Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Without a glance at the clock, Kirishima rose into a sitting position on his bed. It was an unusually quiet morning, free from any of the expected snoring from his roommate. Kirishima could only assume that the roommate in question didn't reside at the top bunk like he typically does. Kirishima swung his legs over the bed frame and swept his feet across the cold wooden floor.

He had already laid out the clothes that he wanted to wear the night before so that he wouldn’t have to agonize over it at such an early hour. It was an outfit that was casual but also suggested a sense of togetherness, an attractive pretense. After his clothes were on, Kirishima resorted to wiping his hands on his newly washed jeans. His palms were moist with excitement.

Uraraka had arranged a Class A reunion of sorts at a club relatively early in the afternoon, but with no indication of its end. Kirishima was told that he was the first to be contacted about the event. Uraraka claimed that the reunion would be much more appealing to others if he was guaranteed to attend. The thought of it was flattering, if not a bit manipulating, but Kirishima didn't mind all the same. He only had fondness for his former classmates and jumped at the opportunity to see them again. To Kirishima's dismay, a few of the students from his past class were either unreachable or unable to show up; it was quite thought-provoking to think about how many people from high school had spread themselves throughout the country in search for higher pastures.

This would cause Kirishima to reflect on his decisions. It would sometimes cause him to drown in a fantasy where he was more daring, a fantasy where he ran away and tried to figure himself out. These whims would subside quickly, as it wasn't something that tore him up too much. A good look around can brush the doubts away. He was proud of how far he came and how lucky he was to be in his situation.

Even if his place is messy from sharing it with Tetsutetsu for the last few months, he wouldn't have it any other way. Kirishima grabs his keys from his nightstand, emitting a yawn. His hands, along with his keys, retreated into the shallow pockets of his pants while he vacated his bedroom and into the living area of his shared apartment.

To no surprise, the television was still on, soothing the ears of a sleeping Tetsutetsu on their ratty couch. It was almost surreal to see such a large and muscular man cramped into a tiny and decrepit sofa. What wasn't surreal was Tetsutetsu's evident look of restlessness from the stiffness of his shoulders to the black under his eyes. Kirishima recounted the times that his roommate crashed on the couch and coughed it up to Tetsutetsu's pathological tendency to isolate himself whenever he has a bad day.

With a click of the remote, Kirishima had turned off the television. His shoulders dropped when he scanned his roommate's collapsed body. Kirishima searched around the room for a blanket to throw over the presumably sleeping man when his thoughts got interrupted, "Man, why did you turn that off?"

Kirishima jumped. Tetsutetsu moved his leg and kicked Kirishima's thigh, not playfully, but definitely non-threatening. Kirishima sighed, "Shit, you scared me."

Tetsutetsu drew his leg back into the fetal position and brushed away the sleep from the wing structure around his eye, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Kirishima replied, "were you listening to it?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," Kirishima smirked, "do you want to get into an actual bed? You're way too big to fit on that couch."

"You calling me fat?" Tetsutetsu spat with feigned intensity, "in any case, I've been fitting here fine all night, so you can shut your mouth."

Tetsutetsu only allowed himself a chuckle after hearing Kirishima's contagious laugh. Kirishima then pat the other's leg in reassurance as he passed him to go into the kitchen. "I’m just offering. I'd carry you if you would like."

Tetsutetsu snorted, "yeah, and then maybe you could even tuck me in and kiss me on the cheek."

"Maybe." Kirishima opened the refrigerator to see a lack of food that was certainly supposed to be there. This made Kirishima subconsciously turn his head to the coffee table that occupied the space in front of Tetsutetsu. Empty wrappers and remnants of the missing food lay vulnerable there. Kirishima's brows drew in knowingly. In a less sensitive time, Kirishima would scold his roommate without hesitation.

"Did something happen last night?" Kirishima asked softly as he reluctantly shut the fridge. He decided to just eat some cereal for breakfast instead.

"I don't want to talk about it," Tetsutetsu answered, void of any emotion. Kirishima noted this.

"Fair enough," Kirishima said, mindful enough to not be considered dismissive. A frowning Kirishima reached for the cereal box and set it on the counter. He allowed for another silent moment so that his next statement didn't feel accusing, "I'm going to do some shopping later today. You want anything specific?"

