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Kirishima looked at his phone again. 11:54, he thought. In about 6 minutes it would be Bakugou’s birthday. His sixteenth birthday. The day he’d get his soulmate. So, after a lot of pleading, Bakugou had finally relented to Kirishima staying over, though he’d sworn that if he brought “Any other of those losers” he would slam the door in their face. So, reluctantly, Kirishima had relented from telling the rest of the squad.
All of the sudden, Bakugou stood up, muttering ‘toilet’ and dashing off toward the bathroom. Kirishima waited a minute, then another. His phone now said 11:59, and he knew Bakugou probably wanted some privacy, or to look at it himself first. Yet, some part of him had half believed Bakugou would stay out with him. Oh, well, he thought, there was nothing to do about it.
‘BZZZZZZZZZ! BZZZZZZZZZZ! BZZZZZZZZ!’ Kirishima quickly jumped up to turn off the alarm, signifying the start of the new day.
“Happy birthday, Bakugou!” He called out in the direction of the bathroom, and he heard a small grumble of response. A few seconds later, he heard some explosions, followed by a thick stream of cursing.
“Bakugou?” He jumped up, running, and knocked on the door. “Are you okay?”
The explosions stopped, and a second later, the door opened, causing Kirishima to almost fall on Bakugou.
“Woah, dude, ya good?” Kirishima caught Bakugou by his arm, since he had stumbled backwards to avoid running into Kirishima. In response, Bakugou shoved his wrist in his face.
“What? Bro I can’t see it if it’s that close to my-” Bakugou quickly withdrew his arm, and Kirishima turned it so he could see his wrist. “Izu-” Izuku Midoriya. “Oh, Bakubro- thats-” Kirishima snorted, trying to hold back a laugh.
“It’s not funny! I get Deku? I’d rather be soulmate-less!” Bakugou grabbed his arm back, glaring at Kirishima, who let out another small giggle.
Kirishima rubbed his eyes, sighing. That’s so funny. But then, what was this queasy feeling in his stomach? “Okay, dude, I get it’s Midoriya, and I know you hate him, but isn’t this an overreaction? I mean, come on, it can’t be that bad.”
“I- well- I was… I expected it to be someone else.” Bakugou responded, turning a bright shade of red.
Kirishima leaped at the chance of a possible revealing of a crush. “Really? Who???”
Bakugou blushed even deeper. “N-no one! Just not that stupid extra. Shut up, you’re starting to sound like Mina.”
“Oh, ok.” Kirishima bit his lip. Why did that only accentuate the queasy feel in his stomach? Well, it didn’t matter. He reached for his phone, sending a quick text to the group chat. Who cares if they found out now he was at Bakugou’s? It was too late for them to come over, anyways.
You: you’ll never guess who baku’s soulmate is.
Pikachu: who???
Alien Queen: yeah, who??????? Spillll 🍵🍵🍵
You: I said guess!
Tape: Is it you?
You: what? No? Why would it be me?
Alien Queen: hmmmmmmm idk, mb because YOU’RE LITERALLY THE ONE WITH HIM RN TO FIND OUT HIS SOULMATE, AND I WOULD ASSUME UR THE ONLY ONE!!!
Tape: yeah dude, plus you’re, like, the only one he talks to without yelling, you’ve practically been on dates before, you’re the only one he’ll tutor, and, like, a billion other things.
You: c’mon, guys, it isn’t like that!
Pikachu: mhm
Alien Queen: suuuuuure
You: whatever. It’s midoriya, btw
Alien Queen: MIDORIYA???
Pikachu: oh my god, I heard your squeal from across the building, quiet down.
Alien Queen: sorrysorrysorry I just. Midoriya? Srsly? Ahhhhhhhhhh that’s brilliant!
Alien Queen: let the plotting begin >:)
Kirishima laughed, looking up to see Bakugou glowering at him.
“Woah, dude, chill.” Kirishima held up his hands innocently. “What’d I do?”
Bakugou held out his phone, which was pinging about every 0.01 of a second. Oops.
“Care to explain this??” Bakugou asked in a nerve-wracking, calm voice. Mina!!!
“I- uh- well, I may have texted the group chat.” His voice went up on the last note, so it almost sounded like a question.
Bakugou smiled, and Kirishima thought for a second he’d let it go, but his next words shattered that hope. “You’re. Dead. Meat.” Yup, definitely time to get out of here.
He bolted out of the door and was followed by a series of explosions. Quickly, he darted into his dorm, shutting the door behind him.
You: Mina!!!
Alien Queen: oop, sorry, Kiri
Pikachu: Blasty kick you out?
