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One hit, two hit, three hits in a row. Kirishima had been pummeling his punching bag for hours now. Now that he had nothing else to do, no one else that truly mattered, he didn’t feel the need to go get any dinner. His trembling arms built up for another strike, but missed. The redhead went again, and hit the punching bag. It bounced from it’s stand, the chains holding it up clanking. His eyes watered up, and he went in for a punch again. He had to stop thinking about it so much, he had to get over it as fast as possible. He couldn’t let himself hurt like this! Kirishima was supposed to live his life without regrets like a proper man, and here he was, miserably boxing and crying after Bakugou had rejected his confession.
He hadn’t been rude about it, quite frankly it was probably the most respectful he had ever seen Bakugou be. He couldn’t get him out of his mind, a simple and proper rejection shouldn’t be hurting this much, but he had just walked away after that. No explanation! No nothing! Kirishima missed another punch. He tried to go again but missed. It was no use, he couldn’t see anything for his tears anymore. This was so dumb.
He took a break and just stared at the ceiling as he wailed. The hot tears streamed down his face, and he didn’t know how to stop. “B...B…” He couldn’t even really bring himself to say his name, despite every voice in his head telling him to scream his name out loud. Bakugou… Bakugou Katsuki. His fellow classmate, his best friend… If he could even call him that anymore. Would they still be friends after this? Would Kirishima ever be able to look Bakugou in the eye again?
Ever since the sports festival, Kirishima knew he had been screwed over with his undeniable crush. He didn’t make a big deal out of it, why should he? All he really wanted was friends, and at U.A he had plenty of those, but after getting Bakugou back from the league of villains, feeling his hand in his own, holding it after landing safely on the ground, running through the streets… He knew he couldn’t keep ignoring it any longer.
He thought he had really felt it, you know? That Bakugou liked him too. They spent more time together than anyone else in class 1-A. Bakugou had begun talking more to Kaminari because of him! Midoriya said “It had to be you” and Kirishima never forgot that. He really thought he had felt it, that this was real. Kirishima wasn’t just overthinking it all, Bakugou liked him too.
But of course that would prove to be false, and Kirishima had to go make a fool of himself in front of the first boy he ever confessed to. It hurt, it hurt a lot. His heart ached, and all he could think to do about it was punch his feelings out. That clearly didn’t work.
He heard a door slam in the room next to his. Bakugou must have come back after… How long had it been? Through his sobs Kirishima managed to pull himself together and find his phone. It had been almost three hours since he had confessed in the gym hall to Bakugou. Had he really stayed back to keep training? Jeez… Bakugou really didn’t care, huh? Kirishima released a sniffle, and put on a song just to have some extra noise that wasn’t coming from Bakugou on the other side of the wall. Despite all his efforts, all that was pictured in his mind were those striking red eyes, that just burned into your skin if you looked at them too much, and that pretty spiky hair of his. He carried this natural beauty with him everywhere. Bakugou was powerful, and graceful. He was… He was right next to Kirishima in his own room, and the redhead was still crying. His lower lip trembled and he tried to refrain from vocalizing his heartache. He turned to the dumbbells by his night stand, might as well keep distracting himself.
Kirishima kept at it for another hour, switching from one arm to the other and working hard through his big tears. They wouldn’t stop coming. He practically couldn’t catch a break! He had to move on from this, he couldn’t dwell on it so much, if he was supposed to be as great of a hero as Crimson Riot, he couldn’t let this rejection get the better of him!
After hours of trying to stifle his crying, he had finally given up. So there he was, under his covers, bawling his eyes out unto his unfortunate pillow. He was so sure Bakugou could hear him, Kirishima wasn’t even trying to cover it up anymore. Would he yell at him tomorrow for being such a baby? Kirishima didn’t know, and really didn’t care. Maybe he was asleep too, it was like 10 pm, Bakugou should’ve gone to sleep 2 hours ago.
