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Bakugou didn't know what he was expecting really, he had gone his whole life without colour until the moment he walked into the spiky-haired idiot and he wasn't ready for how vibrant everything was.
Shit.
He was taken aback, trying to look at everything at once to see what they were really like without the black and white filter. In fact, he was too busy trying to get to know his surroundings that he didn't even look down at who he had walked into, that was until the boy who had been knocked to the floor spoke up,
"Holy hell..." He mumbled also glancing around trying to take in the overwhelming sight of colour for the first time, Bakugou glared down that the boy hoping to scare him off, praying to any god that would listen that maybe just maybe he could walk away and pretend that this had never happened.
Praying that he didn't have a fucking soulmate like he had been told millions of times as a kid and that whoever the hell this dumbass would turn out to be was just some random guy he would never have to see again, but alas, the gods didn't hear his prayers, or better yet they did and just felt like fucking with him.
The boy who had been knocked to the ground was wearing a Yuuei school uniform.
Shit shit shit.
In his hands was a form, which he had been looking at when he and Bakugou had walked into each other, with his class printed on it in bold, Class 1-A, same as himself.
Shit shit shit shit shit.
Bakugou was ready to yell, he was ready to threaten the punk's life if that was what it took to get him to promise to never speak to him again. He was all too ready to tear the guy a new one, his mind was plagued with ways he could make fun of the idiot to get him to leave, the horrifically bright spiked up hair would be a good start. Bakugou opened his mouth to sneer but then the guy did something unexpected, something that made Bakugou's heart lurch.
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!
The second the two's eyes met, the guy below him smiled at him. It wasn't just a regular smile either, it was brighter than anything Bakugou had ever seen before, and he just saw the sun in full colour for the first time.
His teeth were weird and sharp like he had a fucking bear trap in his mouth, Bakugou subconsciously took note of the creases that appeared around his eyes when he smiled and instantly decided that whatever the colour of his hair was his favourite, blue? Pink? Orange? Whatever it was he liked it, he liked it a lot.
He could feel his scowl melting away despite how hard he was trying to keep it fixed in place, he wanted nothing more than to just walk away without another word yet he could feel his arm reaching out to help the dumbass up and even though his mind was screaming at him to stop he just couldn't.
Once the boy was back on his feet he grinned even wider than before, if that was even possible, and Bakugou noticed how the boy's eyes matched his hair and made a mental note to ask if that was why his hair was the colour it was (even he could tell that people didn't have hair like that naturally, with all the people wondering about this boy was the only one with hair that particular shade)
"I'm Kirishima, Kirishima Eijirou," The boy, now known as Kirishima, said breathlessly, Bakugou gulped and opened his mouth praying that sound would come out, thankfully his prayers were answered this time around,
"Bakugou Katsuki," He said as his eyes darted around Kirishima's face drinking in all his features at once as he had done with his surroundings just moments before, he quickly realised that the two were still holding hands and he pulled his away, the last thing he needed was his palms to get too sweaty and for his quirk to go off.
He thrust his hand into his pocket and stared at Kirishima without saying a word, Bakugou was at a loss, he had never felt like this before, he had never felt nervous in his life let alone flustered!
"So...?" Kirishima said awkwardly, Bakugou realised that the two were just stood in the middle of the pavement unsure of what to do next, his eyes scanned the area searching for somewhere for them to go, he noticed a bench and inwardly sighed in relief.
He jerked his head towards the bench and made a low sound that indicated to Kirishima that he wanted him to follow as he stumbled over and took a seat,
"So," Bakugou said, he let the word roll off his tongue as if testing it out as he desperately tried to think of something to say, without thinking he blurt out the first thing he could think of, "What's with the hair?" he asked in a gruff voice as he turned to face the boy sat beside him,
"Oh yeah, well the colour is called red and I asked the guy who did it to dye my hair the brightest colour he could think of, that way when my soulmate found me it would be easy to tell that they could now see colour!" Kirishima said grinning again, red huh? Before his mind could be flooded with thoughts about his love for the colour red Bakugou stopped himself,
"How fucking stupid would I have to be if I couldn't tell that everything had colour now?" He deadpanned as he felt his usual scowl returning, Kirishima seemed unfazed by Bakugou's scowl and continued grinning,
"Guess I didn't really think of that huh?" He said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Bakugou made a 'tch' sounds and rolled his eyes, any tension he had before slowly dissipated as he realised how fucking dumb Kirishima was, the red-head gazed at him hopefully, "But do you like it?" He asked sounding nervous, Bakugou thought about his answer carefully, what was he supposed to say in a situation like this?
