Chapter Text
“‘Che, these fuckers are nothing!” Bakugou snorted as more and more villains fell to his explosions.
“C’mon man, wait up!” Kirishima said, struggling to keep up with his partner’s speed. He took out a fair share of villains himself, but he was just not as fast as Bakugou.
“Dammit Shitty-Hair, if you can’t keep up, then go back, I’ll kill the fucker myself!”
“And that’s why I’m not going anywhere!” The redhead said. “Someone’s gotta watch you. Plus it’ll be a lot easier if we work together!”
Bakugo snorted again, but said nothing else.
As they made their way down the long corridor, taking out all the villains along the way, they finally made it to the last room, where the mastermind was waiting.
The moment they entered however, Kirishima froze.
“It’s been a while, Red Riot…”
It was him…
The one man that was able to break him.
Kendo Rappa.
Rappa got up from his seat and approached the pair.
“I’ve been watching you very carefully since the raid, Riot...” he said. “I can tell you’ve gotten stronger since last time. Maybe now you’ll give me the challenge I crave...”
Kirishima swallowed the fear churning in his stomach and instead hardened himself to Unbreakable.
“I’m not as weak as I was last time!’ He said strongly, “This time I’ll beat you!”
Meanwhile Bakugou, who had just been watching this whole time, finally spoke.
“So, you’re the one who fucked him up back then...” Kirishima heard the anger in his voice, and that scared him more than Rappa.
Rappa seemed to pick up on this too and smirked. “Maybe...”
Bakugou jumped at him before Kirishima could even react.
“I’LL KILL YOU!!!”
“Kats-Ground Zero, wait!”
...but it was too late.
Bakugou launched an explosion straight at Rappa’s face but the larger man simply repelled it with a punch, sending the blonde flying into the wall.
“No!”
Kirishima tried to move to help Bakugou, but his feet wouldn’t listen to him.
Why was he freezing up? Bakugou needed him!
Bakugou attacked again, but the explosion was deflected again.
The next punch sent the blonde hurtling towards the ground, coughing up blood.
“Looks like your friend here is pretty feisty...” Rappa said darkly, pinning Bakugou down with his fist. “I guess I’ll take care of him first, then we can have our rematch.”
Bakugou tried in vain to free himself using more explosions, but to no avail.
Rappa launched another punch, but Bakugou was able to roll out of the way before it could hit.
“That’s it! I’ve had enough of your bullshit!” he said angrily. “I’m ending this right fucking now!”
The blonde jumped into the air, and Kirishima recognized the stance immediately.
“Howitzer...” Using the explosions to spin himself into a twister, Bakugou used the momentum to spin towards Rappa, absolute fury burning in his eyes.
“...IMPACT!!!”
Rappa smiled sadisticly as his fist collided with the massive explosion.
Kirishima shielded his eyes from the flash of light and debris from the impact.
When the dust cleared, he finally got a good look at the aftermath.
“No...”
Bakugou was in a crater, completely crushed underneath Rappa’s fist.
He wasn’t moving.
”That wasn’t a half-bad warmup...” he said, picking up the body and tossing it aside, much to Kirishima’s horror.
Rappa looks at Kirishima, and the fear that had settled in him when he entered the room returned. “At least now he won’t get in the way of our rematch!”
He lunges.
~~
Kirishima wakes up with a scream.
He looked around frantically, realizing that he’s back in his dorm room.
Looks like he just had a bad dream.
Sweaty and breathing heavily, he takes a minute to compose himself. That dream felt almost too real for his liking.
Seeing his best friend helpless against the one person that was able to break him.
Realizing that it was going to be pointless to try and return to sleep, he looks at his clock.
4:15.
‘God, it’s so early…’ he thought to himself.
He usually didn’t wake up this early, and he hoped he didn’t wake up anybody with his screaming, especially Shouji and Bakugou.
He walked into the bathroom, splashing water on his face as he tried to calm himself down.
“That was months ago...I’m stronger now...” he chanted to himself in the mirror.
After the raid, Kirishima had been training very hard to make sure he never broke again.
Even though his classmates, Bakugou especially, were constantly checking on him, making sure he was alright he just waved off their worries.