Shifting was heard from across the room, "Not particularly, thanks." The apartment was once again without noise, excluding the ceramic clacks from Kirishima fumbling with bowls. "Actually, that's great, bro. You can get that thing for Kaminari while you're there."

Kirishima's blood froze in his arteries, making him stiff. "Shit! I totally forgot about that!"

Contrary to his daily routine, Kirishima gives up on his cereal and makes the decision to skip breakfast altogether. He doesn't even think to put away what he brought out as he rushes to the door to put on his coat. Tetsutesu repositioned himself in second-hand urgency, his joints popping with loud cracks, "Dude, what's the hurry?"

"Kaminari needs it by noon!"

"Why?"

"It's his anniversary gift for Jirou! He needs it today!" Kirishima's words were unsteady from the way he aggressively pushed his hands through the sleeves of his jacket. He patted the outside of his pockets to double check for his keys and looked around for his phone.

"Why are you getting Kaminari's anniversary gift for Jirou?" Tetsutetsu watched as Kirishima quickly grew a one-track mind and ran out the door without another word.

Kirishima stumbled down the rickety stairs of his apartment complex. As he was skipping steps, he unlocked his car from afar. He jerked open the door and wasted no time stepping in. Kirishima forced his key into the ignition while he distractedly dialed Kaminari's number.

"Kirishima! I was just about to call you, when are you going to drop off that thing for Kyouka? What did you get?" Kirishima was overwhelmed with the sudden barrage of questions in combination with trying to back out of the parking lot.

"I haven't gotten anything yet."

"Are you kidding?" Kaminari's voice was so loud that the receiver almost wasn't able to pick it up.

"I forgot about it, I'm heading to the store now," Kirishima was silently thankful for the clear road, "You know, at first I was okay with this, but now I'm a little pissed. Not only is this morally wrong, but, like, you saw this coming, why couldn't you have just gotten the stupid present yourself on a different day?"

"My weeks are queued as shit, man. I'm about to go in for an interview right now. I knew that my schedule was going to be tight, so I asked you, like, two weeks in advance in hopes that you would be the solution to my problem," Kaminari's smirk was woven within his words, "But it seems that it would have been no different if I'd just done it myself."

Kaminari hadn't picked up that Kirishima wasn't quite in the mood just yet, "Tell me what I'm getting."

"Something spontaneous."

Kirishima had to make a conscious effort to loosen his grip on the steering wheel so that he didn't break it off its stand, "I don’t know about you, dude, but receiving an anniversary gift from your boyfriend's good pal will never be spontaneous no matter how you cut it."

Kaminari sighed, "Come on, man. You know Kyouka better than I do, I'm sure whatever you will get her will be leagues better than whatever the fuck I would scavenge up."

Until this day, Kirishima thought that his quirk was hardening his skin, but he now knows that he can also blow steam out of his goddamned ears, "I literally do not know Jirou better than you do. I haven't been dating her for four years, you have."

"But you've been her good friend since high school! Just take the credit, Kirishima."

Kirishima stopped at a red light and took it as a chance to calm down. With a steady breath, he asked, "Could you at least give me some advice on what to get her?"

The line went dead for a bit before an answer was pieced together, "Get something mentally stimulating?"

"What does that mean."

"She doesn't care much for accessories, I got her a necklace once and she wasn't super into it. Just get her something she can use I guess, maybe something sentimental. Girls love that shit."

Kirishima made a condescending noise of confirmation, "I'll get it to you as soon as I can."

"Thanks, man! Okay, I have to go now, I have been talking pretty loud and people in the waiting room are looking at me kind of weird, see you later!"

"They're probably just looking at your ugly ass hair."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and that you instead told me that I am your best friend and that you wished me luck on my interview."

The abrupt click made Kirishima chuckle, half in humor, and half in hopes that it would erase his stress.The call ended quite conveniently as well, seeing as Kirishima found himself already pulling into the parking lot at the store. Kirishima had to weave around the overabundance of handi-cap spaces before he could find a decent area. He took one last breath of relief before exiting the car and hitting the lock button on his keys twice for good measure.

As Kirishima entered the store, he took a cart and immediately started for the produce aisles. He rushed a little bit more than usual since he was on a time crunch. He might have picked up a few rotten apples. He wondered if it was okay to buy a few frozen boxes of pizzas instead of going all out on buying healthy foods this week, but he ultimately decided against it. It was when Kirishima was judging whether to buy wheat or white bread when he came across someone he wasn't expecting to see.