If he told the truth he would practically yell that he loved it, that he loved how the shade matched Kirishima's eyes perfectly and seemed to make his smile even brighter, but he didn't want to come across as some sappy shit so he decided on being lowkey about it,
"It suits you, shitty hair for a shitty brain," He said grinning slightly, thankfully Kirishima could tell he was kidding (though only just) and laughed slightly, Bakugou savoured the sound and memorised everything about it,the way his voice seemed to go up an octave and how he thankfully didn't have a cackle-like laugh, it was more of a soft giggle.
"It's not that different from your's really," Kirishima said flicking one of Bakugou's pale spikes, his mother had informed him that the colour was called blonde, Bakugou swat his hand away,
"Yeah but from the looks of it your shitty spikes are styled, mine are natural dumbass," He explained coldly, Kirishima only laughed once more causing Bakugou's cheeks to be dusted with a lighter shade of red,
"Good point bro," Kirishima said grinning still, it was then and there Bakugou decided that maybe his soulmate wasn't the worst person in the world, hell some poor sod had Deku as a fucking soulmate for Christ's sake.
"By the way," Kirishima began, "Do you mind if I ask you a question? It's not weird or anything it's just something I've been wondering..." He asked awkwardly trailing off as he did so, Bakugou glanced at him,
"Shoot," He said as he sank lower on the bench, Kirishima grinned slightly as if he was embarrassed to be asking the question, "I said go on Shitty Hair!" Bakugou growled impatiently,
"What colour are my eyes?" Kirishima asked staring directly into Bakugou's, Bakugou stared back slightly confused,
"No ones ever told you?" He asked, his confusion clear in his voice, Kirishima nodded gingerly,
"No ones ever cared enough to tell me," He stated simply, Bakugou was even more confused now,
"Not even your parents?" Kirishima laughed once again, but it was different this time, it was short and harsh with no real warmth behind it like before, Bakugou watched as Kirishima's eyes saddened slightly as he gazed at the ground,
"My mother couldn't see colour either. My father wasn't her soulmate so she did him and left," He said softly, "I was just an added bonus," His voice was sad and slightly sarcastic, Bakugou hated it. It became all too clear that the boy only saw himself as a burden and even though he had only known the ray of sunshine that was Kirishima Eijirou for less than ten minutes Bakugou knew that wasn't the case.
He was his soulmate for god sake! Bakugou looked deep into Kirishima's eyes as if staring into his soul and decided that he wouldn't hold back with this one,
"They're the same colour as your hair, bright and happy. They suit you, happy eyes for a sappy shit," Bakugou explained not breaking eye contact or cracking a snarky smile, he wanted to say so much more but for the time being, he decided that would be enough. He had only known his soulmate for a short while so he couldn't start spouting off poems about his fucking eyes now, could he?
It seemed to be enough for Kirishima however, as his face lost its sad hue that it had slowly been developing and was back to normal, in fact, it was even brighter than before,
"Thanks man, I'm kinda glad my soulmate was the first person to tell me the colour of my eyes! How cool is that!" He said gazing at Bakugou with a childlike wonder that amazed the blonde. He realised there was a lot to learn about his soulmate, and even though he would never admit it in a million years he was sort of excited to learn, he was looking forward to getting to know all about Kirishima Eijirou.
10 years ago they had met, it seemed so long ago to the boys now. They were 26 and had been married for two years and somehow they had managed to keep their relationship out of the way of the tabloids for the sake of their own personal safety and privacy.
What was even more impressive though was that they had managed to keep Kaminari and Mina from excitedly letting something slip during a press conference, people already speculated that Ground Zero and Red Riot were closer than they said so it wouldn't be hard for fans to connect the dots with a helping hand from the two idiots.
In fact, they had almost let the secret out themselves after people caught them getting too close while patrolling or when one of the two had fallen asleep leaning against the other in public, but with how close Kirishima and Kaminari were at times it was easy to cover up and pretend they were 'Bro Hugs' as Kirishima liked to call them.