A single hard knock against the wall let him know that yes, Bakugou could hear him, and he most likely wasn’t having any of it. The redhead let out a loud sob. “I’m sorry!” he yelled, not being able to stop, and just praying that Bakugou could leave him be.
On the other side of the wall however, Bakugou was as much a mess as Kirishima was. His lips were trembling, as he furiously stared at his phone screen. He should have been sleeping now, he should have accepted that this was the decision he had made, that there was no other choice. So why… Why was he so fucking bothered by Kirishima’s cries? That idiot had been going at it since he came back from his workout. Not that the dark circles under his own eyes proved that he had done anything differently. Bakugou sighed with his shaky voice, listening to the sobs and wails of his friend, whom he had undoubtedly hurt in an unnecessary attempt to fool his own heart. He read the article he had searched up on his phone. It wasn’t interesting, it was just a distraction to get his mind to think of something else. A muffled “I’m sorry” could be heard from the other side of the wall again, and Bakugou sighed through gritted teeth. How was he supposed to take his words back? How do you tell someone that uh, hey, I’m fucking sorry about that rejection, I’m fucking stupid and should’ve said yes. fuck, I’m sorry.
I guess… I guess the only way to tell someone that, would be to just go tell them. Shit, Bakugou was going to have to make up for this, wasn’t he? The blonde sat up from his bed, still not able to hear anything besides the muffled hiccups of Kirishima. He silently shook his head. He was really stupid, wasn’t he? Bakugou Katsuki may not have been the greatest decision maker, but owning up to his actions was what he was going to do, and only because it was Kirishima. Only because it was him.
Kirishima’s tears came to an abrupt halt as he heard Bakugou open his door. Was he going to get yelled at now? at 10 pm? On a Saturday night? A knock at the redheads door had him sit up straight in his bed. There was a pause, then another knock. “No! I’ll be ok, just give me some time, I’m sorry I’m so loud!” Kirishima shouted, trying to defuse the situation he had convinced himself he was in. The handle to his door turned, and in came Bakugou. “That’s not what this is about, asshole,” the blonde mumbled, finding a seat in Kirishima’s bed. He hung his head low, which was unusual for Bakugou to do. Kirishima wiped his tears away, but could feel that he was still not fully done crying. He trembled, and avoided eye contact with his classmate. Bakugou opened and closed his mouth, not really knowing where to start. They sat there in awkward silence for a minute or two. Bakugou fumbled with his fingers, knowing that despite everything, Kirishima was his only friend, his first real friend, and he had to save this.
“Look, I- We- You-...” He groaned exasperated.
“Off to a great start, huh?” Kirishima painfully butted.
“I’m fucking trying here, fuckface. Give me a minute.”
Kirishima promptly shut his mouth. He looked timidly at Bakugou who furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought. What was he going to say? He looked… distraught. “Look, If you’re going to mock me, or say something rude, I don’t want to hear it, ok? You can leave.”
Bakugou shook his head, rubbing his eyebrows with his index finger. “No I just-... Goddamnit, you know how shit I am at articulating my thoughts… fuck!” He exclaimed, looking very frustrated with himself. Kirishima’s lips quivered as he looked away. “Can you, I don’t know, at least explain yourself? B-because you just left without telling me why you said no, and I…” A hiccup escaped his mouth, and oh no, Kirishima was starting to tear up again. He covered his face with his hands, this was too embarrassing for him. He hadn’t cried this much since he thought about quitting his dreams, this was so bad. Bakugou had really screwed him up hadn’t he?
Bakugou side-eyed him harshly. Normally he wouldn’t have batted an eye if something he had said made someone cry, especially because what he said was usually what he meant, but Kirishima? No this was different, and it wasn’t some extra. This was his… “You’re my best friend,” Bakugou blurted out. Kirishima didn’t remove his hands from his face, but his sobs subsided, so he was listening.
“You are my best friend, Kirishima. I didn’t have friends before U.A, and you’re the only one I have.” It was going good so far, it felt cheesy as all hell and was way too sentimental for him, but Bakugou owed this to Kirishima, and he knew it.