You: more like I had to run for my life.
Alien Queen: hey, you told us, your funeral.
Kirishima shook his head. He couldn’t stay mad at the squad.
You: night, y’all
Mina: bye, sweetie
Pikachu: good luck not dying in class tmrw
Oh, yeah. The teachers tended to pair them, as Kirishima was the only one who Bakugou would spar with without physically hurting and/or yelling at all the time. But, that also meant he had a 99% chance of being killed if Bakugou was mad at him.
It doesn’t matter, I can think about that when it comes to it. For now, he just wanted to sleep and get rid of this queasy feeling. Seriously, what was his stomach’s deal? He shook his head, grabbing an antacid and slipping back into his bed, closing his eyes to go to sleep.
-----
“Hold still!” Mina swatted at Kirishima, who kept moving as she tried to put on his eyeliner. “This is the third time I’ve had to redo it.”
“Sorry, Mina,” Kirishima said sheepishly. “But Kaminari keeps trying to ask me things!”
“Dude, I can’t help it! Your birthday’s tomorrow, I’m excited!” Kaminari protested, trying to dodge Mina’s glare. Everyone was gathered in her room, having one of their weekly makeover sessions.
“Yeah, I mean, you’re getting your soulmate. I don’t see how we’re more excited than you are!” Sero added, blowing on his nails.
“Speaking of which…” Mina looked slyly at Bakugou and Midoriya. “How are our resident lovebirds doing?” She immediately had to duck, in order to dodge the hairbrush Bakugou threw that he’d been using to braid Izuku’s hair. “Woah, feisty!”
“Shuddup,” Bakugou snarled.
“Oh, come on, blasty you lurrrrrrrrrrve him.” Kaminari teased, though it was funny as you couldn’t see his face through the thick purple mask he was trying out.
“Bakugou, ow ow ow wait-” Midoriya cringed, as Bakugou’s hands tightened into fists and his hair started to smoke. “You’re going to set my hair on fire, don’t-” but Bakugou had let go, stood up, and walked out of the room, leaving Midoriya shaken, but safe.
“Woah, dude. That was.. Unexpected.” Kirishima stared at the door where Bakugou had made an exit.
“I didn’t mean for that to happen! I was just joking!” Kaminari half-bit his lip, looking confused and a little sad.
“It’s okay, Kaminari, don’t worry about it. Besides, it’s getting pretty late, we should probably go.” Midoriya reassured Kaminari, standing up.
“Yeah, y’all can go, I need my beauty sleep.” Mina huffed, shooing everyone out. “Night!”
At this point, Kirishima had gotten used to their meetings ending abruptly, and, yawning, waved at Kaminari, Sero, and Midoriya before heading to his own room, with Kaminari calling over his shoulder to be the first person Kirishima told who his soulmate was in the morning.
He got all the way to his room, and opened his door, before that queasy feeling hit him again. What the heck was this? It had happened a few more times since the night when Bakugou got his soulmate, but he never knew why. He’d looked it up a few times, but the closest thing he’d found that sounded like it was reflux, but that was actually throwing up, and he’d never thrown up.
He sighed, and, like usual, grabbed an antacid before heading to sleep. I’m too tired to stay up and wait for it, anyways. He could just see who it was in the morning.
-----
Slowly, Kirishima blinked open his eyes. Yawning and stretching, he turned to look at the clock. 5:12, he thought, that’s early. He was turning back over to go back to sleep when he noticed a tingling from his wrist.
Oh yeah, he remembered, it’s my birthday. Slowly, he sat up, and, cautiously, held his wrist up so he could see the words written on it.
Kirishima froze, confused. What? But- but that doesn’t make sense. How was this possible? It must be a mistake. But, there it was, written clear and fresh on his skin.
Katsuki Bakugou
This doesn’t make any sense, how is this possible, it doesn’t make sense for me to get him. His soulmate is Midoriya. So how did I-
Suddenly, the confusion passed. He’d heard about people who didn’t have soulmates, or who’s soulmate had someone else. He just never thought it would be him.
Everything made more sense now. The queasy feeling, he’d only had it whenever he saw Bakugou with Midoriya, and the first time it happened was when Bakugou got his soulmate. A soulmate who isn’t me.
‘Ping! Kirishima turned, picking up his phone. Kaminari.
Pikachu: so??? Who is it???
Alien Queen: spillllllllllllllllll
Tape: I know full well ur awake
You: ok, ok!
Pikachu: whooooooo issssss itttttttttt
You: well…
Kirishima hesitated, wishing he had stayed up. Then he would have had more time to think about what to tell the squad.
