Chapter Text
Eijirou woke to pain; the itch of skin healing under bandages, the deep throb of magically mended bones, and a crick in his neck from one too many pillows jammed under his head. He groaned, or rather, attempted to, as he quickly found his throat too dry to get out anything more than a raspy croak.
“You’re awake!” Hagakure exclaimed, melting into view as she reached for something outside of his limited range of vision. “Here, drink this.” she lifted a cup into view, then slid a hand under his head to lift it enough she didn’t spill the water on him. He only got a few sips before she pulled it away, but it was enough to wet his throat.
“Did we win?” he rasped, and Hagakure nodded.
“You’ve been out for a little over a day.” she informed him, lowering her voice near to a whisper. “I’m supposed to be in bed in our tent, but we agreed someone should be here when you woke up.”
“Thanks, Hagakure.” he managed a grin. “How’d you get Bakugo to go to bed?” not even Shuzenji could intimidate him into going, it had taken Aizawa banning him from training for defiance before he started listening to reason.
Hagakure looked away, and all warmth fled his body in a heartbeat. “Hagakure, where’s Bakugo?”
“I’m sorry, Kirishima.” she mumbled, hands tightening around the cup she clutched in them. “I’m so sorry, but he didn’t make it.”
“That’s not funny.” he said reflexively, straining to turn his head, eyes searching the gloom for the shape of his dedicated partner, his best friend, surely passed out on one of the cots nearby or the floor between them. “Hagakure, where is he? Was he hurt so bad he needed to be in a tent with a doctor?”
“He’s dead, Kiri.” she snapped, and Eijirou couldn’t contain his growl.
“Like fuck he is!” he snapped, heaving himself upright despite the pain and snagging the front of Hagakure’s shirt. “Bakugo would never die like that.”
“Like what, fighting the Great Evil?” Hagakure raised her voice to meet his.
“Without me!” his claws pierced the fabric caught in his fist, smoke curling out of his mouth with each ragged exhale. He hurt too much for this to be a dream, but what Hagakure was saying didn’t make sense. “Where is he?”
“Kiri, please, the doctors will hear you.” Hagakure hissed, voice dropping again.
“Where’s my partner?” he roared, and Hagakure flashed invisible, bolting from her spot by his bedside. Moving hurt, getting up off the cot hurt, and when a doctor came running in with a lantern he was swaying on his feet.
“Lie down.” the unfamiliar man ordered, and Eijirou bared his fangs. Bakugo had been in worse shape when he left the tribe to come find him, and anything Bakugo could handle he could too. “Don’t make me bespell you.”
“Try it.” Eijirou snarled, bandages tightening around his chest as his wings pushed out from his shoulder blades.
“Sleep.” the man commanded, and Eijirou staggered, snapping back to his human form as exhaustion coursed through him. The townie closed the distance between them, and blocked his sluggish attempt at a blow with ease. “Lie down, Kirishima.” he said firmly, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him down onto the cot again. “You’ll feel better in the morning.”
“N- Bakugo...” he managed to force out, tongue thick in his mouth, his friend’s name slurring on his lips.
“Sleep.” the townie ordered again, and this time Eijirou felt his muscles going lax against his will, eyelids heavier than his whole mass in dragon form sliding down over his eyes despite his best efforts.
“Kats’ki-” he mumbled, and then the world went black.
---
The next time he woke, Eijirou barely hurt at all. It took a bare second for him to remember what had happened last time he woke, and as soon as he did he snapped upright, feet tangling in his blanket as he scrambled to stand. “Bakugo!”
“Whoa! Easy there, Kiri.” Kaminari grabbed him by the shoulders, giving him a gentle shove so instead of falling on his face he fell back onto the cot. “Where’s the fire?”
“Wherever Bakugo is, if you idiots are keeping him away from me.” Eijirou snapped, looking around in vain hope that he would see his partner now that he was able to look around properly. “He’s going to be worried sick.” Eijirou couldn’t remember the last time he’d woken up in Shuzenji’s medical tent without Bakugo either at his side or quickly fetched by one of their peers.
But all three of his townie friends were sitting at his bedside now, and none of them were hopping up to get his partner. Hagakure was looking away, while Kaminari’s face was full of earnest concern and Sero’s shoulders slumped in exhaustion, his expression soft with something uncomfortably close to pity. “Kirishima, what do you remember about the end of the battle?” Sero asked, and Eijirou quickly racked his mind as Kaminari settled next to him on the cot, one wiry arm around his shoulders.
“Uh, I was giving cover fire for you three and a few others while that cool bard got a booster spell ready, and then the Great Evil kinda... exploded?” he looked at his friends, and got nods from all three. “I shielded you, and then I woke up here.”
“You almost died.” Sero said, his eyes still achingly sad. “We were right on the edge of the blast radius, and when the light faded enough for us to see again you were human and missing all the skin on the right side of your body.”
“Also, naked as a baby.” Kaminari interjected with a grin. Sero glowered at him.
“We rushed you to the healers, but we were the closest to the blast who survived. Without you shielding us, we would’ve died.” Sero said, solemn as a grave. “The five who went to vanquish the Great Evil directly...” he trailed off, and an icy spear pierced Eijirou’s’ chest. The five who’d fought it directly, those four townies and- and Bakugo. Bakugo had been there, fighting the Great Evil like he’d sworn to do back when they were small. Bakugo had fought the great evil and Eijirou had let him do it without him. They were dedicated partners, they were supposed to protect each other!
“No.” he shook his head, the words rattling around in his brain as his heart raced, each thundering beat ringing in his ears and making his mostly-healed injuries throb. “No, no- there’s gotta be a mistake. He must’ve- he could have survived!” he made to stand, but Kaminari’s arm around his shoulders tightened, holding him down and dragging him in close to his friend. “Let me go.” he demanded, shoving at the elemental mage’s side and getting a zap for it. “Let me go, I have to get out there and find him!”
“I’m sorry, Kiri.” Hagakure’s voice cracked, her breath hitching around a sob. “I looked, last night after the doctor put you back to sleep. I slipped out invisibly and headed for the epicenter. There’s not even bones out there, the whole battlefield’s been razed flat.”
“No-”
“That explosion of magic was so powerful it turned solid stone to dust.” she turned to face him, eyes glistening with tears. “There’s nothing left.”
“But- but he promised.” Eijirou said numbly, eyes burning as his chest tightened. “We were going to go home as heroes.” hot tears spilled down his cheeks, and Hagakure moved to sit on his other side, hugging him tight and hiding her face in his bandaged shoulder. Sero followed a moment later, his lanky arms shifting just a tiny bit longer to wrap around all three of them. Eijirou grabbed Sero’s vest, buried his face in his friend’s shoulder, and sobbed.