"Kirishima? Hey!"

Goodness gracious great balls of fire it was Jirou.

"Jirou!" Kirishima smiled a little too politely, "what a coincidence to see you here today!"

"Isn't it? Gosh, and today of all days too! We're going to see each other again at the reunion tonight, aren't we?" Jirou's smile, unlike Kirishima's, was genuine. Her black hair was slightly straighter than usual and her eyes seemed to be blown wider than what was typical of her. She was a little preoccupied with her overflowing shopping cart.

"That’s a lot of stuff that you have there," Kirishima chuckled. When Jirou looked back up to him, she was wearing a look of annoyance. She took one of her earphone jacks out of her phone to give Kirishima undivided attention.

"I go to my mom's place for one week and I come back to stupid Denki living off of take-out and fast food. He didn't go grocery shopping once. I've never seen a fridge so empty." Jirou huffed at her own joke and leaned on her cart in defeat, "So what are you in for?"

Kirishima smiled the same forceful smile from earlier as he replied, "Ah, nothing big. Tetsutetsu just went a little crazy last night is all." At least it wasn't a lie.

"We sure did get the short end of the stick when it came to living partners, huh?" Kirishima and Jirou shared smiles, "Well I'm almost done, do you want to finish this trip together then?"

Kirishima looked somewhere behind the short woman in front of him and then a quick glance at his watch. He couldn't just say no. "Yeah sure. I'm almost done as well."

"Ah, good," Jirou closed her eyes, "I was hoping that you could help me with something."

The two aspiring heroes browsed the store. Kirishima thought about any gift candidates for Jirou, but it really stressed him out. His eyes must have been overcast with the pressure of trying to choose the perfect anniversary gift for a couple who has been together for what seems like an eternity. While he was thinking about her interests, the perfect present came to mind.

It was simple enough to subtly steer Jirou into the music and video game section of the store, but for her to not see her gift would be quite a feat. Kirishima knew the bands that she liked from high school, he's aware that she had developed her music tastes into something different since then, but he was sure that she would appreciate some nostalgia in her life. While Jirou was occupied looking around at the newest game consoles, Kirishima snapped a picture of one of the rock album CDs that was on the rack. He sent the picture to Kaminari for confirmation.

To: Kami

[picture attached]

From: Kami

don't get that!! she already has that album
and a cd? who uses cds?

Kirishima clicked his tongue. He looked back to see if Jirou was still engaged in what she was looking at, and when he was sure that she was, he tapped a reply exasperatedly.

To: Kami

CDs are sentimental as shit dude
But that's beside the point, you didn't tell me that Jirou was going to be at the store today. At the same time as me.

From: Kami

man wtf why are you hanging out with her she is going to know that you were the one who got the gift for her

Kirishima puffed an annoyed breath. He paced up and down the aisle a few times before spotting a more recent album by an unmistakably more mellow grunge group. The genre better aligned with Jirou's recently developed diluted tastes, so Kirishima wasn't complaining. He took another picture, this time of the album in question.

To: Kami

[picture attached]
Is this one ok?

From: Kami

yeah! she has been talking about that band it's perfect
strange how such a current band would do something as retro as burning their album on a cd haha

"Oh, are you thinking about buying that album?" Jirou's voice could very well be the cause of Kirishima's impending grey hairs. Kirishima strained to look at the curious face.

"A friend has recommended it," Kirishima said dismissively.

"Well, now you have two recommendations! Because I have heard a few songs from this band and they're really nice," Jirou pauses, "I think it's about time I bought this album for myself."

Kirishima glared at his friend who blissfully and unknowingly plucked the CD off of the stand and into her congested shopping cart. She turned around with a satisfied smile. By this point, Kirishima was exhausted with trying to deal with this, so with hesitant commitment, he made up his mind to just make a mixtape for her by himself.

"So," Jirou walked slow enough for Kirishima to catch up with her, "About that favor I was going to ask you."

There was finally room for Kirishima to smile sincerely, even if it was small and tired, "Yes, what is it?"

"I need to find something to get Denki for our anniversary," Jirou said sheepishly. Kirishima's smile turned brighter and more humorous.

"Ah, you waited until last minute too, I take it?"

Jirou raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me? Our anniversary isn't until next week."

Kirishima's eyes squinted in a mix of anger and confusion, "Oh, is that so?"