Alien Queen: well…?
Kirishima: I don’t actually know
Tape: WHAT?
Pikachu: WDYM
Alien Queen: HOW DARETH
You: calm down! I meant I don’t know who it is!
Alien Queen: IK! I CANT BELIEVE YOU DIDNT LOOK!
You: no, no! I did look! I just don’t know the person!
Tape: oh. So, what, you’ll meet them later, right?
You: ...i guess?
Pikachu: hmmm. That sucks. Welp, you’re not soulmate-less, at least, r?
Kirishima inhaled, biting his lip.
You: yeah, right
You: well, see you guys in class!
Alien Queen: seeya! And hey. I want DETAILS
You: ok, ok,
He put his phone back on his desk, before going to put his uniform on and do up his hair.
By the time he finished, it was almost time to go. But he was still puzzled over one thing. How am I going to hide this? Kirishima wondered, looking at the words on his wrist. Sure, he could tell people it was one thing, but he couldn’t change what it said. They’d still see the same thing he did.
After a second, his eyes fell on the early birthday present Mina had given him last night. It was a thick, red rubber cuff bracelet with zentangle designs on it in gold, and he had marveled over the coolness of it the night before. But, now, the main thing he thought of when he saw it was that it was perfect for hiding his wrist. The cuff was about 2, maybe 2 ½ inches thick, so it would cover the entirety of the words and more. Perfect.
He quickly grabbed it and put it on, before checking his hair one more time and turning it around, jumping slightly at a knock on the door.
What? He ran to the door, opening it and wondering who it was, freezing when he saw Bakugou glaring angrily in the doorway. Shoot, he knows, he knows somehow and he’s mad and shoot…
“You’re late.” Kirishima shook from his stupor, looking back up at Bakugou.
“Sorry dude! I must have overslept.” Kirishima scratched his head, grinning, realizing there was no way Bakugou could know. I have to act normal.
Bakugou half grunted, shoving something into Kirishima’s hands. “What’s this?” Kirishima held up a small parcel wrapped in paper.
“What does it look like?” Bakugou snarled, turning around and starting to walk to class, leaving Kirishima confused in the doorway.
Huh. Kirishima flipped the present over, before setting it down on his desk. I’ll open it later.
“Hey, dude, wait up!” he yelled, chasing after Bakugou, who made no sign of response, except slightly slowing his walk.
Quickly, he caught up with Bakugo. They walked in silence for a minute, before Bakugou started up a conversation again.
“So who is it?”
“Huh?” Kirishima looked at him, confused. “What do you mean?”
Bakugou gave Kirishima a scornful look. “Today’s your birthday, correct? Your literal soulmate. What are you, stupid?”
“Oh! That. Well…” Kirishima considered telling Bakugou who it was, but… I don’t want to do that to Midoriya. Or Bakubro, either. “Just some random person I don’t know. I’ll probably meet them later.”
“Oh.” Bakugou frowned slightly. “Ha. Guess you’ll have to date some extra.”
Kirishima’s eyes widened. “Brooooooooooo.” Bakugou looked at him, squinting.
“What. Why are you doing this. What- no, wait- I said that wrong-” Kirishima hugged Bakugou, smiling, tears slightly welling in his eyes.
“Nope, you can’t take it back now. You admitted it! We’re not extrasssssss. You love ussss.” Kirishima withdrew, smiling at Bakugou.
“Shut up.”
Bakugou kept walking, shrugging Kirishima off his shoulder. Kirishima chuckled slowly, before chasing after him.
They entered the classroom, and Kirishima walked over to his desk, while Bakugou walked over to Midoriya’s.
Kirishima saw him say something, but he couldn’t hear what it was, and he couldn’t see Midoriya’s response either, as at that exact moment he was tackled by three bodies spewing words faster than he could process them.
“Happy birthday!!!” Mina pinched his cheeks, giving him a small peck on the forehead. “Sooo, who is ittt?”
“Oh, it’s- nothing, just- some person I don’t know yet.” Kirishima smiled sheepishly, scratching his head.
“Oh, suure. Don’t even bother to tell us their name. We’re only your, like, best friends. No big deal.” Sero smirked, shaking his head.
“Dudes got a point.” Kaminari leaned on Sero’s shoulder. “Don’t worry to tell your squad, it's just the person you’re destined to be with, who you love drastically and would die for.”
“Ok, I think that’s- ugh, stop guilt tripping me!!” Kirishima slumped down on his desk, hiding his face.
“Nope, no way, sweetie.” Mina said, taking his arm as he sat back up and pushing away the bracelet. “Besides, what if one of us knows-?” Her smile fell slightly from her face. “Oh, Kiri.”
