Work Text:
“Hi! You’ve reached to voicemail of Kirishima Azumi! Sorry I wasn’t able to answer the phone, but leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!”
“Hey, mom it’s Ei. Sorry for calling so late. I just feel like I may be losing my head a little bit and I.. I just don’t know what to do. Like don’t worry about me or anything, I think I just need your perspective. Do you remember that boy from UA? Bakugo? We were best friends all through school, I can’t imagine you’d forget him. Well, I keep dreaming about him.
They start of normal, and I’m usually alone in my room. Then I put a record on and the second the needle touches the wax the room starts spinning just as fast as the turntable and all of the colors change and swirl together into dim reds and oranges, then I’m at the ocean. And he’s there, mom. And we walk. Sometimes we’re in our hero costumes, and sometimes we’re in our old school uniforms, and sometimes we’re.. In suits? Or something I don’t know, it’s always different.
But we’re always walking near the ocean, on the sand, or a pier. And we talk like we did when we were kids, before he left for America. I’ve tried to get in touch with him since these have started and I just…. I can’t find him, mom, it’s like he fell off the face of the earth the second I dropped him off at that airport so many years ago. I only see him through screens and news articles and rankings. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to find him.
Maybe I’ll only ever find him in a dream, maybe next time we go for a walk I’ll ask him to come home.”
“Hi! You’ve reached to voicemail of Kirishima Azumi! Sorry I wasn’t able to answer the phone, but leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!”
“Hey, mom! I guess you and mama are still at dinner, sorry to call at a weird time, it’s just a weird night I guess… I fell asleep earlier and I had another strange dream. Bakugo was there again, and I woke up and I was alone… and I’ve been getting better at it ya know, I’ve been making sure I’ve been keeping up with my friends and going out. And I don’t mind being by myself most nights, I’m better at facing the demons head on when I’m alone, and those demons, they don’t come around as often anymore. But I guess some nights… they’re still… feverish. But I meant what I said about being done running away from it, we both know I spent too long running.
But everyone feels lonely sometimes, right mom? It’s normal, especially now that I’m getting older to… miss someone. Or, no! Just want someone that just… someone designed the same as you? The same electricity humming through the both of you? Maybe I don’t make any sense and I should try to get back to sleep.”
“Hi! You’ve reached to voicemail of Kirishima Azumi! Sorry I wasn’t able to answer the phone, but leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!”
“Hey mom! I gotta make this quick, I’m on my way into work, but I ran into Midoriya yesterday, the kid Bakugo left to work with. He’s doing great, he’s home for his mom’s wedding, apparently Bakugo couldn’t come. But we did talk about him some too. He’s gotta be in America for some festival for the fourth of July, which I guess is a big deal there. There’s all sorts of American food and fireworks on the beach.
And I dreamt about it last night. I was patrolling with him for one of the festivals on the beach. There were fireworks going off all around us and I couldn’t tell if they were from the party or his quirk coming from his own hand. But I ended my dream, within my dream I guess and I was alone and it was winter in Japan, and I laid in my bed wishing for the sun on my skin. And missing the fireworks. Maybe me you and Mama can go to America in July sometime.”
“Hi! You’ve reached to voicemail of Kirishima Azumi! Sorry I wasn’t able to answer the phone, but leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!”
“Mom, sorry to call you crying at what, three in the damn morning? I just… Mom I feel like a kid that had a nightmare. I dreamt one of those weird dreams again, but this time Bakugo wasn’t walking with me. He was walking with some man, mom, some ridiculously handsome man, they were walking down the pier. He wasn’t looking at him right mom, he was looking at Bakugo like he was any person off the street, when he was perfect, he was glowing and I couldn’t reach him to tell him. I could scream, but the wind got in my way. I couldn’t tell him he’s been famous in my dreams for years now. I got too close to them and the sunset just swallowed me whole, mom.
Sorry I’m such a mess I hope you can understand this message. But I’ve gotta tell you something. Something I’ve only ever told the ocean in my dreams before Bakugo met me there. I know you can keep a secret. I know I don’t have to ask you.
I love him, mom. I’ve loved him since I was a kid and I pretended for years I could forget him when I was walking with him everynight in my sleep. I’ve been waiting on those fireworks for a decade now. And I don’t know what to do when he only comes to me in dreams. Is he sleeping somewhere doing it on purpose? Does he wake up remembering them like I do? Why can’t I just get in touch with him? Why did he make it so hard?
I spent too many years running, and I just. I don’t want to do that anymore. I didn’t tell you what I actually said to Midoriya. I said more than I should, I had a little to drink at the reception, we all did, but I told him… that when he saw Bakugo to tell him I was waiting. And how pathetic is that to just sit and wait for something you want as bad as I want him? How pathetic is it to send a messenger for something you’re too much of a coward to say yourself?
I’ve gotta do something, mom, I just don’t know what to do.”
“Hellooo! It’s Kirishima, sorry I missed ya! Leave a message and I’ll get back to you asap!”
“Hi Eijirou, it’s Mom, I was trying to get to you before your flight. I’m so proud of you, darling. I’ve never felt it was my place, but I’ve known. Since you were a teenager, I’ve always felt something between you boys, and I can never tell you enough times how proud of you I am. For going after the things you want, and the way you go about getting them. I know he’ll be happy to see you. From what you’ve shared with me about what Midoriya has told you, I can be absolutely sure. Maybe he was walking with you in his dreams as well. Maybe you were truly walking together all these years apart from each other. Call me when you land safely and keep me and mama updated. We love you so much Eijirou, travel safe. I’ll talk to you soon.”