"Yes," Jirou's quizzical look morphed into something more aggressive, "and what do you mean too? What are you talking about?"

"I just meant," Kirishima's skin grew slick, "You know how Kaminari is. He's told me stories about getting you something the day of. It was a joke."

Jirou returned from her threatening stance but her brows remained furrowed in accusation, "I see."

Kirishima's phone burned in his pocket. His fingers twitched with desire to ask Kaminari why he had made his day a living hell. In a tight fist, Kirishima's arms stayed stationary from where they held the handle of his cart.

"Honestly, it doesn't matter what you get Kaminari," Kirishima aimed a sweet smile at Jirou, "He's so smitten that he probably wouldn't care either way. It's the thought that counts."

Jirou flushed and sighed lovingly. The two of them made their way to check out.

On their way out of the store, Jirou requested help with the monster amount of groceries that she had to unload, and Kirishima graciously accepted. After the both of them made a stop at Kirishima's car to put away his things, they both embarked on the tedious adventure of grocery jenga.

"Are you excited to see everyone tonight?" Jirou grinned sweetly as she always had while she tried to organize the items neatly into her trunk.

"I am. It's been a while since we have all been in one place."

"I wonder how many of them are going to be there," she stopped talking to focus on transferring a twelve pack of toilet paper rolls into an empty space. With a huff, she continued, "Do you know?"

Kirishima tried to be courteous enough and try to load the heavy objects, but Jirou seemed to be beating him to it just to spite him, "Well Midoriya and Uraraka will be there for sure. I'm pretty sure all the girls will be there."

"Not Hagakure."

"We wouldn't be able to see her even if she did show up."

They laughed, Jirou slapped him on the shoulder playfully. They cease the senseless talk for a bit and clear out the bags for the most part. They only had a few more bags to rid of when Jirou started speaking again, "You don't think Bakugou will show up, do you?"

Kirishima's chest went icy hot in nervous pain. The task at hand suddenly became all too interesting for him. "No," he mumbled, "Uraraka wouldn't even invite him in the first place."

Jirou became soft, "Don't say things like that."

The last bag was pressed into the constricted trunk of Jirou's car and the back door forced shut. Jirou wiped imaginary dust off of her hands for effect. She beamed at Kirishima and waved, "Don't forget that you're driving Denki and me tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Kirishima turned around, yet kept his eyes on the other, "See you later, Jirou."

"Bye, Kirishima."

In Kirishima's car, he brought out his laptop. He created a new folder in his music file and added a few songs that he was into when he was going through his rock phase in middle school. Looking at the pictures on his phone that he took from earlier, he was able to salvage some songs from the album and download a few of them into the new folder. As a finishing touch, but mostly for realism, Kirishima included some songs that Kaminari likes. He plays around with the song order and is soon proud of his impromptu mixtape. Rummaging through his glovebox, he found an old flash drive that he previously used to back up his college essays.

A quick look at the time informed him that not only did he take longer on Jirou's gift than he thought, but he also needed to start getting ready to go to the reunion. He already had on his nice clothes, and he was quite sure that his hair looked nice too, the only thing left now was to pick up Kaminari and Jirou.

Driving to Kaminari's apartment came second nature to Kirishima since it was the only place where his friends were close to him. Kirishima hadn't talked to all of his classmates in a long time except for Kaminari and Jirou, and it was only because they were the only ones arounf. It was a saddening thought, but Kirishima is quite certain that he wouldn't have been as close to the two of them if they were spread out just like everyone else. It makes him wonder what kind of relationships he would have if the kilometers weren't in between.

Kirishima makes his stop right on the curb. He knows it's illegal to park on the road, but that street never saw a busy day in its existence. As he steps out of his vehicle, he is pleasantly surprised that Kaminari and Jirou had stepped out themselves. Jirou was sporting a ruffled floral shirt and her signature smile, while Kaminari wore a flattering white button up.

"Hello again!" Jirou waved.

"Hey, Kirishima."

"Hey," Kirishima motioned to his car, "You guys ready?" The couple nodded in unison, "Kaminari, your fly is down."

Kaminari looked down stupidly, "Shit. Thanks, man." As Kaminari zipped up his pants, Jirou pointedly looked off somewhere far. Her skin glistened with sweat that hinted at something distasteful.

Dating was gross.