“What? What is it?” Kaminari’s eyes fell on the words. “Oh. Well. Now- now I feel… really bad about what I wrote earlier.”
Mina turned to glare at him. “What do you mean by that, Kami? What did you write to poor Kiri here?”
Kaminari backed away, holding up his hands. “N-nothing! I was just trying to comfort him when I thought he just didn’t know the person!”
Mina squinted at him, before turning back to Kirishima. “Sure. Well, Kiri, listen. Are you okay? If there’s anything you ever want to talk about, you know we’re here, right?” She turned to bop Kaminari on the nose. “Though maybe not this one.”
“I told you, it was an accident! I didn’t mean anything by it!” Kaminari protested, but Mina shushed him.
Kirishima chuckled a little. “Thanks, guys. But I’m fine. And bro?” Kaminari turned from his sulking spot. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”
Sero pitched in now, too. “So… did you tell him?”
Kirishima sighed. “No, not yet. I don’t even know how I would.”
“But… you are planning to, correct?” Three sets of eyes turned to stare at Kirishima, and he started to fidget.
“Well… I… No, not really?” He looked up, seeing a questioning but all-together supportive look in their eyes.
“Alright, but he’s probably going to find out eventually! It’s better if you tell him, because if he finds out and you didn’t tell him… I mean, you can’t wear that bracelet forever, Kiri.” Mina glanced at the others, a worried edge to her eyes.
He sighed again. “I know. I’ll tell him, I will, I just. It might take a little time. And I don’t want to mess up our friendship, or bother Midoriya.”
“Honey, Deku’s a sweet kid. You won’t bother him.” Mina assured him, though Kirishima noticed she steered around the Bakugou part.
“Yeah, Midobro’s cool.” Sero patted Kirishima’s shoulder. “You should tell him, though. Plus, he might have an idea about what to do about Bakugou. And Mina’s right, you can’t wear that bracelet forever, especially since we’ll have to change into our hero costumes.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll- I’ll speak to him at lunch.” Kirishima smiled up at them. “Thanks, guys. You’re good at this, you know?”
Kaminari snorted. “I should hope so. After all the drama with me and my soulmate? I’d be surprised if they weren’t freaking soulmate counselors.”
Kirishima snorted. Man, these guys, he thought, what would I do without them?
-----
Come on, Kirishima. Man up. You can do this.
Kirishima took a deep breath, before reaching over to tap Midoriya’s arm. “Hey, bro, could I talk to you a sec?”
Midoriya looked up at Kirishima. “Of course! What is it?”
Kirishima looked over at the others on the table. Mina was looking at him with a Go ahead! look in her eyes. He also saw Bakugou staring at him.
“Um- maybe somewhere a little more… private?” Kirishima said hesitantly. He looked around, dragging Midoriya into the boys bathroom, where thankfully there was no one else occupying it.
“What do you want to talk about?” Midoriya looked up at Kirishima, a sense of knowledge on his face.
It’s almost as if he already knows what I’m going to say. Kirishima shook the thought from his head, that was impossible. “I- well, I don’t know what to do about this, but I thought I should man up and at least tell you because I mean he’s your soulmate and I just-”
“Stop.” Midoriya held up a hand. “Calm down. Besides, I think I get it.” He smiled. “You got Kacchan as your soulmate, didn’t you.”
Kirishima slumped over in relief. “How did you know? You know what, it doesn’t matter. And I’m really sorry, I don’t want to come between you I just thought I should-” Midoriya silenced him again.
“Look. Kirishima, it’s fine.” He smiled. “I know you wouldn’t do that. I don’t want to say too much, but… you should talk to Bakugou.” Midoriya hesitated, as if he was going to add more, before shaking his head and turning. “We should probably get back, the others will wonder what happened to us.”
“Yeah, you're right.” Kirishima followed Midoriya back to the table, sitting down. He picked at his food, because even though he was glad telling Midoriya went well, having to tell Bakugou scared him even more.
“Kirishima!” he looked up to Mina shaking his shoulders. “Come on! We’re gonna be late to our next class!”
“Oh- right, sorry. Spaced out there for a second.” Kirishima shook his head, clearing it, and stood up, following Mina out to the halls.
As they were walking down the halls, Kirishima had a realization as to where they were headed. “Mina,” He hissed, “We’re going to hero training.”
Mina looked at him, confused. “Um, yeah. Did that just come to you?”
Kirishima sighed, a little exasperated. “No, I mean, my hero outfit. What am I going to do? He’ll be able to see my wrist!”
