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Taking his navy blue towel in hand and drying his freshly washed, two-toned hair, Kirishima ties his soft, long tresses back into a messy ponytail. While combing his fingers through his bangs, tufts of red and black falling back over his eyes, he reaches for the doorknob, it's cold metal refreshing in comparison to the steaming heat of the bathroom after his shower. With a swift turn of his wrist, he swings open the door, the contrasting chilled air and plumes of heat clashing, swirling, then dissipating as he switches off the light and exits the bathroom.
"Hm.. I should drink some water before going to bed… I need to drink more."
Toes curling as his feet make contact with the soft carpeted floor, a content Kirishima shuffles his way to the bedroom door, him coming to an abrupt halt as his ears tune in on the sound of muffled bawling. Directing his attention to the closed closet door to search for this disembodied voice, he takes note of the shining light coming from underneath the door, signifying that it was, in fact, occupied. With a new motive in mind, he puts aside his desire to rehydrate, instead, finding it more important to discover the source of this weeping. Peering into the closet cautiously, his heart sinks to the pit of his stomach as he opens it wider, making way for him to enter.
Upon seeing you holding yourself with arms tightly gripping around your body, you turn away from his gaze with hot, salty tears streaming down your face. Eyes nearly swollen shut from the crying, you attempt to hold back your voice, sobs painfully ripping through your throat despite your desperate wish to keep them in.
"Hey, hey!~ What's going on, pebble?"
He coos softly with a small chuckle, the evident concern laced within his words only making it harder for you to contain your pained howls at his inquiry. Embracing you into a firm, reassuring hug, Kirishima's warmth acts almost as a pacifier to lull the aching in your chest, hushing your labored cries to small mewls. Whimpers. Shifting his body weight from his left foot to his right then back again, he gently sways your body with his, rocking you close to him as pain filled tears drip down your face.
"What's wrong, can you tell me? What is it, pebble?"
Backing away just enough for him to get a clear view of your flushed face, he steadies your weak body in his arms and patiently awaits your response, shaky voice and all. Not having the courage to bring your eyes to his deep-crimson tinted ones, your voice cracks and dips in volume, throat hoarse and throbbing as you speak.
"I really, really hate the way I see myself."
Sniffles and involuntary gasps break apart your concise and troubled reply, his attention not wavering for a moment as he carefully and intently listens to your worries. He takes a moment to contemplate his feedback, removing your trembling hands from around your torso, gently placing them against his strong chest. Leaving a single hand over both of yours to keep you from hiding your face, he raises your chin with a delicate nudge of his index finger, thumb hovering over your bottom lip.
Undeniably embarrassed at the closeness of his face to yours, you suck your lips in between your teeth, his soft eyes staring into your blood-shot ones, tears decorating your eyelashes like morning dew on a rose's petals.
"I'm sorry, this might be a weird time to say this but I am so in love with you, it actually, physically hurts."
His smile remains plastered across his features, the crying now not being the only cause for your flushed cheeks. He guides your face nigh to his own and patiently waits for you to release your lips, only for him to capture them with his instead. Your eyes flutter closed as the sensation of his warm lips against yours sends radiating waves of hazy bittersweet ambivalence through your mind, remaining tears falling against and rolling down your cheeks. Tightly clutching onto his shirt, the smell of his familiarly comforting body wash fills your nose, your worries seeming to disappear as you slowly breath in it's scent.
The kiss was soft. Sweet. Not from anything he had eaten previously, but simply because it was a kiss from the one man who could ever make your heart flutter with love and ache at the same time.
Eijiro Kirishima.
Resting his forehead against yours with small strands of his red-tipped hair tickling your face, he closes his own eyes and though you couldn't see it, his cheeks were dusted a light shade of red to match yours.
"I don't know how you could ever love someone like this. I look awful. I'm a complete mess."
Any other time, he would have enthusiastically shouted sweet nothings and pulled you into a tight hug, a bit too tight so he could "punish you with his love for saying such evil words" as he's mentioned before.
"What do you mean, 'you don't know how I'd ever love someone like you.' Have you seen yourself?"
Confused at his unusual kickback, you lean away slightly, curiously eyeing his features for any further explanation. He simply looked down at you quite matter-of-factly, his soft smile still never having left his handsome face.
"Of course I've seen myself, that's why I'm in this situation."
Averting your gaze, you glance to the side as the negative thoughts of your lack of self worth and doubt begin to form, swarming like a dark storm cloud in your mind. Each new thought booms like thunder and rattles your brain, setting everything in your head ablaze and showering it with toxicity. Blinking away the stinging tears in the corners of your eyes, you push your face into Kirishima’s chest, weakly attempting to fight the urge to cry again. Kirishima could feel the wet drips of your warm tears against his chest.
They almost seem to burn his skin with each drop. Yet in this moment, all he would allow himself to do was listen.
"I get out of the shower and sometimes I look pregnant. Inflated. Mushy like a pile of dough. There's probably enough fat on my body to make a whole ‘nother person. I hate looking at myself in the mirror. I hate it. I just wish I could learn to love myself as am, at the very least. Even just a tiny bit. I've tried, but I can't. I want to, so bad. But I just can't-"
He could hear how much you were deeply hurting, each word you spoke stung his ears the more you talked bad about yourself. He wanted so desperately to help you to see yourself just as he saw you. So, that's what he'd do. With a soft yet determined sigh, he ushers you out of the closet, flipping off the yellow-hued soft light, moving away from you and directing your gaze to a mirror that hung up on your bedroom wall.