As Kirishima said before, Kaminari is so blindly smitten with Jirou that he sits in the back with her, leaving Kirishima alone in the front. Kirishima drove quicker than usual; it could have been because they were running late or it could have been his excited nerves. Either way, no one in the car paid any attention. The three of them joked throughout the ride, their enthusiasm evident.

The club that Kirishima pulled into seemed to be having a slow day, whether it was because of the time or it was just a not well-known place, he didn't know. Kirishima backed into an empty space. Before he could even come to full stop, much less park, Jirou was opening the door.

"I haven't seen Momo in years!" Jirou's voice was almost quivering with happiness as she scuttled away and into the club.

"She's happy—"

"You asshole! Your anniversary isn't today, why the hell did you make me go through all that trouble?" Kirishima twisted uncomfortably at the torso to meet eyes with Kaminari.

"Where did you hear that?" Kaminari pressed his back against the seat, plainly intimidated.

"Oh, I don't know, your girlfriend? Your girlfriend that got her anniversary gift for you by herself today at the store?"

"Shit, really? What did she get me?"

Kirishima hardened his middle finger and flicked Kaminari on his sizable forehead, "Idiot! Why would I tell you that? You're so not manly, dude."

Kaminari made a pathetic squeak of pain and he retracted in on himself, "Ow," he straightened the slightest bit before he replied, "I don't know man, there is a lot resting on this gift. Over the years I have been gradually building up the heat, you know?" Kaminari looked away in embarrassment, "I want to propose to her next year. I don't want it to seem out of the blue."

Kirishima replied with an understanding, yet disappointed sigh. "I get it. But, I don't know, you shouldn't do this again," Kaminari nodded sheepishly, "And, also why do you want it so early? Jirou said that you guys have at least another week."

While Kirishima reached into the glove box for the flash drive, Kaminari laughed uncomfortably, "Yeah, uh, I wanted to wrap it up, but I'm shit at wrapping, and it's almost Christmas, so I wanted to go to one of those stations at the store and get it done all nice."

"You're hopeless," Kirishima laughed, handing the flash drive to his friend.

"Not without you, buddy."

"I had to make a custom playlist because Jirou literally came over and bought the album I was going to get. I bought some blank disks. She's techy, I'm sure that you can find a way to get the music on them."

Kaminari beamed, "You're a lifesaver. What's your deal with CDs though, it's kind of freaky."

"It's old school cheesy romantic! I even rearranged the song order to take her on some musical journey or whatever the fuck. She's going to love you."

"She already does!"

"I sure hope so."

Both of them left the car and shakily approached the club's entrance. The second that Kirishima walked in, he was calmed by the hot temperature and the warmly toned lights. The atmosphere gave him more of a restaurant vibe, there wasn't too much social interaction, it just felt like a really mellow place. Kirishima couldn't describe the feeling he felt when he saw the faces of his old friends.

They called out his name, Ashido nearly knocked him over with her hug, better characterized as a tackle. Kirishima reciprocated, a little out of breath. "Kirishima! You’ve gotten so big!"

"What are you, my aunt?" Ashido laughed boisterously at his inquiry.

"Nothing short!" She looked Kirishima up and down, "But seriously."

"I hope big means tall."

"Big means wide!" Ashido punches his bicep. Before Kirishima could retort, Sero marched over and brought another punch to his arm.

"If it isn't Red Riot. Looking cute as ever," Sero winked.

"Hey, Sero. Hair looking greasy as ever." Kirishima mimicked. He laughed loudly in response to the friendly headlock that he was subjected to.

"Kirishima!" Sero ceased his torment on the boy in question, allowing him to see who called his name. It was a small voice, a voice that he certainly knew.

As he walked over, he had kindly greeted many. He said hello to Tokoyami, Shouji, Ojiro, and Aoyama, who were all sitting at one table; Ojiro's poor tail was already being subjected to harassment by Kaminari. He also gave a small wave to Yaoyorozu, who had tears in her eyes, undoubtedly due to her meeting with Jirou again. He came across the booth where the person had called his name.

"Nice to see you guys again." Kirishima took a seat on the empty side of the booth across from the couple.

"Nice to see you, Kirishima!" Uraraka greeted, Midoriya beaming next to her.

"Congratulations to you two for becoming pros." The wide-eyed duo blushed simultaneously.