Mina shook her head. “Kiri, calm down. You added sleeves to your outfit, remember? The words will be covered by that.”
“Yeah, but still! I have to change into it! And his locker’s right next to mine!” Kirishima slumped over. “Maybe I should just fake sickness and skip class…”
Mina sighed. “You’ll be fine. Look, it's not in the easiest spot to see aside from if you’re directly looking at it, and do you think Bakugou’s gonna try to find out who it is? No. So stop worrying, you’ll be fine!”
“...Maybe.”
“You will be, so man up! It’ll take all of one minute, now go! You can do it!” Mina split away from Kirishima, heading to the girls locker room.
Kirishima took a deep breath. Ok, c’mon, Kiri. you can do this. You. Can. Do. This. But, what if he couldn’t? Nope, not thinking like that. Before he could come up with some sort of excuse to avoid this class, he pushed forward and walked into the locker room.
Walking over to his locker, he said a quick hello to Bakugou, trying not to look suspicious. As quickly as possible, he got into his outfit, releasing a sigh of relief as he pulled his sleeve down over his wrist. However, when he looked up Bakugou’s eyes seemed to be lingering on the spot he’d just covered, though he quickly looked away.
Huh, Kirishima rubbed his arm nervously, heading to the training room. I’m just being paranoid, right? He sighed. I’ve gotta tell him soon.
In class, they had to partner up. He started heading towards Bakugou, and tapped him on his shoulder. “Hey bro, whaddya say we partner up?”
Bakugou looked at him, shrugging. “Sure.”
Wait. Oh, no. He’d asked to partner up out of pure habit, and now he couldn’t back out of it. Shoot…
Mina looked at him, and he could physically feel her mentally shaking her head. “Good luck,” she mouthed. Good ol’ Mina, she always tried to look out for him.
“Cool!” He responded, turning back to Bakugou.
----
Crap crap crap crap! Kirishima slammed into the wall, barely activating his quirk on time, causing his head to crack painfully. How did he get in this position? He had absolutely no clue, except that he and Bakugou had been split up, he’d made a couple of wrong turns, and here he was, facing against some guy who, for some reason, had the strength of an elephant.
That reason probably being that he matched the description they were given before they entered the maze. Ok, now I’ve found this dude. What was I supposed to do now..?
“Ack!” Kirishima coughed. Hard to think when there’s someone cutting off your air circulation- Oh. Right. Capture and return safely to hq. Aizawa had stressed the point of safety. He reached up to grab the hand wrapped around his neck, gripping it with his quirk and trying to pull it off. It stubbornly remained, though suddenly the pressure loosened.
Thinking he’d won, he tried to twist out of his grip, but the dude brought his other arm up, gripping Kirishima’s face.
He tried to slip free, but in a split second he couldn’t move, his body paralyzed. The villain licked his lips, whispered something under his breath, and darkness started to encroach onto Kirishima’s vision.
-----
Where am I? Kirishima sat up, shaking his head and looking around. He seemed to be sitting in a strange room, or… floating? It was hard to tell, there was just… darkness, surrounding him on every side.
“Kirishima.” Kirishima shook awake, looking at Bakugou who was waving his hand in front of his face. “What happened? You need to focus, or you’re going to fail.”
“Sorry dude. I must have spaced out.” He chuckled, bringing his hand up to rub his neck, and felt his bracelet slip
down
his
wrist.
He quickly tried to move to slide it back up, but not before he heard a sharp intake of breath from the other side of the table where Bakugou was sitting.
Bakugou reached over, gripping his wrist as small explosions went off. Kirishima’s quirk prevented any real damage, but it was still terrifying.
“What the hell, Kirishima? What is this, some sort of stupid joke?” Not knowing what to do, Kirishima just shook his head, too startled to speak.
Bakugou looked up, burning anger in his eyes. “So I’m no one, huh? Just some random person you don’t know? Guess so, if you thought for a second your stupid ass could hide this from me.” his grip tightened, twisting Kirishima’s wrist around.
“That’s not-”
“Oh suuure, you didn’t mean anything by it, you thought I wouldn't care, you were just gonna quietly keep it to yourself, huh? Shut up.” Bakugou stood, letting go of Kirishima’s wrist and pushing him out of his chair.
“I know what you were planning. Probably just waiting for one moment to steal me away, huh? Probably even told Deku, looking for something to show that it wouldn’t be a problem. Well, fat chance. Deku’s too kind for his own good, but if you thought it’d be fine, you must be even more of an idiot than I thought.”