“Look, I know you guys are worried about me, but I’m fine, really!”
This was his problem to deal with, not theirs.
Of course, there were nights where his fear of breaking again protecting civilians or his friends become too much, and tonight just happened to be another one of those nights.
But why did this one leave him so shaken?
Was it because he saw Bakugou die in front of him?
Kirishima shook his head. ‘No, that can’t be it...’ he thought.
‘Katsuki’s strong. He could probably take Rappa down all on his own! He doesn’t need me to protect him! I gotta protect the civilians too!’
Still, just the thought that Bakugou didn’t need him stung a little.
Kirishima groaned in frustration as he gripped the sink, accidentally cracking it with his hardening.
Why was this dream getting to him so much?
“Dammit!”
Tired of thinking, he decided to go out for a jog. It was Sunday, so there were no classes.
Maybe that’d help.
After showering and brushing his teeth, he put on a simple t-shirt and some jogging pants. Once he grabbed his keys and water bottle, he took to leave.
When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Bakugou on the other side, looking irritated.
“M-morning Bakugou...” he started nervously. This was /exactly/ what he wanted to avoid. Maybe if he played it cool... “What are you doing up?”
“Like you don’t fucking know.” Bakugo grouched. “It’s kinda hard to sleep when you’re next door screaming your damn lungs out...”
Kirishima rubbed his neck, “Yeah well, sorry for waking you!” he apologized, “I was about to go jogging, so you can go back to sleep now.”
He moved to exit but Bakugou blocked him.
”Nuh-uh, you’re not getting out of this that easily, Shitty-hair.” He said, ”You’re gonna talk.”
‘Shit...’
He was really hoping to avoid this conversation.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Kirishima sighed. “I just had a rough dream. It’s not a big deal.”
Bakugou didn’t look convinced.
“And is that why you’re about to go jog in the fucking dark?”
Kirishima nodded. “Yeah. I’m just gonna clear my head a bit.”
Bakugou looked ready to say something, but Kirishima just pushed past him.
“Look, I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. I don’t need you to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
He left without another word.
~~
Things seemed to be relatively normal over the rest of the weekend, and neither of them brought up the incident again, even when they hung out together, much to Kirishima’s relief.
Plus, the dream never happened again, so maybe it was just a one-time thing…
Still, he couldn’t get the image of Bakugou being dead out of his mind.
~~
Over the next week, Kirishima began training himself even harder.
He starts asking his friends to spar with him more.
He starts spending more time in the gym, trying to improve his quirk.
He needed to be stronger.
He couldn’t let a dream keep him down.
He was a man dammit!
By the end of the week, many of Kirishima’s classmates begin to notice his change, and most of them just chalked it up to him being his normal, overly enthusiastic self.
All except for one person.
~~
“Oi, Kirishima.”
Kirishima turned away from the sandbag he was punching to address his friend with his usual smile.
Bakugou noticed that the smile didn’t quite seem to reach his cheeks, like he was tired.
“Hey Bakugou!” Kirishima greeted. “What’s up man?”
“Spar with me.”
Kirishima quirked his eyebrows, “Spar?” That definitely wasn’t something he was expecting.
“That’s what I said isn’t it?!” Bakugou grouched. He sounded annoyed, but Kirishima didn’t know why.
He was just gonna ignore it for now.
“Well, I’m down to spar!” He answered. “Where at?”
Bakugou simply nodded. “I’ve already reserved us a room. Let’s go.” and turned and left without another word.
Kirishima followed him to the training hall, and as they were walking, he noticed that Bakugou seemed surprisingly quiet.
“Hey, Bakugou, you okay?”
He didn’t answer.
Bakugou remained silent as they entered the room.
“So, are you gonna tell me what‘s the matter with you or what?!” Kirishima asked, frustrated by his friend’s silence.
Bakugou stayed silent as he wrapped his bandages and took his position across the room.
“Come on.”
“Not until you tell me what’s going on!”
Bakugou only snorted, “If you’re not gonna make the first move, then I will.”
And Bakugou suddenly used an explosion to launch himself at Kirishima, who barely hardened in time.
“Bakugou, what the hell’s gotten into to you?”
“Just shut up and fight me.” Bakugo said simply, and continued his assault.