"Thanks, you too," Midoriya replied conversationally, his smile proud and flattered. Kirishima had technically become a pro hero, but he hadn't done anything significant since college. He certainly wasn't doing as well as Midoriya and Uraraka, who were already on the leaderboard around the tens and twenties.

Nevertheless, Kirishima took the compliment. "I'm so glad you're here, people were starting to wonder if you weren't going to show up," Uraraka sighed, "Everyone wouldn't have been so keen if that ended up being the case."

Kirishima took this moment to look at the two heroes in front of him. He hadn't noticed it before since it was so subtle, but Uraraka had gotten her hair cut shorter into a bob. It suited her face well, which seemed to be less troubled. Midoriya looks almost the same except he had filled out. He just took up more room, or as Ashido would say it, he just looked wider. As Kirishima kept staring, he realized that Midoriya actually did look quite diferent, the descriptor would suit him better if it was much wider. If he kept going down that path, Midoriya was fit to be as muscular as All Might was, pretty soon.

"Everyone looks really happy," Kirishima looked around contently, "It's like nothing has changed."

"Yep! It's just like a family!" Uraraka chirped.

"I wouldn't say that," Midoriya chuckled nervously.

"And why wouldn't you?"

"Wouldn't it be a little incestuous?" Midoriya's question made Uraraka gasp. Kirishima found it quite humorous.

"Izuku!"

"I mean, we're all dating each other, I wouldn't quite call us a family."

The two of them started to bicker. It was nice to see everyone getting along so nicely. When Kirishima looked behind him, he saw Iida and Todoroki sitting across from each other at another booth. They were both speaking quietly to the other, and as a greeting, they simply nodded their heads.

"Speaking of incest!" Uraraka said dismissively and defeatedly.

Kirishima turned back around, "Please don't ever change a subject like that."

Uraraka ignored Midoriya's resulting laugh that was muffled in his arm, "Get used to calling me Ochako, Kirishima. I'm getting a name change."

Kirishima raised an eyebrow, "A name change? To what?"

"Midoriya Ochako." She grabbed Midoriya's left hand and held it up, showing a thin, golden band around his ring finger.

Kirishima's eyes widened. His eyes drifted to Midoriya, who was smiling wide, if not a little timid. He didn't know how he was surprised, "Well congratulations again! Why didn't you propose to her first, Midoriya? Or should I say Izuku?"

Midoriya went red. He opened his mouth to speak, but Uraraka beat him to the punch, "I had to propose to him! I knew he would have never done it himself, he's always too busy thinking about hero work."

"I swear thought about it a little bit!" Midoriya defended.

"But did you do it?"

Midoriya sighed in a way that made it clear that they had that conversation before. "Everyone seems to be getting married these days," Kirishima contributed.

This perked their ears, "Really? Who else is getting married?"

Kirishima breathed a short laugh, he wasn't sure that Kaminari would have taken too kindly to having his secret told, "Ah, I just mean in general. People this age, you know."

The front doors to the club swing open hostile enough for it to make a sound. This turns the heads of many. Kirishima can't quite get a look at whoever came in, but Midoriya did, because his head whipped right back around, "Ochako, why is he here? Did you invite him?"

Sweating visibly, Uraraka turned around as well, "I didn't think he would come! I did it to be courteous, plus I'm sure he's toned down since then!"

"Ochako, you know what happened the last time we ever saw him—"

The world was soon tuned out for Kirishima. The once comforting atmosphere of the room closed in. It became too hot, Kirishima's clothes were embarrassingly stuck to his sticky, sweaty body. The lights hanging from the ceiling made for an uncomfortable contrast that was painful for his eyes to look at.

Kirishima saw it in slow motion as dusty hair bounced from the male's exaggerated gait. Dark eyes peered condescendingly out from under strained and downturned eyebrows. The man had shoulders broad enough to encapsulate buildings, he had footsteps that were loud enough to be deafening. With every looming step, the man chimed, hinting at shiny items in his pockets. The club went so suddenly silent that Kirishima's ears were pierced with the absence.

He hadn't seen Bakugou in years.

For his comfort, Kirishima moved his elbows farther apart from where they rested on the table. He did this in an attempt to air out the sweat from his underarms while Midoriya and Uraraka stayed ducked down and whispering about the circumstance. Kirishima focused on the brown of the table, begging in vain to any system of faith to have Bakugou pass him by.