“But I don’t want to lose that, y’know? If we end up in a fight over something, which we would, because of me, then you’d cut all ties and I… Who else would I turn to if that happens?”
“You don’t get it Bakugou, I’m not even sure I can look at you the same way again!” Kirishima removed his hands from his face, but turned his head in every direction Bakugou wasn’t visible in. “I know, but what else was I supposed to do!? Say yes? If you didn’t mean any of it, and decided to screw me over later that would play with my emotions, and I fucking hate having those, they suck!”
Kirishima wanted to scream at Bakugou, but he kept going. “You know I don’t have time for relationships, I’m solely focused on my hero career, it’s the only thing I’ve ever been fucking good at, and it’s the only thing that I know I can do. If you-... If We became an item then… How? how would we…” Bakugou’s thoughts trailed off. He didn’t feel like he had gotten his thoughts out properly, but it was the best he could’ve done. “Besides… It’s not like those romantic feelings last. They’re probably not that deep,” he said, lowering his voice.
Kirishima had enough. He got up from the bed and stared directly into those sharp eyes of his friend, tears falling down his cheeks. “How could you say that!? I was standing out there, p-pouring my heart out to you… Telling you that I-” a sob escaped his throat “-That I loved you. And now you’re just going to sit there and you’re gonna tell me you don’t believe me?”
Bakugou stood up from the bed, facing his friend head on.
“You know I don’t do anything that I can’t be sure will work!”
“We’ve worked effortlessly since the very beginning! Do you not remember all those times we studied together? Teamed up for training? How you took my hand in Kamino?”
Kirishima looked down at his left hand and released a strained sigh. “I still remember,” he raised his hand to eye level with Bakugou, and to his surprise, the blonde raised his right hand to meet his. Kirishima pulled back, but Bakugou stared him down. “Let me,” was all he said. Kirishima mustered up the courage, hesitated, and then took Bakugou’s hand.
“What am I supposed to say to this… This isn’t helping.” Kirishima’s voice was but a whisper, as he wrapped his fingers around the hand of the blonde before him. “I’m… Not good at feelings, but… All I know, is that after I walked away, it hurt. And I am also not good at owning up for shitty things I’ve done - Honestly there are too many to count - But I’m trying. I’m trying…”
Kirishima scoffed softly, as he shook his head. “You trying to mend our friendship, bro?” a tear trickled down his cheek. “No,” Bakugou sternly replied taking a step forward. Kirishima jerked his head away, not fully grasping the situation.
But when Bakugou gently pressed his lips on Kirishima’s, all he could do was take in the moment, as the warm breath of his friend surrounded him. He closed his eyes, just as Bakugou pulled away. “I’m trying to end it,” he finished.
Kirishima wasn’t fully ready to open his eyes yet, this was all too much. “I know I always call you stupid, but just this once, I wouldn’t mind if you returned the favor,” Bakugou held on to Kirishima’s hand for dear life, knowing what he had done would either go smoothly or not work at all. Kirishima opened his eyes for more tears to fall. His mouth was agape, and he looked cathartic. “Can I… Can I ask you again? Please?” Kirishima whispered, his mouth twitching into a little smile.
“Go off.”
“Bakugou, I’ve liked you for a long time now, and I have to let you know properly. So this is my confession; I love you.” He slowly leaned in, and Bakugou prepared for a kiss, but was met with a hug, from the arm Kirishima wasn’t busy holding Bakugou’s hand in.
“You’re not just doing this for me, right?” the redhead asked, pulling away after what felt like an eternity. “I don’t do anything I don’t wanna do,” Bakugou simply replied. “Anyway, I told you to call me stupid, stupid.”
Kirishima chuckled lightly, brushing his own tears away with the back of his unoccupied hand. “You’re stupid, Katsuki,” he smiled.
Bakugou nodded, and leaned in again. “I know, Eijirou, I know.”