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Bakugou Katsuki was reading a book and minding his own business when he got the phone call. His phone was on vibrate--only assholes and old people keep their ringer on--so he didn't realize at first. Barely anybody called him besides his mom and maybe Kirishima, but he hadn't seen him all day. So it was rather a surprise when he heard a buzzing on his nightstand. He stared suspiciously at the unknown number before ultimately deciding to pick up. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. He swiped across the screen, answering the call and ending the annoying as shit vibrating.
"Hello?" he said in a bored tone, laying down on his bed. At first he heard only sirens, which made him more annoyed than concerned. He watched YouTube videos; he knew how prank calls went. Next they'd be asking if his refrigerator was running or some shit. He was about to hang up when he heard a man's voice.
"Is this Bakugou Katsuki?"
Now Bakugou was a little shaken. Not only did these scammers have his number, but they also knew his name. His mom would kill him if he got onto one of those scammer lists that take forever to get off. Still, he kept his voice even.
"What do you want?" He hoped they wouldn't notice the hesitation before his answer.
"This is Sargent Tsukauchi. I'm calling to regretfully inform you that Kirishima Eijirou got into a car accident."
Bakugou's ears started ringing, all thoughts of scammers obliterated. He sat up suddenly, ignoring the blood that suddenly rushed to his head and blurred his vision.
"This is a fucking joke, right?" he managed to hiss out, thinking about Kirishima. He just saw him yesterday, perfectly healthy, shoving as many marshmallows as he could into his mouth. There's no fucking way he could be hurt. Or worse. Bakugou shut his eyes tight, anticipating the response.
"I'm afraid not. He's unconscious right now and has a broken leg, but besides that he seems to be doing just fine."
Bakugou released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. His relief was soon replaced with anger, as it always was.
"Why didn't you fucking tell me that in the first place?" he growled, forgetting that he was talking to a police officer and not really caring. His only concern was on Kirishima's well being. "I was... annoyed." He almost said worried, but didn't want the cop to hear him bothered. Weak.
Even when your possibly only friend could've died, you still won't let yourself feel anything but anger, the shitty voice in his head nagged. He blocked it out, focusing on the phone pressed to his ear hard enough to leave marks on his face. The officer thankfully didn't say anything about Bakugou's language, instead returning to the situation at hand.
"I always start every phone call like that to get your attention. With all these scammers out here, you don't want people hanging up the phone before we can get the message through."
"Is that what happened with his parents?" Bakugou asked. The officer paused for a second.
"We didn't call them yet. He put ICE next to your name, so that's the number we called first. You're his boyfriend, right?"
"What? No, of course not," Bakugou sputtered, face instantly reddening. Not that he had any say in the matter. Kirishima happened to be as oblivious as a box of rocks, and wouldn't know feelings if it punched him in the face.
That's a good thing, though, the voice added. Because he wouldn't return your feelings anyways. Ah, it was nice to escape the reality that was his life for a little while, but the same problem always came back. He was stuck with shitty feelings, and he would never be able to do anything about them.
Kirishima was like the human equivalent of an actual sun, always bright and shiny. Everybody liked the sun. Even the dark, stormy comet that smashed into other planets and enjoyed causing chaos. Even he was not immune to Kirishima's natural caring and cheery personality. Most optimistic people bothered the crap out of him, but Kirishima knew how to deal with him. He could see when Bakugou wasn't in the mood for everyone else's shit, or when he was holding something back. Kirishima read through his different emotions while everyone else only saw anger. And even though he acted just as dumb as everyone else when they hung out as a group, when it was just the two of them he was quieter. More caring, even, to Bakugou's natural "all cheer is poison" attitude. Bakugou never thanked him for any of it. It the car had gone faster, or hit a bad spot on Kirishima, he probably never would've gotten the chance.
Bakugou suddenly snapped back to the current situation. Kirishima was possibly the only person Bakugou would ever open up to, and he was in the fucking hospital.
"Which hospital are you taking him to?" he asked, pulling on his shoes. If Kirishima was in the hospital without even his parents there, then Bakugou would make damn certain he wasn't alone. The officer told him the name and Bakugou wrote it on his hand, muttering a thanks before hanging up the phone. If he hurried now, he could make it in half an hour on foot.
He was about to leave the building when he was stopped by Aizawa.
"Where do you think you're going without signing out?" he asked in his normal tired monotone. Bakugou glared at him, still halfway out the door.