As they continued sparring, Kirishima noticed the look in Bakugou’s eyes.
They weren’t filled the same passion that he would see when they sparred.
They were full of something else entirely.
Anger.
Deciding that words were useless, Kirishima finally decided to take the sparring session more seriously.
But after only about ten minutes of exchanging blows, Kirishima found himself getting dizzy and tired, making it hard to keep up with Bakugou, who didn’t let up for a second.
Finally, Bakugou aimed a large explosion at Kirishima’s chest.
Kirishima was able to harden, but the impact sent the redhead flying across the room and falling on his back.
“Ouch...dammit...”
As he tried to get up though, he felt a foot press down against his chest.
Bakugou was above him, looking at him intensely.
“I fucking knew it.”
Kirishima looked confused for a moment. “Huh? What’s going on? What are you talking about?”
Bakugou sighed. “It should be obvious, dumbass.” He said as he removed his foot.
“That last explosion should /not/ have knocked you on your ass like that. You’re straining yourself.”
Kirishima sat up. “Straining myself?”
“What are you, a fucking parrot? You just gonna repeat everything I say today or something?”
Kirishima couldn’t help but chuckle at that as he got up. At least Baku still had his usual snark “I’m just trying to understand! No need to be like that!”
“You got exhausted way too quickly. You lasted longer during the Sports Festival.”
Kirishima instantly dreaded the direction this conversation was going.
“What the hell has gotten into you lately?! You’re in the gym every day training now! Is this because of that dumbass dream?”
Kirishima shook his head. “That’s none of your business, Bakugou.”
Bakugou looked at him angrily, “It will be when you fucking faint out in the middle of a villain fight!”
“I don’t need you to watch over me like I’m a child!” Kiri snapped back, “I already told you that I can take care of myself!”
Bakugou gave a dry laugh, “Oh yeah, it sure fucking looks like it.” He said sarcastically. “Is that why you look about ready to fall over right now?”
“That’s why I’m trying to get stronger, so I won’t pass out when it matters!”
“Do you fucking hear yourself right now?!”
“What does it matter to you anyway?!”
“Because you always talk about how you wanna protect people and shit, and how you want to be the wall that never fails, but you can’t do that if you keep fucking working yourself to death.”
“I’m not working myself to death!”
“Yes the fuck you are!”
“Why the hell do you even care about this so much?!”
“Because someone fucking has to! And those other idiots you call friends don’t see what you’re doing to yourself.”
“Maybe that’s because they understand that there’s nothing to worry about, unlike you!”
“What the hell are you trying to prove?!”
“I’m not trying to prove anything! I just wanna get better at protecting people. Is that too much to ask?!”
Small explosions were going off Bakugou’s palm as he got angrier.
“It is when you’re fucking yourself over like this!”
Kirishima sighed. This was going nowhere.
“Look...” he started, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder, who only shrugged it off violently.
Ignoring the hurt he felt from that gesture, Kirishima continued, “I really appreciate your concern, I really do, but I’m not changing my mind on this.”
Bakugou looked ready to say something, but instead he just shook his head and snorted.
“Whatever.” He hissed, turning to leave. “I don’t give a shit what you do anymore. Fucking work yourself to death for all I care.”
He left the room without another word.
Kirishima fought back the tears that threatened to spill as he watched Bakugou leave.
‘This is for the best...’
~~
They didn’t talk to each other for the rest of the weekend, and Kirishima continued to train.
A few nights later, he gets a call from his agency.
Apparently some villain is terrorizing a nearby district, and Kirishima was asked to deal with it.
He’s also told that someone else was going to be joining him, but they didn’t say who.
Thinking that this would be a perfect time to test his new strength, he excitedly gets on his hero costume and heads out.
Once he gets to the agency, he’s dismayed to find out that he had been partnered with none other than Bakugou, who was apparently chosen because of their past accomplishments together.
When the two saw each other, they exchanged a glance, but otherwise stayed silent.
~~
The awkward silence continued as they headed towards the location of the attack.
Tired of the tension, Kirishima finally tries to speak.
“Look Bakugou, I-“
“Just drop it.” Bakugou cuts off curtly.