Kirishima looked up at him, tears streaming down his face, trying to tell him that no, he had it wrong, that wasn’t the case at all, but Bakugou was already walking away. He paused at the door, muttering one last word of damage before leaving the room.
“Dunno why I ever thought you’d be worth playing friends with.”
He then left, leaving Kirishima sitting on the floor, sobbing quietly, as his last glimmer of hope went silent.
-----
“Kirishima!! Look at me!!” Kirishima opened his eyes slowly, scared he’d be forced to repeat the living nightmare, and when he saw Bakugou, shaking his shoulders, he let out a small sob.
“I- I’m s-sorry-” he could barely get out the words, he was shaking so hard.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“I- I didn’t m-mean t-to-” Kirishima couldn’t focus on what Bakugou was saying, as he cried harder, shaken from the heavy rejection, and scared from the tight grip Bakugou had on him. “P-please don’t, I d-didn’t-”
“Kirishima. What are you talking about? Jeez, you’re a mess. I came in to see you pinned against the wall by that dude, and you were crying your eyes out. What happened?”
Wait, what? Kirishima blinked, trying to clear his eyes, looking around to see a room with one hole in the wall, with a bunch of rubble around it, and a person lying on the ground, knocked out. And it all came rushing back to him.
Was it a dream? No, it seemed too realistic. But then what was it?
A quirk. Had it been that guy's quirk? But why that specifically? Was it because he was partnered with Bakugou?
“Hey, Kiri. You with me?” He looked back at Bakugou staring at him, a slightly annoyed expression on his face. “We need to get out of here. Are you hurt?”
“Yeah, I'm- I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me.” Not physically, anyway. Bakugou gave him a skeptical look, but shrugged and stood up. “Let’s go then.”
Kirishima took a shaky breath, trying to stop the flow of water coming from his eyes, before following Bakugou. He hesitated before touching the person to help Bakugou pick him up and carry him out, but when Bakugou glared at him, he quickly picked up his legs, wincing for a second as he expected to live out some new horrible trauma. However, when nothing happened, he yelled at himself internally for being so stupid and weak, especially with the weird look Bakugou was giving him.
They carried the person out through the hole Bakugou had made, and after about fifteen minutes, they managed to reach the exit, where Aizawa was waiting for them. Thankfully, Kirishima had had enough time to stop crying, and hopefully he didn’t look too bad.
They dropped the guy, who Aizawa called Phantasm, and headed to the room where the other people who had finished were waiting.
They walked in, and Mina rushed over, gasping at the sight of Kirishima. “Oh my gosh, what happened? Your eyes are all red…” She slowed to a stop, pulling a handkerchief out of nowhere and dabbing around his eyes, before giving up. “Are you okay? What- wait a second…” she turned around, glaring at Bakugou, and started to walk towards him with fire in her eyes. “He did this, didn’t he. I swear, that boy, I’m going to kick his ass into the next century..!”
Bakugou turned around from where he was standing, looking towards him and Mina. at the sight of Mina’s expression and posture, he furrowed his brows, a look of angry confusion on his face.
“Mina. Mina, I-” He sighed, following her and reaching to grab her arm, stopping her. “It wasn’t him. Well… I don’t think so. Technically.” He whispered to her, hoping Bakugou wouldn’t hear. But when he looked back to see if he was still watching, he had already turned back around.
“What do you mean you don’t think so? I’m going to kill him for this.” Mina said with a snarl, though she didn’t move from where she was standing.
“I… I’ll explain it. Just… come over here, okay? Out of the crowd.” Away from Bakugou. It wouldn’t be good for her hero career, and to be honest, he didn’t want Bakugou to die.
Mina relaxed a little, her face softening. “All right then. Though no promises as to whether or not I kill him after.” Kirishima let out a sigh of relief. That was better than nothing, and he could convince her not to kill Bakugou. Maybe. Hopefully. I have to be careful about how I say this.
“Ok. so…” Kirishima paused, taking a deep breath. “You know that villain guy?”
Mina blinked. “I think he was posing as a villain. I looked up Phantasm after we turned him into Aizawa, and he’s either a movie or a less known hero who’s quirk is to show people their fears- oh.” Mina paused. “That bastard used his quirk on you, didn’t he.”
Kirishima nodded. “It… was not fun.”
“If you don’t mind my asking…” Mina hesitated a second. “What did you see?”
“It wasn’t exactly… see.” Kirishima bit his lip. “I lived through it. I completely forgot about the training, the… Phantasm. I thought I was actually in my room studying with…” He took a deep breath. “Bakugou. I thought I was actually studying with him, and he saw his name on my wrist, and.. It didn’t go well. Actually, it went… very badly.
