I won’t get alerts when you leave your room after curfew. Just make sure you tell me if this happens again. Try and catch me before homeroom if you can.”
“Okay, got it.” The redhead isn’t sure why he’s smiling right now, but the support from the usually apathetic teacher makes him feel warm inside.
Aizawa goes to leave before he suddenly turns back around. “Oh, and Kirishima?”
“Hm?”
“If there’s anything bothering you, don’t be afraid to talk to me.”
The man doesn’t hang around after saying what he needs to say, but Kirishima can’t help but stand there for a while in shock and apprehension as he questions if his insecurities have been obvious this whole time.
2 (i).
Kirishima isn’t exactly all that surprised when he sees Bakugou lumbering through into the dining area with the biggest scowl on his face and bags starting to form. Without Kaminari here to distract him in conversation, Kirishima finds himself chasing the blonde with his eyes. He notices Todoroki make his way up to Bakugou, but his back is angled so that he can’t read the other’s lips. Bakugou gives him the ugliest glare, before shouting at the other to “mind your own business, half-and-half”, and then proceeding to storm off to who knows where.
Well, that was predictable.
Todoroki doesn’t seem all that surprised at the reaction, either. He certainly looks a little ticked, though.
Kirishima considers chasing after Bakugou until Todoroki sits down with his simple breakfast of toast (apparently, he much prefers a more traditional breakfast, but there just isn’t time to make it himself) across from him. “Mornin’,” the redhead greets through his mouthful of cereal.
“Morning.” Kirishima can’t help but watch the other expectantly, awaiting something to follow up the greeting. He so often sees Todoroki with Midoriya that he can’t imagine there not being some other reason for him sitting here. That’s not to say he’s against Todoroki’s presence; he’s just curious. Red eyes watch as the boy bites into the toast, heterochromatic eyes coming up to meet his as he does so. An eyebrow raises in question and Kirishima holds his hands up in apology.
“Sorry, sorry! I usually see you eating at the same time as Midoriya and his group, so I just wondered if there was something bothering you.“ The other eyebrow raises alongside the first this time, surprise painting his features.
“I…would be lying if I said I didn’t sit here without wanting to ask you something,” Todoroki eventually says, placing the toast down on his plate. “I wanted to know if you heard any loud noises last night.”
And then it clicks.
“Your room’s above Bakugou’s, right?” Todoroki nods. “Truth is, I don’t really know what happened. I heard the explosion as well - assuming that's what you mean - but Bakugou got pissed at me when I tried to see if he was alright. Aizawa-sensei knows, though – I’ve to tell him if it happens again. Who is it that’s below again?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s Iida.”
Kirishima opens his mouth just at the moment the man himself walks in with Midoriya, Mineta and Tokoyami in tow. He isn’t sure that he wants to bring up more private affairs with such a large audience, so he simply shuts his mouth again, only opening it to give a, “Mornin’” as they approach. He can feel Todoroki’s eyes linger on him for a short while, before the boy turns them to the group and greets them as well. This is gonna be difficult. Feeling a buzz in his pocket, he pulls out his phone—the display on the screen shows a message from Todoroki.
Todoroki Shouto: I’ll see if I can catch Iida alone to ask about it later.
Red eyes catch blue and grey and Kirishima nods, mouthing a small, “Thanks,” that Todoroki modestly shakes his head to.
(ii).
It’s later that night, when Bakugou’s retreated to his room the minute he’s finished his cleaning duties and everyone is hanging out in the common area, that he suddenly notices Todoroki and Iida walking towards him. “Kirishima, could we talk to you for a second?” Todoroki quietly asks him. He doesn’t say what it’s about, but Kirishima can guess without any prompting.
“Yeah, sure.” The redhead doesn’t entirely know where they’re going to discuss it, but judging from the direction Todoroki starts walking, the laundry area is their destination. The sounds of dryers humming away fill the air, preventing any eavesdroppers unless they were in obvious range.
“Todoroki filled me in on the situation,” Iida starts as Kirishima leans himself against one of the stationery washing machines. “I indeed heard the explosion, as well, but thought I may have just imagined it when I didn’t hear anything else. I feel like I must ask if there is anything I can do to help.”
Kirishima appreciates the sentiment, but he wonders if Bakugou would. He knows as well as anyone else that he’s the closest to Bakugou among the Class A kids – even closer than Kaminari. Midoriya had told him that he had to be the one to reach out his hand to Bakugou back at Kamino, that they couldn’t trust Bakugou would take anybody else’s. Bakugou viewed Kirishima as an equal, and the redhead would never take that for granted.
“If anyone apart from me is too obvious about this, I’m pretty sure Bakugou would just become more defensive. But…there’ll be days I’m absent from classes due to my internship. If you’d be able to just keep an eye on him those days, I’d really appreciate it.” Iida enthusiastically nods his head at the prospect of having a duty to fulfil, stating that as class president, it’s his responsibility to look out for everyone.
“I can keep an eye on him during the supplementary lessons, as well,” Todoroki offers, to which Kirishima instantly thanks him.
“In that case, I’ll create a group chat for us to make it easier to communicate,” Kirishima tells them, face beaming at the help. He knows that he won’t be able to do for Bakugou what Midoriya had done for Todoroki, but damn if he won’t try his hardest to help.
(iii).
Kirishima doesn’t even have to wake up to the explosion this time—he’s not went to bed because it’s only goddamn 10pm. His phone goes off and a peek instantly tells him that it’s Todoroki.
Todoroki Shouto: Was that Bakugou again?
Kirishima Eijirou: yeah think so, im gonna go check on him now
Kirishima Eijirou: it didn’t wake you up, did it?
Todoroki Shouto: No, I was just studying, don’t worry about it. I think Iida’s in the baths, so don’t worry about him, either.
Kirishima’s outside Bakugou’s door by the time Todoroki’s message arrives and he’s quickly knocking. “Bakugou?!” When all the response he gets is angry muttered swearing, he only knocks harder. “Dude, is everything okay in there?! That’s the second night in a row, man!”
When the door is abruptly yanked open, the redhead feels himself jump. “I. Am perfectly. Fine,” the blonde hisses dangerously. “So stop bangin’ on my door already, you got it?!” And bang!, just like that, the door is back in his face again.
Kirishima frowns. He isn’t so stupid that he can’t tell when a friend is lying. It’s Bakugou, so he isn’t all the surprised at the reaction, but he does wish that the blonde could place at least a bit more trust in him. You took my hand once before, can’t you do it again?
And then he realises. Kirishima hasn’t offered his hand to Bakugou again yet. Not properly, at least.
“Listen, man,” he starts, body almost flush against the door, in the hopes that the blonde at least listens to what he says. “It doesn’t make you any less manly to talk to other people about your problems. But it definitely ain’t manly at all to keep everything bottled up and then taking it all out on everyone later when it gets too much. If you don’t want to talk in person, I’m down with messages, too. So just…don’t be afraid to talk to me if something’s bothering you, okay?”
Kirishima stands there for a while, keeping his ears open for any movement or reply, but is rewarded with nothing. Feelings of disappointment and helplessness rush through him. But straight away, he slaps his hands onto his face. Gotta be patient, Eijirou! These kinds of things take time! After a determined nod, he turns to walk back to his room.
Kirishima’s hand will always remain outstretched from here; it’s up to Bakugou when he feels safe enough to take it.