“But I-“
“I said drop it!” He said louder, and that made Kirishima flinch.
Bakugou was taken aback by his partner’s reaction, and soon he started to regret snapping.
“We can talk about it later.” He said, a bit more calmly. “Let’s just focus on getting this fucking mission done right now.”
Kirishima nodded . “O-okay...”
They didn’t talk for the rest of the trip.
~~
After a while, they found the villain, who was attacking random civilians.
According to the report, he was apparently just a man with a simple strength and stamina quirk who just loved causing destruction.
Maybe this was the chance for both of them to blow off some steam.
When the larger man aimed a punch for a woman and her friend, Kirishima immediately jumped in front of them and shielded them from the punch, giving them time to run away.
Bakugou immediately followed up with an explosion to the man’s face, causing him to stumble backwards.
When the villain recovered, completely unhurt, he got a good look at what he was dealing with, and he let out an unimpressed sigh.
“I was hoping that I could attract the pros and get a real challenge by attacking the city,” he said, “but instead I just get some brats. Typical.”
Kirishima clenched his fist. That was his only reason?
“Well these ‘brats’ are going to be the ones to take you down!” He said, hardening his fists. “We’re not going to let you hurt anymore people!”
The man laughed. “My, confident aren’t we?” He cracked his knuckles, “I guess this won’t be a waste of time after all. Maybe the pros might finally show up after I kill you both.”
Bakugou snorted, “Not if we kill you first! Let’s go, Riot!”
“Right!”
And the fight began.
~~
Despite their tension, Kirishima and Bakugou were still able to work together perfectly in sync like always.
Even with his quirk allowing him to take Bakugou’s explosions and Kirishima’s hardened punches rather well, the villain is quickly overwhelmed by their combined attacks.
It seemed like it would be a quick mission...
Until Kirishima suddenly started to get tired.
He tried to power through his exhaustion and continue fighting, but he was slowing down, and the villain knew it.
“You’re wide open!”
The large man threw a punch straight at Kirishima, who was able to harden in time, but it sent him flying and crashing into a nearby wall.
Bakugou doesn’t even have time to check on Kirishima, as the villain doesn’t let up on his attack.
Meanwhile Kirishima emerges from the crumbled wall unhurt, if not a little sore.
‘Dammit, I’m slipping...’ he thought to himself, ‘Was Bakugou right? Did I work myself too hard?’
Kirishima shakes his head of the thought and claps his cheeks. They’re in the middle of a battle! He needs to focus on helping Bakugou right now!
He gets up and tries to run back into the fight, but before he can, he’s blinded by bright red light in his face, and Kirishima soon finds himself unable to move.
The strength villain smirks. “Took you long enough to show up, Signel.”
An elderly woman then appears from an alleyway, her wrist glowing red.
“Now now children,” she started, smile as dark as her partner’s, “Didn’t your parents ever teach you that two on one isn’t fair?”
“Red Riot!”
Bakugou ran towards his partner, but was sideswiped and sent into another building.
“Ah ah ah,” the villain said, approaching the blonde with a sadistic grin, “I’d worry about yourself right now if I were you...“ and continued his assault.
“Ground Zero!”
Kirishima can only watch in horror as he sees Bakugou get flung like a doll into the side more buildings.
He tries desperately to move and help but he can’t. What did that female villain do to him?
“Impressed by my quirk?”
The woman, Signel, approached the still-paralyzed Kirishima, amused by his struggling.
“It’s called Traffic Light...” she says, revealing the three colored lights under her sleeve, one green, one yellow, and one red. “As long as the red light is on, you’re completely helpless!”
Kirishima is forced to watch as Bakugou fights the other villain alone, quickly realizing in terror that if he hadn’t worked himself so hard, he wouldn’t have gotten tired so fast, and he wouldn’t have been left wide open.
‘This is my fault...’
He tries to move, but again he fails.
‘...Katsuki...’
~~
Bakugou fights his hardest, but by himself, his attacks aren’t enough to stop the villain, and it quickly becomes a losing battle.
Kirishima continues to try and free himself, but Signel laughs.
“It’s useless. No one has ever been able to break out of my quirk,” she says, grabbing Kirishima’s chin and relishing the look of fear on his face. “So be a good boy and watch as my partner finishes off your friend.”