"Going to the shops," he said simply, and turned once more to leave. But Aizawa's scarf stopped him once more.
"You're not by any chance going to the hospital to see Kirishima, are you?"
Bakugou spun around. "How do you know about that?" he asked, crossing his arms. Aizawa made a noise that almost sounded like a huff.
"He's my student. Do you really think I wouldn't know something like this?" Bakugou sniffed, but didn't respond to this. It only made him feel worse that he didn't try calling before or something. Whenever he was on the phone with Kirishima, he was never the one to initiate them. Same with their texts, snaps, and even verbal conversations. Bakugou vowed to interact more when he saw Kirishima next, whenever that may be.
"Well if you already know, then yeah, I'm gonna go see him. Now if you'll let me go so I can get there..." Bakugou tugged at the scarf, but it stayed put around his shoulders.
"Not so fast. I'm coming with you. It'll be quicker by car anyways." Bakugou's eyes widened slightly at this, and he internally debated it. On one hand, it would be a lot quicker to drive there. On the other, he sort of wanted to see Kirishima by himself. He was going to not-so-respectfully decline when Aizawa started walking, not undoing the scarf.
"It wasn't a question. Now come on." He stepped past Bakugou, not looking back. Muttering to himself, Bakugou followed.
Aizawa's car was pretty normal. A silver minivan with a couple of UA stickers on it. Probably Present Mic's idea, since nothing about Aizawa screamed stickers to Bakugou. He was a little surprised by the bag of dry cat food in the back seat, but he wisely chose to ignore it.
When Aizawa finally loosened his scarf, he climbed into the back, moving the bag to the side a little to reach the seatbelt. He usually didn't bother, but the whole accident thing with Kirishima really fucked with his head. He even checked it once, making sure it would hold. If Aizawa saw something weird in this, he didn't say.
The five minute car ride was spent in silence. Bakugou stared out the window, not wanting to make eye contact with Aizawa in the rearview mirror by mistake. If there was one thing he hated, it was eye contact when he was feeling weak. He always felt like people could see his emotions right through his eyes, and he didn't want Aizawa to know that he was maybe feeling a tiny bit worried for Kirishima. He had a reputation to uphold, damn it.
When they finally reached the hospital, Bakugou sprinted out the car, slamming the door behind him, only to be stopped by Aizawa once more.
"I'm going to head back to school. It's not smart to leave the entire class by themselves, especially when there aren't classes. I trust you'll behave better than you usually do. This is a hospital, after all. There are people suffering a hell of a lot more than you are." Bakugou looked down at his feet, feeling rage pool in his chest. What did Aizawa know about any of this? He didn't make any comments, though, just pursed his lips. Aizawa wasn't finished.
"The hospital has my phone number. When you're ready to leave, text me. Depending on how his tests go and if he has a concussion or not, Kirishima might join you, but he might not. Don't get your hopes up." Bakugou really wanted to say something at that point, but stayed silent. He wanted the whole speech to be over already so he could finally get inside.
"One more thing," Aizawa said, and Bakugou looked up. There was a glint in his eye as he said, "Say hi to your boyfriend for me."
Once again, Bakugou's face flamed up, and his hands sparked. "He's not my boyfriend!" he shouted, forgetting they were right outside a freaking hospital. Aizawa merely shrugged, releasing Bakugou from his scarf and stepping back into the car. He then drove away, Bakugou still standing in the same spot, flushed and sparking.
"He's not my boyfriend," he muttered to himself, then started on the path into the hospital. The closer he got, the more anxious he became. What if he was still knocked out? What if he got all messed up? What if he couldn't come back that night? He had a hardening quirk, damn it, this wasn't supposed to happen.
When he finally made it to the doors, he paused, taking a deep breath. When he felt his heart rate turn almost normal, he allowed himself to proceed, although his hands were still making tiny explosions.
Bakugou burst into the hospital waiting room, ignoring the stares and whispers from everyone there. He stomped to the front desk, staring the receptionist down.
"I'm here to see my idiot," he grumbled, leaning over the desk. The receptionist didn't look intimidated, only fixed her glasses.
"What's the idiot's name?" she asked in a dry, humorless tone. She reminded him a lot of Aizawa. Which reminded him of the whole boyfriend thing. Which didn't help at all with the exploding hand situation. He tightened his fists to block them out.