Bakugou wasn't really one for public affection however so incidences where they were caught getting too close were rare, but that didn't mean that he and Kirishima weren't close when they weren't Ground Zero and Red Riot, oh no. Off the streets and out of uniform the two were practically inseparable, shoulders constantly brushing together and hands draped lazily over each other, they were soulmates after all, they were the other's perfect match.
Bakugou and Kirishima were the perfect examples of the word soulmate, sure their group of friends had also all met their soulmates, but all of them would admit that Kirishima and Bakugou were about as close as you could get to a partner, if not closer.
Despite their best efforts to keep their relationship out of the watchful eye of the public Bakugou and Kirishima had become a pair in the hero community, hardly ever taking jobs without the other and always being the first to show up when the other was hurt or needed help. Now that he thought about it, Bakugou realised what a miracle it was that nobody had connected the dots.
As he sat at his desk filling out the paperwork from his last job he silently thanked the gods that the GroundRiot fanbase was as dense as it was, he and Kirishima were lucky enough to have respectful fans that shot down any shippers straight away. They all knew the two had found their soulmates, as they could see colour, and the majority believed them when they said that they just wanted to keep their partners out of the papers.
Bakugou groaned, paperwork was a bitch to deal with especially when it meant he couldn't go out on jobs with Kirishima, he knew the shitty haired idiot could take care of himself but that never stopped him from worrying that just maybe something bad could happen to him, that maybe today would be the day he got the alert that something had happened to Kirishima on the field.
It had happened plenty of times before, and even though Kirishima came out fine in the end the pulse of black and white vision void of all colour that would appear when the other was, possibly, fatally injured was one of the most terrifying things Bakugou had ever experienced.
He felt bad for worrying about Kirishima, he felt horrible for seemingly underestimating the person most dear to him but he couldn't help it, Bakugou and Kirishima had arguably the most dangerous job in the world and it was only natural for them to worry. But he knew it was nothing, he knew the feeling in the pit of his stomach was just bullshit anxiety that stemmed from the fact that they were starting the nightshift, Kirishima had just gone out on a regular night patrol, Bakugou had nothing to worry about! But why did he feel so off?
He shook the feeling away, he had other things he needed to be focusing on, Kirishima could take care of himself just fine.
And with that Bakugou didn't think anymore of it, he continued typing away ignoring how uneasy he felt, ignoring the urge to pick up his phone and dial Kirishima's number to double check he was ok, fighting against the feeling that he should jump up and forget the paper work and go join Kirishima on patrol.
At the time Bakugou thought he was just being ridiculous, that he was overreacting, but he would soon come to regret his decision to stay put, it would become the biggest regret of his life.
The alert came just after it turned dark. The office alarms were screaming and flashing a dangerous shade of red that lit up the darkness from outside, as Bakugou jumped to his feet he read the warning that had caused the system to kick into overdrive;
'Explosion on office patrol root'
Bakugou felt his mouth run dry, quickly he shut off the alarms' lights that were starting to get on his nerves and glanced at the picture of him and Kirishima sat on his desk, his face drained of colour and his breathing became quick, short and sharp; Kirishima's bright red hair was dulled considerably. His eyes darted around the room looking for a sign that he was wrong, but there was no avoiding it; the colour in the room was draining.
"Eijirou!" Bakugou muttered, his voice low and cracking as he did so, he could feel his hands shaking and clenched them in an attempt to calm the quivering.
Without a second thought he ran from the room, he ran down the office halls, he charged past Kaminari and Sero who were frantically trying to get ready so they could answer the alert properly.
Bakugou didn't care about formalities right now and kept running, he ignored the sound of Sero's panicked yells asking him if Kirishima was ok, there wasn't time.
Once he was out on the street it was clear where the explosion had taken place, thick black smoke was rising across the street to the left of him. Civilians were running away in the other direction terrified, most wearing only pyjamas and robes as they fled down the dark damp street. Bakugou didn't have time to worry about them, he had to get to Kirishima before he did anything else.
He charged down the street not bothering to be mindful about the people trying to get past him, if they got in his way that was their problem and he had to get to the sight of the explosion as fast as possible, Kaminari and the others could deal with the civilians he had to focus on Kirishima.