Bakugou signified his last step with a stomp. He stopped right at the end of the booth where Kirishima sat with Midoriya and Uraraka. Kirishima couldn't look the blonde in the eye. The only thing that he could see was the bottom of a dirtied jacket that he could only guess was green before it was discolored with dust.

"Deku."

Kirishima flinched at Bakugou's voice. He never remembered it being that deep and filling.

"Round face."

Knowing what was to come, Kirishima shamefully lifted his head to meet those red eyes. He felt stripped as they raked him slowly from his toes to the tips of his hair. Bakugou's eyes burned across the surface of Kirishima's skin and left marks in its wake.

"Kirishima." The utterance of his name was infinitely intimate compared to the mumblings of the previous words. Kirishima was sure that everyone in the establishment heard the resonant voice declare his name.

Swallows sounded from the other three at the table. Bakugou waited for no response as he sat down in the empty space next to Kirishima. There was nothing to cause Bakugou and Kirishima to be so far apart, but Kirishima still felt like something was literally pushing him to the wall that the booth was mounted on. The only place he could look was at Uraraka's tight, worried smile. Looking at Midoriya would make him break down.

"I'm surprised that you came, Bakugou!" Uraraka rested her head against her palm.

"Were you not counting on it?" The whole table was taken aback by the gruff straightforwardness.

Uraraka kept her supposedly indifferent demeanor, "it's just that you live so far away! I also wasn't sure if you had gotten a new email, especially since you hadn't replied."

"I shouldn't have to reply to the likes of you. You should be grateful."

"I am. I thought you would be able to tell by the way that I'm acting." Kirishima saw Midoriya jerk his head to look at Uraraka from the corner of his eye. What she was saying was too daring to be considered safe.

Bakugou raised his voice, "Are you insulting my intelligence?"

Uraraka knew the look that Midoriya was giving her, so she simply replied, "I would never." But the look on her face replied You said it, not me.

"As for your move," Midoriya's voice had deepened over the years, but as he spoke to Bakugou it was like he had reverted back all the way to middle school, "Where are you living?"

The table shook in response to Bakugou slamming his elbows into it. Kirishima scrunched his eyes closed, expecting an outburst that never came. "It's irrelevant. I'm moving back here."

Kirishima's heart dropped from his chest to his stomach and then fell out of the bottom of his jacket. He was afraid to open his closed fists in fear that a puddle of sweat would spill onto the table.

"You're moving back?" Uraraka asked with fake interest, "May I ask why?"

Frightened eyes meet. It was obvious that Midoriya was fearing the feisty undertones in Uraraka's words, it was obvious that Midoriya was afraid of Bakugou catching on to this feistiness. "I'm creating my own agency. What better place than the central business district?"

Bile burned off layers of skin from Kirishima's throat. He heard Bakugou's smile, he tasted his arrogance in the air. He never wanted to be in the presence of this man ever again.

"That's great!" Midoriya's voice cracks.

"What do you think about that, Kirishima?" Bakugou asked.

Kirishima swallowed once, twice, three times, "Good luck."

Kirishima refused to look at anyone after that. "You've been quiet. Have you finally learned your lesson?"

Done with it, Kirishima straightened his back as high as he could get it and turned most of his body to face the man taking his personal space, "What's your problem?"

Bakugou bared his teeth, "What's yours." It was said in a way that suggested an end, "I'm going over there. You are all mind-numbingly boring."

The table lets out a collective breath at Bakugou's relocation. Midoriya immediately turned to Uraraka and they started arguing about what just happened, this time Uraraka was more apologetic. Kirishima couldn't comprehend the sounds, so he just sat in silence, waiting for the ringing in his ears to subside. As it faded out, so had the argument across from him. Uraraka and Midoriya awkwardly resumed back into a conversation. It was easier than before, yet the word choice was still quiet and cautious. The two of them could gather that Kirishima wasn't quite ready to contribute, so they just let him listen to their unrelated ramblings.

Things started loosening up after the consumption of a few drinks, Kirishima just had to remember not to look too far past Midoriya and Uraraka so he wasn't reminded or Bakugou's presence. An hour or two passes, and another person walks through the door. It was a gentle movement; the whole group was unaware that anyone had even come in until the small woman was already in front of their eyes.