"Kirishima. Kirishima Eijirou." He wasn't used to saying Kirishima's first name, and it sounded weird but good on his tongue, like those tastes you can't describe but like regardless. The lady typed this on her desktop, squinting at the screen before shaking her head.
"I'm afraid you can't go see him. He just came in a little while ago and can't have visitors yet. Try coming back in a few hours."
Bakugou felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. He glared as hard as he could at the apathetic demon in front of him.
"No. I'm his emergency contact. I can see him." The lady blinked, looking a little taken aback for once by his death glare, before huffing.
"Oh, you're his boyfriend. Fine, maybe just for a bit. He's resting right now, but should be awake." Bakugou didn't feel like correcting her, not wanting to risk his visitation rights, however limited. He wrote the room number down on his hand right beneath the hospital name and thanked the receptionist gruffly. That was the second time he needed to thank somebody that day. Kirishima owed him big time.
Scratch that. Three times he needed to thank somebody. He stood outside Kirishima's door after getting directions from a custodian, hands sweaty. He was fully prepared to find the room himself, but the hospital was bigger than he thought, and he got rather lost pretty quickly. Eventually the man took pity on him and asked where he was going, to which Bakugou responded by showing him his hand. Now he was finally by the room, and he couldn't bring himself to go inside.
Fucking coward, he thought to himself. He came all the way to the hospital to see Kirishima, and now he was too much of a fucking wimp to actually enter the room. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to think rationally.
The cop said that he only had a broken leg. He isn't gonna be in a full body cast or something. Stop being a baby. You've seen broken limbs before in movies and stuff. You won't even need to see the leg or anything. Just keep your fucking friend company.
With this line of thinking he threw the door open, once again forgetting he was in a hospital. Luckily there was no one else in the room. It was an alright looking place, with a sink and mini fridge and everything. And right in the middle, leg encased in a red cast and propped up, was Kirishima. His eyes were half closed, so Bakugou assumed he had been sleeping, but now he was awake and staring at Bakugou sleepily.
"Baku, 's'that you?" he slurred, rubbing his eyes with a fist. Bakugou walked to the chair next to his bed, careful not to run like he so wanted to do, and sat down. He didn't know why Kirishima was calling him Baku, but he liked it a lot more than he was ever going to let on.
"Yep, it's me, Shitty Hair," he said, trying and failing to keep his tone casual. Kirishima was in a hospital gown and his hair was down rather than the usual spikes, but other than that he looked fine. Definitely not like someone who had gotten into a car crash.
"Nnnnn, these meds are messin' with my head. I feel all fuzzy," he mumbled, pointing to the tube sticking out of his arm. Bakugou reached out a hand, lightly stroking where the tube entered him arm. He pulled his hand back quickly when he realized what he was doing, blushing furiously, but Kirishima didn't seem to mind. He was probably too far out of it to even feel it.
"Yeah, well you shouldn't have gotten into a car crash, dumbass," Bakugou grumbled, but without malice. Kirishima chuckled lightly, and Bakugou didn't realize how much he missed the sound of his laugh.
"Didn't choose to, Baku," he mumbled, grinning all squinty-eyed and fucking adorable. Fuck. The tip's of Bakugou's ears turned pink and he subtly moved his hair to cover them.
They fell into a comfortable silence. Normally Bakugou would enjoy the quiet and not say anything, but he remembered his self promise to start more conversations. Kirishima was a social guy; even in his half asleep state, he probably wanted to talk. Bakugou cleared his throat slightly, causing Kirishima to turn to him.
"So... how's the hospital staff treating you? Do I have to blow anyone up?" Kirishima laughed again, a little louder this time.
"Nah. They've been good to me. My leg was pretty messed up, but they got me here no problem and now it doesn't hurt anymore. Look how sick my cast is." He moved it slightly, and Bakugou huffed.
"Your leg is broken! Don't move it, hair for brains." Kirishima only smiled at him again, and Bakugou felt his annoyance melt away. Then Kirishima motioned to him to come closer, and he didn't think anything at all. He scooted his chair so his legs were pressed against the bed. Kirishima gestured again, and he leaned in closer, close enough that he could see tiny gold flecks in Kirishima's eyes, flecks you couldn't tell were there at all from a distance.
Then Kirishima whispered, "Do ya wanna sign my cast?" his breath ghosting Bakugou's ear. Bakugou shivered slightly, pushing Kirishima's face lightly with his hand.
