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Bakugou thumbed through his phone, his head placed sturdily in his palm as he rested his elbow against the desk in front of him. He scrolled through a list of songs before picking one and pushing his earbuds into his ears. Soft, calming music flowed, soothing the headache he had earlier. Usually loud noises would cause his tinnitus to go off, and he would be forced to sit with the ringing for a good couple of minutes before it eventually left. But the post-rock Bakugou had saved to his phone prior to that day’s class was supposed to help with the ringing. And it did. Not only were the sounds of the noisy classroom drowned out by the music, but the ringing of his ears simmered to a murmur before fading out completely. At least he had this.
To his left, rain pattered against the window pane, slipping down in steady streams. The day was unusually chilly, and a wind bit at the people hurrying in the streets. Bakugou shuddered. He hated this kind of weather. It always made him sleepy.
But it was kind of nice, letting the exhaustion flow over him as he focused on the steady drum of the beat in his ears. The cold outside was starting to seep into the classroom and Bakugou immediately felt its effects. And although it typically wasn’t wanted, Bakugou let himself drift into nothingness, his eyes fluttering shut and his thoughts wandering.
Kirishima hadn’t been to class in a couple days, he realized. Bakugou opened his eyes and looked to his right, where the redhead would usually be, turned around and talking to a certain noisy blond. It wasn’t like him to skip class. He figured that Kirishima just might have been sick, but he hasn’t seen him around the dorms either. Normally Bakugou would brush this off as none of his business, why would he care, but it was starting to concern him. No doubt his grades were starting to slip, and all his painful tutoring in the school library, in the cafes, even in their own dorms, would have been a complete waste.
Now that he thought about it, a lot of people have been missing. Roundface, Frog girl, Deku, even Aizawa himself. There was something going on, and all the students had their theories, but Bakugou never really indulged in them. He figured that whatever happened would happened, and things would be back to normal soon enough. That’s why he tuned out the school’s bullshit explanation as to why some of the staff and students were missing. Those lies weren’t worth his time.
But something was starting to seem off. They haven’t actually heard from any of the people individually. He remembers overhearing Ashido talking about texting Kirishima without an answer. He admits that was strange – Kirishima usually texts back within minutes of getting a message. But it had been days and there was still no reply. The students were starting to get worried, and by association, Bakugou had also started to think something was up. There was something the school wasn’t telling them.
Of course, that wasn’t a surprise. Yuuei is infamous for keeping things from the general public, whether it be for the safety of the students as a whole or just to keep their fragile reputation intact. Hell, even when Bakugou was kidnapped, the school had lied to the media about having the situation under control. While they did have leads, Class 1-A had to pull Bakugou out of the Kamino Ward themselves. So, it wasn’t saying much when Bakugou had no trust in Yuuei or the staff at the head of it.
Back in the present, something pulls Bakugou from his thoughts. Sero just made a wide gesture with his hands, something Bakugou realized soon after “befriending” him that meant he was in distress. It was a habit to look at hands at this point, what with his gradual loss of hearing, but this was different than signing. It was just Sero being expressive. Bakugou pulled an ear bud out, wincing when the ringing started up again. Did the class really have to be this damn loud?
“Kaminari, I’m worried! No one’s been talking about this! It’s like no one cares!” Sero said in a hushed whisper, leaning in closer to his boyfriend. Sero said something else, but it was too hard to make out. Bakugou stared at his lips instead, reading them at a distance.
“You know, I’m surprised the school hasn’t even made a public announcement about it. This is a huge deal! He’s our friend!” He continued, his eyes darting left to right to make sure no one was listening. He somehow didn’t catch Bakugou’s staring, but instead looked back at Kaminari, who was worrying his lower lip with his teeth.
“Shh! Yeah, I know, but don’t tell anybody! I’m not even supposed to know, I was just walking past the teacher’s office when I heard it!” Kaminari answered, his voice taking on an uncharacteristically grave tone. He visibly swallowed hard before continuing, as if the words were too bitter to speak. “I don’t know what we should do. We can’t tell anyone about this. No one can know. You’re the only one I trust enough not to spread this around school. The last thing we need right now is to cause an uproar. God knows what the school staff is up to at this point,” Kaminari mumbled, carding a hand through his hair and letting out a forced sigh.
