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Kirishima prides himself on being able to support his classmates and loved ones like a rock, physically (with his Quirk) and emotionally. Since you were his s/o, you definitely weren’t an exception to this rule. There was one day where Mina had invited you to go out shopping with her and Tsuyu after school, but you had declined by saying that you were terrible to shop with; you always took too much time to decide if you wanted something, and you could never keep up with your friends when walking through the mall. “I’d just slow you down,” you replied.
Kirishima frowned, but didn’t say anything until Mina had said that it was all good, and that she’d see you tomorrow before heading out of the classroom. Kirishima responded with a sweet pep-talk to boost your spirits, talking about how you were great to shop with, and that it isn’t a problem if you take a while to decide on something--it’s smart to do that! “I make impulsive decisions all the time,” he added. “I have a bunch of shirts I haven’t worn in years because I thought they looked good, I bought ‘em, and then I just never wore them again. And Mina’s the same way, so you’d be a great person to bring with her while shopping for clothes and stuff!” You had given him a small smile and since you didn’t talk poorly about yourself for the rest of the day, Kirishima thought that he’d definitely pulled you out of your funk.
However, he started to notice that this was more than just a one-off incident of feeling down. While you were sitting at lunch together a few days later, you’d mentioned how you were worried that Aizawa was upset with you because you hadn’t paid attention during roll call and he had to say your name twice. Kirishima thought you were just joking at first, but when he saw that you were on the verge of tears and wondering out loud if Aizawa hated you for wasting his time, and if you even really should be at UA because you’re such a wreck and everyone in 1A is much better at being a Hero than you, and--
Kirishima cut you off, and he moved his food out of the way to hold your hand across the table. “Hey, hey,” he reassured gently. “Aizawa doesn’t hate you, especially not because of something like that! Everyone zones out sometimes, don’t worry about it!” He’d flashed you a toothy grin, but he noticed that your fingers were shaky and tense.
“Yeah, but…” You sighed and looked down at the table. “Okay, you’re probably right,” you replied with a small, sheepish smile. “I’m just being stupid and overreacting, as usual.”
Kirishima cocked his head. “You’re not stupid,” he replied, confused at your remark.
“Well, not stupid ,” you said hastily, “Just...Agh, I don’t know how to describe it.” You bit your lip as you tried to come up with a way to articulate your thoughts. “I just think way too much about little things, even if I know they’re little things. I can’t help it.” You rubbed your thumb and forefinger together absentmindedly. “Like last night when I texted if you were doing anything, I was freaking out because I thought you were busy and I was distracting you, and that’s why you were taking so long to reply back. But you weren’t actually taking so long to reply back, I was just worried about not getting a response right away, and then I thought that that was a selfish thing to think because I’m not the only person in your life, and I was all ‘Oh my God, I’m a terrible partner’ and it just kind of spiraled out from there.”
Kirishima listened to you, growing more and more concerned. Have they always been like this, or is something causing it? “Do you feel that way a lot?” He asked. “That can’t be an easy way to live, thinking like that all the time.” He squeezed your hand. “You’re not a terrible partner,” he said firmly. “You know that now, right?”
As he looked at you with wide, concerned eyes, your thoughts started to race again. Great, now he thinks something’s wrong with you. He knows something’s wrong with you. Why did you have to stress him out like this, he’s already got so much to do without you adding to his troubles. You really are a terrible partner. He just hasn’t realized it yet.
You tried to quiet the negative thoughts and insults flooding your head, and you were so distracted by trying to push them out that you hadn’t answered Kirishima’s question. Kirishima leaned towards you a little bit. “____?”
His voice snapped you out of your mind, and you blinked. “Yeah?” Your cheeks felt warm as you realized that you’d forgotten to answer his question. Wait, what did he say? God, why are you such a scatterbrain? How did you even get into UA? Your heart felt like it was beating uncomfortably fast, and your palms felt clammy. “I…” you started, closed your mouth, and tried to start again. “I think I need to go to the nurse.” Your breathing was more shallow than usual.
Kirishima nodded quickly and helped you out of your chair. “Okay,” he replied, trying to remain calm so that you wouldn’t get any more panicked. “Here, do you need to lean on me? I can carry you too, if you want.” You shook your head quickly, and he escorted you to Recovery Girl’s office. The whole way there, you were completely silent and tried to focus on your breathing while Kirishima eyed you carefully every few seconds to make sure you weren’t about to faint.
When you two arrived at Recovery Girl’s door, he helped you sit down onto the nearest cot as Recovery Girl walked over to you two. “Oh dear,” she remarked, recognizing your symptoms. “Here, Kirishima, give them some space while I get their medication. Actually, could you get some water for ____ while you're up?”
Kirishima nodded and quickly grabbed a nearby paper cup and filled it with water from the sink while Recovery Girl took a pill bottle from one of her labeled cabinets. When she handed you a small white pill, you mumbled a small thank you before swallowing it with the water Kirishima had gotten you.
“Are they going to be okay?” Kirishima asked nervously, lowering his voice so you wouldn’t hear him fretting over you. “They just started acting like this out of nowhere. Is it a medical thing, or someone using their Quirk on her, or what?”
Recovery Girl shook her head. “No, no, they’ll be fine after a while,” she reassured. “Anxiety attacks may make you feel like you’re about to die, and unfortunately even with medication, you just have to...well, ride the wave until it’s over.”
Kirishima raised his eyebrows. ____ has anxiety? Has this happened before? He glanced over at his partner as they closed their eyes and tried to take deep breaths, and mumbled something over and over under their breath. He turned back to Recovery Girl. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Staying with them while they ride it out would help,” she replied, “But you should ask them instead of assuming.”
Kirishima gently rested a hand on your arm, and you opened your eyes. “Hey,” he replied softly. “Is it okay if I stay with you? I’ll do what I can to help.” You nodded silently, and he eased his way onto the cot in a sitting position. “What usually helps?” he asked.
You were quiet for a moment, and looked up at him. “Finding things to distract me,” you replied. “Counting to ten, breathing slowly, touching something to ground myself, stuff like that.”
Kirishima nodded. “Do you want to hold my hand?” He held his hand out, and you nodded before carefully intertwining your fingers with his. You closed your eyes and quietly counted to ten, occasionally squeezing his hand to feel him and prevent yourself from dissociating any further. Kirishima tentatively squeezed back, and you smiled a bit with your eyes still closed, squeezing him back again. The two of you worked out a pattern where you’d squeeze his hand at every odd number, and he’d squeeze your hand when you got to an even number. After a few minutes, you felt well enough to sit up and (with his help) make your way back to class.
“Whenever that happens, I can do that stuff again if you want,” Kirishima offered. “Now that I know about it, I don’t want to just leave you hanging if it happens while I’m around.”
You nodded, not saying anything but leaning against him a little bit. “That...that would be nice,” you replied. “You did really well, by the way, considering you didn’t know what was going on with me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” you replied with a small smile, counting on your fingers. “You got me out of the cafeteria, which is good because being around too many people makes it worse. You asked me what I needed instead of just doing it, so I wasn’t surprised or startled when you touched me and got me out of my chair, and you helped ground me afterwards.” You reached out to squeeze his hand. “Thanks for being here.”
Kirishima smiled and squeezed your hand back. “ Of course,” he replied with a toothy grin. “I’ll always be here!”