Dunno why I ever thought it’d be worth playing friends with you.
Kirishima winced, trying to shake it from his head. No, you can’t get stuck in your mind over this. It didn’t happen, it didn’t happen.
“Kirishima? You okay?” He opened his eyes, looking at Mina, and realized he’d been sitting curled up in a ball on the floor, his hands over his ears. “Sweetie?” The look on her face was so concerned and full of pity, he felt even worse.
“I’m sorry- I- I don’t know, I just-” He sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Mina looked confused for a split second, before she realized he was apologising to her. “Oh no, Kiri, don’t apologise.” She reached up, cupping his face in her hands. “None of this is your fault, okay? You didn’t do anything to cause this.”
“But it is my fault, isn’t it? Because I was too weak to defeat Phantasm. Because I let myself be caught, didn’t try hard enough. If I can’t defeat a simple training exercise, how can I ever hope to be a hero?” Kirishima buried his face in his arms, fighting back tears. “I’m not even going through it now, but it still affects me so much.” He choked out.
Mina pulled back his arm, and he looked up at her, to see a gentle smile. “Kirishima. You know that’s not true. A simple training exercise? He shouldn’t have shown you something like that if it were really just an exercise. It’s his fault, not yours. You are strong, compassionate, and such a good person on so many different levels.
“You say it wasn’t your best? Just because you have room for improvement, doesn’t mean you’re not deserving of a hero. You’re in your first year of highschool, of course you’re not perfect. None of us are, not even Bakugou.
“If you’re so strong right now, and you say it's not your best? You’re going to get even stronger, and be the best hero possible, because you’re not just strong, you have will, determination, and love for everyone. You apologised to me earlier, that shows it, because even though you’re hurting, you still worry for others around you.
“So don’t you dare call yourself weak, because you know full well you’re not. ‘Kay, sweets?” She wiped her thumb across his cheek, clearing a small tear that had slipped from his eye.
Kirishima sniffed, rubbing his eyes, and reached out to hug Mina. “Thank you. So much. You’re the best friend I could ever want.”
Mina rubbed his back, letting out a small chuckle. “You’re welcome. If you ever need a pep talk, you know who to call. And everything I said? It’s true.”
Kirishima let go, taking a deep breath. “Alright. I’m ok now.”
Mina laughed. “Good, because the last people just walked in, and..” Her face fell a little. “...they’re playing the recordings of our turns.”
Kirishima inhaled deeply. Playing recordings of our turns? That meant- his breakdown would be available for the whole class to see. What am I going to do?
“Aizawa said attendance wasn’t mandatory, but…” Mina looked at him. “Do you want to stay and watch?”
Kirishima hesitated, before nodding. “I… I want to review my form. And..” See where I went wrong. No, no. Listen to Mina. It wasn’t my fault. Still, it’s hard to think otherwise.
They gathered around the big screen on the wall, which Aizawa was standing in front of.
“Oh. You’re all here.” He sighed, rubbing his forehead and muttering under his breath, “Why didn’t you just leave?”
“We have a collection of all the recordings from your rounds, please watch them or something.” He hit a button on the remote, and the recordings started to play.
]The first recording was Todoroki and Uraraka, and they managed to take down Phantasm fairly quickly, though Uraraka threw up at one point. The rest of the teams went by pretty quickly. Mina and Sero got out quickly by melting the walls and turning random things into mummies, until they got Phantasm and moved on to the exit. Kaminari got partnered with Mineta, and ended up short circuiting after freaking when the dude grabbed him, though it was probably a good move, as Phantasm passed out from the shock and Mineta dragged him and Kaminari to the exit.
And then Kirishima saw his own face on the screen. He took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut. A gentle hand fell on his arm, and he turned to look at Mina, speaking with her eyes in the crowded room. Are you going to be ok? He nodded. I’ll be fine.
It started out with him and Bakugou plowing through the robots, and cutting down walls when they needed to or crawling through tunnels. Though at one point they came to a fork, and Kirishima went one way while Bakugou went another. Here, the screen split in two.
Kirishima followed a long, twisting tunnel, leading to a big room with one vent in the top right corner. Kirishima had to pull himself up using tiny cracks and was still a good 5 feet from the top before he ran out. He jumped, gripping the grate and pushing against the wall to pull it off, landing with a thud back on the ground before repeating the tedious process of climbing and jumping, this time gipping the edge of the hole in the wall and pulling himself in. He stopped for just a second before continuing, before it came to a sudden halt, falling down into darkness with a distance of who knows how deep. Kirishima paused to think, before activating his quirk and jumping down into the deep pit. The camera went dark a second, before he hit the ground, where he wobbled a second but stayed on his feet. He barely had time to take in his surroundings, before a fist swung around, catching him in the jaw. He stumbled back, crossing his arms over his face to Block another hit, and looked up at the person he was fighting. They went back and forth, getting hits in and getting hit, blocking and dealing, offense and defense, before Kirishima was slammed into a wall and Phantasm started to choke him.