Bakugou started to zone out again, about to push the pulled earbud back into his ear again to soothe his ringing before a particular sentence from the lanky boy caught his attention. “I didn’t even know they were on a mission!”
Usually Bakugou doesn’t care about what goes on outside of the classroom. He couldn’t give less of a shit about what these nerds do outside of school hours. Internships, training, it didn’t matter. If it didn’t involve him, then he didn’t care. But missions? Specifically, missions he wasn’t invited on? What the fuck gives? So instead of going back to his music, Bakugou turns back to the couple and decides to listen in again, trying to figure out what’s going on.
“God, yeah, and that poor girl. Who knows what she had to go through. I mean, I’m glad that she’s safe now, but there were some serious repercussions from what I heard, and I didn’t even get to listen to the whole thing!” Kaminari spoke quickly and urgently, as if he had a time limit on how much he got to relay to Sero.
Sero clicked his tongue in worry, crossing his arms and shaking his head slightly. He thought for a second, then spoke. “I just can’t believe that happened to Kirishima.”
Bakugou immediately jumped from his chair. He hadn’t meant to, of course, it was instinct. The desk rattled and the chair was pushed back with a screech. Earbuds were yanked from ears and slammed onto the desk as the entire class stared at Bakugou with the sudden outburst. Sero and Kaminari looked at Bakugou with a particularly intense stare, worry, guilt, and what looked like pity was starting to crease their faces. It filled Bakugou with rage as he made his way over to the two, pushing aside desks to get to them.
“What about Kirishima?” He spoke, an unbridled mix of emotions boiling behind his words. The class started to murmur, no doubt talking about Bakugou’s sudden show of concern for another student. But it didn’t matter. Bakugou didn’t care. They could talk all they wanted, but what they said wasn’t nearly as important as what these two idiots were about to tell him.
“A-Ah, nothing! It’s not even that important, you really wouldn’t want to –“ Kaminari stuttered before getting harshly grabbed by the collar and yanked closer. He looked panicked, and it only fueled Bakugou’s anger.
“It’s not nothing if you two shit-heads are gossiping about it like fucking children!” He spat, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Spit it the fuck out or I’m going to throw you out the fucking window and hope that Sero’s shitty tape can grip onto walls hard enough to break your fall.”
Sero stepped in, pushing Bakugou off of Kaminari. “Stop being a bully. If Kaminari wants to tell you, then he will. You can’t just keep pushing people around and expecting they’ll willingly tell you something,” he said with sudden confidence. Kaminari looked up at Sero gratefully, but then turned back to Bakugou before clearing his throat.
“Sero, it’s fine. If he wants to know, then who am I to withhold information,” Kaminari rubbed at his neck where his collar chaffed him from being yanked so hard, “Plus, it’s not like he’s not worried either. I’m sure we all are, especially after…” he trailed off, knowing better than to bring up the past again. Instead, he spoke in a hushed tone after the class had deemed their conversation irrelevant and uninteresting, the usual noise filling the room again.
“Y’know how Kirishima and a couple others have been missing lately? Well, I decided I wanted to know what was up. We’ve been left in the dark for so long, and I know we’re only freshmen, but we have a right to know too! Especially when it’s our own mates out there!” Kaminari spoke with the same energy as before, an excited static starting to frizz his hair as he continued. “So, I snuck by the teacher’s lounge, right? Door was open, so I kinda listened through the wall. Would’ve been helpful if I’d got Jirou to help me, but she’s been busy lately and all…” he trailed off on a tangent before Bakugou cleared his throat impatiently to put him back on track. “Right! Anyway, the teachers were talking about some sort of mission. Like a rescue mission! There’s some girl they need to rescue and they took some of the interns to help them out ‘cause they knew of the hideout!”
“So why is this relevant to Kirishima?” Bakugou deadpanned, his stare boring into Kaminari. He needed to get to the point, and quickly.