Bakugou gets hit again and again and is constantly sent hurtling into the ground and kicked into buildings, but he continues fighting strong.
Kirishima watches helplessly as his best friend is brutally beaten in front of him.
It was just like his nightmare.
He remembers the sight of Bakugou’s lifeless and mangled corpse underneath Rappa’s fist.
Except this time, it was actually happening.
He couldn’t do anything but watch Bakugou getting mercilessly thrashed in front of his eyes, and there was nothing he could do.
Even after the raid...even after all of his training...
He was still too weak...
He has to fight back the tears that are threatening to form as he begins to realize how useless he was once again.
‘I’m so sorry, Katsuki. I-’
“What the hell are you doing, Shitty-Hair?!”
Kirishima perks up at the sound of Bakugou’s voice.
“I know you’re stronger than some shitty light quirk!” He shouts, even as he’s getting beaten, “So get your fucking act together already and fight!”
The strength villain laughs as he grabs Bakugou by the throat.
“It’s no use, kid.” he says, violently pinning the blonde against a nearby wall by the neck, leaving him in a crater coughing up blood.
“No one‘s ever broken free of her quirk, and once I’m done with you, your friend over there is next!”
Even through the villain’s painful grip, Bakugou still gave a defiant smirk and a dry laugh.
“Che, you’re even more of a dumbass than I thought if you really think that he’ll lose to those pussy ass punches of yours.” He says sneering.
That earned him a punch in the face.
“You’d better watch your mouth, brat...” The villain growled angrily, tightening his grip.
Bakugou spat in his face. “He’ll kick your ass, you know.”
*PUNCH*
“He’s gonna fucking murder you.”
*PUNCH*
“Even if you kill me, you’ll be no match for him.”
“SHUT UP!”
After several more punches, Bakugou blacks out.
~~
To Kirishima, everything was in slow motion...
He sees Bakugou’s defiant smirk never fall...
He sees the sadistic look on both villains’ faces as they gloat about defeating the mighty Ground Zero...
But when he sees Bakugou’s arm limply fall to the side…
...he snaps.
Seeing the unmoving body of his best friend in the villain’s grasp sends Kirishima into a rage, and with an anguished roar, he gains the strength to break free of Signel’s quirk and proceeds to knock her out with a single punch, sending her flying elsewhere.
Kirishima ignores her.
“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”
The large villain turns to see Kirishima, now in his Unbreakable form, sprinting towards him. He smirks as he carelessly tosses the unconscious Bakugou aside, which only angers Kirishima further.
Kirishima would make sure that he never hurts Bakugou or anyone else again.
~~
After a brutal and bloody fight, Kirishima is able to beat the villain down until he’s nothing more than an unconscious, heaping mess on the ground (but still alive because that’d be unmanly)
After the villain crumples to the ground, Kirishima immediately runs to Bakugou.
Bakugou’s still alive, but he’s still gravely injured.
Kirishima had his own fair share of injuries, but Bakugou was definitely in worse shape.
With the battle over, Kirishima could no longer hold back the tears as he falls to his knees and cradles bruised and battered blonde in his arms.
“K-Katsuki...I’m so sorry!” he sobs into his shoulder. “This is all my fault! I couldn’t protect you, just like in my dream, and because of that you’re...”
He cries harder.
“Even after training so much, even after trying so hard to become stronger...it never matters! I’m still just as weak as I was back then...”
“You idiot...”
Kirishima is stunned out of his crying to the sound of Bakugou’s voice.
He must’ve woken up during Kiri’s confession, and his voice was a little weak from the chokehold.
Even with his face all beaten and bruised, Kirishima could still make out his partner’s scowl. “If you’re really so weak, then what the fuck do you call that?”
Bakugou weakly points to the villains, who were still out cold and were being handcuffed by the police, who had just arrived alongside some pro heroes and paramedics.
“You are strong. You beat the shit outta that guy when I could barely hurt him. My ass would’ve been dead if it wasn’t for you...”
He mutters a thanks under his breath before losing consciousness again.
Kirishima gives a teary smile as he holds Bakugou closer to him as more help arrives.