Once he arrived at the explosion sight the hole in the bottom of his stomach doubled in size. The building was in shambles, the entire thing had been reduced to a smouldering pile of rubble with little left intact, anybody inside had no hope of surviving.
Bakugou stood staring completely still for a second, he was unsure of where to go from here, was Kirishima inside the building or not? He didn't have to wait long however as the shifting of a pile of rubble followed by another pulse of black and white indicated where Kirishima was located. Bakugou ran forward his feet pounding against the cracked concrete, the sharp rubble digging into the soles of his boots as he charged towards where he hoped Kirishima was.
Once he reached the pile of rubble his breathing was quick and erratic, as if he had just run a marathon, his entire body had broken out into a cold sweat and he was slightly afraid that his quirk would go off and hurt Kirishima.
Bakugou walked around the rubble trying to find a better angle so he could start digging without a chance of harming the red-head, but as soon as he made it to the other side of the pile he stopped dead in his tracks; hot tears started to pool in his eyes and threatened to spill, there was Kirishima lying on the ground, the lower half of his torso downwards had been crushed underneath the rubble.
"Ei!" Bakugou cried rushing down to his husband, the man's breathing hitched slightly at the sound of Bakugou's voice and he slowly peeled his eyes open,
"Suki'...." He mumbled barely above a whisper as he reached a shaking hand out to the blonde crouching beside him, instantly Bakugou sized Kirishima's hand and shakily raised it to his face and brushed a gentle kiss against his fingers as he carefully shifted Kirishima's head on to his lap,
"Jesus fucking Christ Shitty Hair... why didn't you activate your quirk or something?" He asked tearfully with no real venom behind his words, Kirishima grunted slightly as he shifted under the rubble,
"The.... villain had a nullification quir-" He was cut off by a coughing fit that was met with a dangerous amount of blood coming up along with it, Bakugou quietly smoothed down his hair hushing him,
"Shut the fuck up, the last thing we need is you talking yourself to death," Bakugou said in a hushed tone, his voice was softer than it usually was and he guessed it was because of fear, fear that he wouldn't be able to save Kirishima and that he would lose the light of his life and colour all at once.
"M-My legs... I can't even f-eel them anymore... how bad are they?" Kirishima asked shakily, Bakugou pressed his forehead softly against the other's and clenched his jaw,
"To tell you the truth I have no idea Ei," He said placing a small kiss on Kirishima's head, "I can't dig you out either because the building is the only thing keeping your dumbass from bleeding to death," He explained, Kirishima slowly nodded and closed his eyes once more,
"Hey, hey, no!" Bakugou said tapping Kirishima's cheek gently, "Don't fall asleep on me now I need you conscious," He said as he began to slowly rub his thumb against the cheek, Kirishima's laboured breaths became shallower and his hair became duller and duller.
Shit
"I'm serious dumbass!" He said the tears spilling over now as his voice cracked, Kirishima slowly opened his eyes again, his face more pained than before,
"Please don't cry Katsuki..." He mumbled reaching up to gently touch the other on the cheek,
"What the fuck am I supposed to do? Your hair-!" He was full on sobbing now, Kirishima seemed to get what he meant and let out a choked chuckle,
"Guess I really am screwed then huh?" He said through wheezy breaths, Bakugou clutched his hand to his face and cried harder,
"No, no you're fucking not!" He said as he dropped Kirishima's hand in order to press his forehead against the other's once again, he knew that his tears were probably spilling onto Kirishima's face but he didn't care, he just wanted him to be okay.
"Katsuki," Bakugou opened his eyes, lines of dust had been cleared from Kirishima's face from the tears. He cracked a weak smile, Bakugou looked for the familiar creases that appeared whenever Kirishima smiled but this time they were nowhere to be seen, instead a worried line between his brows took their place making Bakugou cry harder, Kirishima was scared and it was all his fucking fault.