Kirishima spotted Asui approaching, yet he kept quiet about it because he suspected a surprise for Uraraka. Kirishima and Asui instead exchanged eyebrow raises as a greeting. Uraraka noticed the loud clacking of boots so she turned her head slightly to see the source. When she realized who it was, her body spun around and stood, enveloping Asui in an embrace. Asui hugged her back tightly, and when Uraraka and Asui sat down, they held hands across the table. They both had waterfalls streaming from their eyes; Kirishima tried not to look, as he was a sympathetic crier and was very likely to tear up himself.

"I missed you so much, Tsuyu!" Uraraka warbled.

"I missed you too, Ochako, you have no idea," Asui croaked.

Midoriya and Kirishima shared chuckles at this, "The intern gang is back together!" Midoriya stated.

Asui nodded, "I almost didn't notice," she sniffed. Asui gave Kirishima a side hug, "Nice to see you, Kirishima. You too, Midoriya."

Soon Asui began drinking. Everyone was buzzed to the point to forget about their problems and soon enough, the sky was black and the street lights were shining. Kirishima had to keep it light since he had to drive home that night, but he still indulged. All things must come to an end, and as such, people started hugging each other goodbye, people were crying, it was a mess. Almost everyone who attended made sure to come up to Kirishima and leave him with a hug and a phone number before they left. Jirou and Kaminari informed him that they would be taking a cab home and thanked him for driving them that day. This happened until the only ones left were Kirishima, Midoriya, and Uraraka.

They all hugged each other, just as all the others did, and repeated the basic goodbyes. Kirishima was the last one left in the club. He checked his phone to add in all of the phone numbers that he had gotten and then started out the door. Just as he was about to hang a right, he saw Bakugou standing on the curb. Kirishima had almost forgotten that he was there. He was going to try and walk past him, he had to.

"Where are you going?" Bakugou demanded.

"Home." Kirishima kept walking.

"Hey, could you tell me something?" Bakugou took a step, "Why are you acting like such a little bitch?"

Kirishima inhaled through his nose as he stopped in his tracks, "Why are you still here? Don't you have a place to stay or something?"

A growl rumbled in Bakugou's throat. The man behind him was quiet for a long while. Kirishima turned so that his shoulders were parallel to Bakugou's. "I took the bus here," Bakugou mumbled.

"Are you waiting for the bus?"

"It's out of service right now," Bakugou kept his gaze to his feet, "Idiot."

Kirishima's eyebrows furrowed, "Are you waiting for a taxi?"

Bakugou kicked at the ground, his eyes squinted in frustration, "I don't have any money on me."

Baffled, Kirishima responded, "I can pay for you—"

"I don't want to take a fucking cab."

"Then why are you out here? What are you waiting for?"

Bakugou's fingers visibly twitched. After what seemed like an instance of inner battle, Bakugou lifted his eyes to meet Kirishima's, "I guess I'm waiting," Bakugou looked downward again, "For you."

Kirishima flinched at the suggestion; he wanted to be disgusted that Bakugou had the audacity to try and get under his skin like this again. Kirishima hadn't noticed before, but Bakugou's nose took on the color of his eyes from the cold. "Would," Kirishima breathed, "Would you like me to drive you home?"

Bakugou said nothing. When Kirishima got in his car, Bakugou sat next to him in the passenger seat.

While Bakugou was telling Kirishima the directions to the place he was staying, it only got clearer and clearer. Halfway there, Kirishima realized that the place Bakugou was directing him towards was the same house that he lived in all of those years ago. Bakugou's parent's house. He didn't comment on this of course, especially since he didn’t want to be in this situation in the first place. Throughout the ride, Kirishima gathered that Bakugou didn't drink as much as he did since he had rudely and harshly kept Kirishima from veering off of the road numerous times. With the things that Bakugou was saying, it seems like he was trying to spark the part of Kirishima that he was never willing to show to him again.

Kirishima stopped in front of the familiar house and expected a quick and easy leave. He expected Bakugou to disappear and Kirishima never had to deal with him again.

"What the fuck happened to you?"

In a flurry of sudden anger, Kirishima bared his sharp teeth, "You have no right to ask that. Get out of my car."

And so he did. In a way, Kirishima got the quick and easy leave that he wanted. He watched Bakugou begrudgingly exit his car, and he watched him walk up the porch and go into his house. During the time that Kirishima was driving back to his apartment, the question burned bitter like coffee on his tongue.