You scanned the bikini bottoms’ knotted drawstrings at your sides, them biting, sinking into the flesh at your hips painfully. Breasts just about spilling out of the cups of the bikinis top, you wince at the image of something, in your personal opinion, so unsightly. Even after having just stated that you'd basically do just about anything rather than look at yourself in the mirror, he forced you to do just that, his lingering smile convicting you. You couldn't dare look away from yourself with the way he tenderly looked at you.
"If you think that, then you really haven't seen yourself. When you look in the mirror, you see an individual. With flaws amplified. Blaring in your face like red flags, setting off scary sirens in this pretty little head of yours.”
Moving to step behind you, he places a hand on the side of your head, nuzzling your hair against the back of your head. He sets his strong hands against your quivering shoulders, looking you in the eyes through the reflection of the mirror. Kirishima had only just noticed the bathing suit you attempted to try on, his expression unfazed and he seemed to completely overlook it.
"Where you think you see fat..."
His touch dusts over your tender skin, fingertips delicate and featherlike as they trail down to your waist. Lightly taking hold of you with a few fingers, he softly pinches the skin at your hips, The red blush returns to his cheeks, darker than it was previously as he studies your figure.
“...I see a perfect platform for me to land a million and more kisses on.”
Pulling your body closer to him, his form seems to cradle your own as he plants short, sweet pecks across your shoulder. His body warmth encapsulates you in a sort of veil, heat rushing through your very being and down to the bone as it becomes slightly easier to study your figure.
“Where you see stretch marks…”
His gentle fingers now making their way down your round hips to your plump thighs, he cocks his head to the side, looking down at your tear-stained face over your shoulder. Warm breath against your ear, his voice was faint and mellow as his love packed words roll past his pink lips and fill your reddened ears.
“...I see a strong woman who's filled to the brim with so much kindness and beauty, she's bursting at the seams full of it.”
He traces the streaks of lighting patterned designs across your skin as if gently studying an alluring art piece. Each digit lands on another line, as if dancing across your skin elegantly, so captivated that he had to tear his eyes away to meet yours again.
“Where you think you see blemishes…”
Being sure not to step too far away from you, he moves to your side, gliding a hand down your arm, bringing your palm to his lips and leaves a kiss in it’s center, eyes locked on yours as he places another against your wrist, leading his way up to the side of your neck.
“I see battle scars of a warrior, no, a hero who's too tough to stay knocked down. Who’s not scared to get up again and fight.”
His voice was gravelly, the low vibrations of his words burrowing deep into your mind as he leaves a kiss against your collar bone before reluctantly pulling away. Raking his slender fingers through his long hair, for no other reason besides to fluster you more while he licks his lips, as if tasting and savoring the flavor of you on them.
“And these cute puffy cheeks?”
Spirited tone returning to his voice as his eyes move from your lips to your eyes, his grin spreads, sharp teeth on full display while his eyes seem to disappear as his smile widens. His large palms cupping your cheeks perfectly, he gives them a squeeze while bringing your face close to his, brushing his nose against yours playfully before leaving a peck at the tip.
“I couldn't ever resist kissing them. Anytime I see you, all I ever want to do is shower you with my love and affection. I want to hold you, tell you how much I love you, remind you that you are valid and important. All of this gorgeousness is one person. All the love that I have, it's eternally dedicated to this person. You. That's never going to change.”
Coming to terms with the fact that you were never going to win this fight from the very beginning, much to your delight, your first smile of the night finally appears and you feebly pull Kirishima into your arms. Without a hint of hesitation, he holds you tightly while rubbing your back gingerly.
“Let's get you out of this bathing suit, as cute as I think it looks on you, we’ll get you into some comfy pajamas, okay? I'll turn the fan on high so that you can snuggle real close tonight. S’that sound good to you, pebble?”
Knowing full well that you weren't going to complain in the slightest, Kirishima pulls the drawstring ties around your neck, breasts popping out of it, you heaving a sigh of relief. Pulling his shirt over his head by the hem, he helps you into it, tugging the drawstrings to your bottoms, tossing the swimwear to the side carelessly.
“And, to be completely honest... I think you'd still look absolutely beautiful if you were pregnant with my baby.”
Resting a hand against your stomach as if hoping to feel a kick from within, his eyes seem to sparkle at the thought, him looking down at your stomach and clearly fantasizing about the thought. Face still downcast, he looks up at you, loving gaze reassuring you that no matter what, Kirishima would always love you as you are.
“Trust me, pebble. Id Never, ever, think of you as anything but gorgeous. And if you need me too, I'll remind you a million times a day just how beautiful of a person you are. Inside…”
Just as promised, Kirishima clicks the fan on its highest setting before taking your hand in his, the pair of you heading to bed and getting comfortable under your shared duvet.
“...And out.”
Wrapping an arm around your smaller form, he pulls you close to his chest, planting soft kisses on the top of your head.
“All you gotta do is see you through my eyes.”