"Whatever, Shitty Hair," he muttered, turning his face away so he wouldn't be able to see his redness. He got up and looked on the counter, finding a sharpie conveniently placed in the back. He returned to Kirishima's bed, standing over the cast.
"Don't move," he said, writing his name in the biggest letters he could manage. Kirishima cracked up, protesting between giggles.
"Baku! You can't take all the room. What 'bout everyone else?"
Bakugou shrugged. "Don't give a shit about anyone else." They fell back into the comfortable silence, and this time Bakugou felt like he had said enough. Kirishima yawned a few times, and he assumed he was going to sleep. He was about to get up to call Aizawa when he felt a hand on his knee. He looked up to find Kirishima's gaze on him, eyes barely open.
"C'mere," he murmured. Bakugou was more than a little confused.
"I'm right here. Those meds making you hallucinate or some shit?" he asked. Kirishima shook his head.
"Nah." He patted the space in the bed next to him, and suddenly Bakugou understood all too well. "Here." Bakugou seriously wondered if he was doing this on purpose just to torment him, but he wasn't going to question it. He was also aware that the nurses would be pissed at him, but since when did he give a crap about pleasing others?
Pulling off his shoes and tossing them near the door, he went around the bed, settling in next to Kirishima. He made sure to stay a little distance from him, not wanting to impose on his personal space. Was there such a thing as personal space in this situation? What are the rules for sharing a bed with your "bro"???
Kirishima didn't seem affected at all by an inner conflict, pulling the covers over himself and tugging them away from Bakugou inch by inch. Classic Kirishima; always a cover hog. Even when their group had movie night and all had to share one blanket, Kirishima would take more than his fair share, forcing everyone to pile on top of him and wrench it from his hands.
Bakugou was going to let it go, considering he was in the hospital and all, but Kirishima kept pulling. Soon Bakugou didn't have any of the blanket at all. He smiled smugly at him, completely burritoed up besides his cast, which he left out. Bakugou scoffed at him before unraveling him, scooting closer to get to the blanket. If he was going to sleep here, he was going to do it in comfort.
He didn't realize how close he'd gotten until his leg brushed Kirishima's good one, just for a second, but still making him way too hot all at once. Once again, Kirishima's face was more close than he was accustomed to, but this time they were in the same fucking bed. And again, Kirishima didn't seem affected in the slightest. He looked at Bakugou with only one eye open, barely conscious at this point.
"G'night Baku," he whispered, kissing the top of his head and immediately falling asleep. Bakugou wasn't tired in the slightest, especially after whatever the fuck that was. He stared at the ceiling for a while, processing. He always did take longer than others to internalize shit with feelings, and this time was no different. In fact, it was a good ten minutes before he fully grasped that he'd been kissed. By Kirishima. Given, it was just on the head, but it was a start. He rolled over so he was facing the red-head. Kirishima always seemed softer sleeping--he couldn't stay awake during a movie to save his life--and now especially he seemed to have a golden glow around him.
Suddenly tired, Bakugou found his eyes drooping. The last thing he saw before falling asleep was bright red hair pressed against the pillow beside him. He reached out a hand, patting it lightly like he always imagined doing whenever he saw Kirishima's hair in the bandanna he always wore before bed. Before his sleep-addled brain could yell at him for this, Kirishima turned slightly, sighing contentedly in his sleep. Bakugou fell asleep with his hand still in Kirishima's hair, and he couldn't be happier.
About an hour later...
Aizawa walked into Kirishima's room, accompanied by a nurse.
"They've been like this for an hour," the nurse whispered, gesturing to the two boys laying side by side in the bed. Or rather, on top of each other. Bakugou was holding Kirishima's head in his hands on his chest, and Kirishima holding on to his arm like a teddy bear. Both were passed out cold, which was a good thing. Aizawa didn't want to know what would happen to the nurse that would wake Bakugou up, especially in this position.
"Let them sleep," Aizawa advised quietly, gazing amused at his students. The nurse looked at him weirdly, but ultimately didn't find anything wrong with the situation, given that Kirishima's leg was still in position. She left the room to consult the doctor, leaving Aizawa there. He decided to let Bakugou stay just this once, and he turned to leave. Before he closed the door behind him, he took note of the giant name taking up most of the cast, then looked back at the pair of sleeping boys.
Not your boyfriend, indeed.