"Please do something for me..." Kirishima muttered looking deep into Bakugou's eyes, he could feel his heart breaking, the usually bright red irises were now nothing more than a light grey with hints of a weak red,
"Anything Eijirou!" His voice cracked again but Bakugou didn't fucking care anymore,
"Kiss me..." Kirishima muttered leaning upwards slightly, Bakugou didn't need to be told twice, he pressed his lips against Kirishima's and instantly the two melted together like pieces of a puzzle. Despite his current situation Kirishima still tasted the same, sweet like cinnamon that accompanied chapped lips. Bakugou ignored the metallic taste of blood and kissed deeper and with more passion, he could feel Kirishima smiling into the kiss, something he did often, and although it was considerably weaker than usual it was still reassuring.
Once they pulled apart for air Bakugou was happy to see that Kirishima had lost the deep frown line and now had more of a content smile, warm and friendly like the ones he sported in the mornings when he was too tired to grin like the idiot he was,
"One more thing..." He asked, his voice was weaker than before and his eyes had closed once again, Bakugou scoffed playfully no longer sobbing, the tears were still present but the sobbing had stopped,
"Last thing Shitty Hair..." He mumbled as their noses remained pressed against each other,
"What colour are my eyes?" He whispered opening them slowly, Bakugou's breath caught in his throat, that had always been a special question for them, Bakugou had been the first to tell Kirishima how brilliant they were so he always made a point of asking Bakugou what colour they were after any incident where one of them was hurt.
"Brilliant," He pressed a soft kiss against Kirishima's bloodied lips, "Dazzling," Another soft peck making Kirishima chuckle softly, "The most brilliant shade of red there is!" This time the kiss lingered slightly as Bakugou didn't want to pull away, if he could feel Kirishima's breath that meant he was alive, and that was good enough for Bakugou. As long as the shitty-haired dumbass was alive then everything would be okay.
"Good to know," Kirishima said closing his eyes again, his breathing was becoming slower and uneven, it was steadily turning into nothing more than a wet hiss, Bakugou pressed his cheek against Kirishima's,
"Eijirou please!" He said voice cracking once more, "What am I meant to do without you?" He asked pitifully, voice low and desperate,
"I'm- sorry," Kirishima spluttered quietly, Bakugou shook his head crying harder and harder,
"No fuck you! Don't be sorry this wasn't your fault!" He cried squeezing his eyes shut tight as he grabbed Kirishima's hand to hold in his own, Kirishima gave Bakugou's palm a light squeeze,
"I l-love you Kats-uki..." He muttered trailing off at the end, Bakugou opened his eyes,
"I love you too Eijirou!" He spluttered through rough sobs, Kirishima smiled softly once more, he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by another coughing fit, Kirishima couldn't stop coughing and Bakugou couldn't stop the blood, everything was muffled like someone had filled his head with cotton wool.
Kirishima could feel Bakugou shaking him gently and assumed he was yelling, well crying more like, but he couldn't hear him. Kirishima just wanted to be able to hold Bakugou and tell him everything would be ok, he wanted to wrap him up in his arms and just stay there with him, existing together. But he couldn't.
I'm sorry Katsuki...
Bakugou stared in horror as the last of the colour drained from Kirishima's hair. The once vibrant shade of red was now nothing more than a dark grey, the blood that covered his chest was no longer red but grey.
"Eijirou?" He begged, "Ei?!" He was becoming frantic and gently shook Kirishima once more in an attempt to wake the red-head up, "Eijirou please!" He cried, no answer.
Bakugou pressed his ear to Kirishima's mouth hoping, praying that he would be able to hear or feel his breath against his skin, nothing.
Bakugou carefully placed Kirishima's head on the ground and pressed his head against the other's chest in a vain attempt to find a heartbeat, once again, nothing.
"Eijirou!" He screamed, he pulled the other into a strong embrace with shaking arms as he cried into Kirishima's shoulder begging still, his sobbing made his cries incoherent but he didn't stop.
It took ten more minutes for Kaminari and Sero to be finished with the villain and to arrive on scene, they heard Bakugou before they saw him, he was howling like a wounded animal, a cold sad unnerving sound that could only be described as heartbreak. They had never seen him cry in their 10 years of friendship and were expecting the worse as they rounded the pile of rubble.
But they weren't ready for what they saw, nothing, nothing from hero training could prepare them for the sight that met their eyes.
Bakugou was clutching Kirishima's lifeless form in his arms as he sobbed violently. Because Kirishima was gone and the colour had drained from his life, he had nothing left. It had all been ripped away from him at once in one cold, ruthless action.
Kirishima was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.