“Oh! Well, um, you see, they all kind of got injured. Every single one, in some way or another. I didn’t get all the details but, um…” Kaminari stuttered, hesitating. A sense of dread started to pool in Bakugou’s stomach. He wasn’t dumb. He knew where this was going. He just hoped it wasn’t as bad as he was imagining it to be.
“Kirishima is in the hospital, and I think I may have heard that he’s in critical condition,” Kaminari’s voice hitched at the end as if he were asking a question. He winced away in anticipation for the explosive blond’s response, but there was none. Bakugou wasn’t moving.
He felt numb. His blood ran cold but his gut filled with the unsettling warmth of panic, giving him such a whiplash in temperature that he felt that he was going to be physically sick. His hands ran cold and he just stared at the two in front of him, unsure of what to even do. What could he do?
“Bakugou, are you alright man? Do you need to sit down or something? If you need –“ Sero started, but was promptly cut off by Bakugou whipping around and snatching his phone from his desk and pushing the two aside to run out the door, into the hallways.
He slammed the door shut behind him, his ears giving off a familiar loud ring. The sounds bounced around in his head and as a result, Bakugou shoved two earbuds into his ears and turned the volume up on his phone as he ran. He needed something to drown all the thoughts racing through his head.
The hospital was a mile away. He knew this. But he had to get there. He couldn’t just sit with the fact that Kirishima Eijirou was in the hospital, in what was assumed critical condition.
Bakugou gasped as he burst outside, straight into the rain. Some droplets sizzled on his skin as he ran, his burning sweat mixing with the cool water swirling around him. His throat started to sting with emotion, but he bit it all back as he ran, focusing on the booming music, the burn of his legs, the ache of his lungs, and the thrum of his feet slamming onto the concrete as he sprinted.
The music blurred with the constant ringing, creating cacophonic hell in his ears. Bakugou was biting his tongue harder than he originally intended, trying to fight off the wall of emotion that was inevitably consuming him. He only let loose when he recognized the distinct taste of iron on his tongue, having bitten it so hard it started to bleed. But still he ran, chest heaving and head pounding.
He should have been there. He should have protected him. What kind of friend was he? He couldn’t even save him. How could he let this happen? Why wasn’t he there with him? So many questions poured into his head, one by one, repeating over and over. He shouldn’t have let this happen. He was supposed to protect him. This shouldn’t have happened.
With these thoughts filling his mind, he burst into the hospital, drenched in both sweat and rain, the wind biting at his back. It took him only a few minutes to gain clearance to go up to Kirishima’s room, but to him, it felt like hours. When he finally went up to his room, knocking on the door softly and pushing it open with a gentle shove, only then did he let his wall break.
Kirishima was sleeping soundly on a hospital bed, almost completely covered in bandages. An IV stuck in his right arm, and a heart monitor was hooked to his left index finger. His hair fell gently around his features, hugging his face and making him look so peaceful, so calm and tranquil. But it couldn’t have been further from reality.
Bakugou let out a choked cry at the sight, his hands clutching at the door. It took him a minute, but he slowly made his way over to Kirishima, swallowing hard. He pulled a chair up next to the bed and sat down, gingerly taking Kirishima’s hand in his own. He nearly let go when he saw Kirishima stir, but relaxed again when he realized he was still asleep. It wasn’t until Bakugou started to tune into the song playing in his ears again that he let the tears fall.
Bakugou peeled himself off the sheets, the blanket sticking to a cheek for a moment before falling back to the bed. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes, rubbing the last few remaining tears from them before opening them fully. Light came through the window and shone brightly in the dull room. The clouds had cleared and instead the sun took their place, beaming onto everything below with a subtle warmth.
The music had stopped playing. Bakugou sat with earbuds pushed into his ears, but only silence filled the room. He took the buds out one by one, rolling them up and shoving them into his pocket with a quiet sigh. A shift from the bed and a tightening around his fingers caught his attention.
Kirishima was looking over at Bakugou with round, surprised crimson eyes. They darted from Bakugou’s face, to their hands, and back to Bakugou again. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then thought better of it and just smiled. Smiled that big, goofy smile that Bakugou had fallen in love with time and time again.
And it was at that moment that Bakugou promised himself that he would never let anything like this happen again. Not without getting through him first.