Bakugou followed the hallway, which wound in circles, seemingly getting lower as he went. Eventually, after about 5 minutes, he came to where the hallway ended, coming to a stop at a rounded wall. He fired of several large explosions at it, but when the ceiling started trembling and he’d barely made a dent, he turned around and started the trek back up. However, he took about five steps, before a large pillar erupted from the wall, and he had to jump quickly to dodge it. He growled, exploding it, and collected the rubble, which he used to throw ahead, triggering traps so he could dodge them easier. It wasn’t perfect, and he still had to dodge a few spikes, but he made it to the exit relatively unscathed. Pausing a small second to breath, he turned down the hallway Kirishima had chosen, quickly traversing the obstacles that Kirishima had already cleared. He hesitated slightly at the dark hole, before jumping.
Kirishima winced here. His face on the screen was hidden by Phantasm's hand, but he was still shaking badly. Mina gripped his hand, and he squeezed it gratefully, ignoring the people who had tried looking sneakily at him. Instead, he turned his face back toward the screen.
Bakugou froze, assessing the damage and area of the room, before discerning that Phantasm hadn’t noticed him. He started slowly advancing, before pausing, a look of shock on his face. That expression quickly turned to a look of absolute furiosity, and he growled, running forward.
Phantasm looked up, starting to turn, but he wasn’t fast enough. Bakugou leaped up, letting off a huge explosion of his face. He repeated this,beating back on phantasm till he was out cold on the floor, even setting off a few more after that.
He stopped, heaving, before whipping around and dashing over to Kirishima, kneeling on the floor in front of him. Kirishima’s face was scrunched up, and tears and snot were streaming down his face.
Bakugou looked distressed, not knowing what to do, before slowly, gently, reaching out and placing his hands on Kirishima’s shoulders.
“Kirishima?” Bakugou said the name slowly, tentatively, a look of slight fear on his face.
He said the name again, gripping Kirishima's shoulders harder, and looked relieved when his eyes opened. However, that expression quickly fell from his face.
Kirishima looked away from the screen. He knew this part, he didn’t want to go through it again, not particularly. Mina slowly squeezed his hand again, whispering softly, “You ready to go?”
He nodded, and Mina started walking, Kirishima in tow, weaving her way between the people and back to the dorms.
In their haste to leave, they missed Bakugou’s eyes following them from the room.
-----
Kirishima sighed, flopping over on his bed and rubbing his eyes. God, today was a mess. Had it really only been a day? It felt like so much longer. He rolled over, stretching his back, and his phone pinged on his nightstand.
Alien Queen: heyo
Alien Queen: Kirri
Alien Queen: ya gonna come down for dinner?
Alien Queen: i need help
Alien Queen: Kami & Sero are teaming up on me
Alien Queen: Kiri
Alien Queen: Kiri
Alien Queen: Kiri
Alien Queen: Kiri
Alien Queen: Kiri
Alien Queen: Kiri
Alien Queen: Kiri
Alien Queen: Kiri
Kirishima shook his head, smiling at his phone.
You: that depends, what are they teaming up on you about?
Alien Queen: who would win
Alien Queen: the hulk or a billion bees
You: the bees
Alien Queen: BRUH
Alien Queen: yanno what no don’t come down
You: omwwww
Kirishima quickly hopped up, dashing over to the kitchen, where he saw Mina, Kaminari, Sero, and Bakugou in a heated argument. Well, Bakugou wasn’t arguing, but he was sitting there smirking handsomely. What- What on earth did he just think. Thaaaaaaat’s gonna be an issue.
He shook his head, reaching over Mina and grabbing a nacho off her plate, shoving it in his mouth.
“Hey!!! That’s mine!!! And I told you not to come down here!!!” She exclaimed, swiping at him.
“Mmm, Guacamole,” He responded, his voice muffled due to his full mouth. She huffed, before taking another bite from the plate and passing it over her head to him.
“Oh, well. I was about done anyways.”
He grinned, grabbing the plate. Mina’s nacho’s were class-renowned as the best, for good reason. No one knew how she made them, just that she did, and to eat them was to have heaven placed within your mouth, and you were very lucky, as she mostly kept them for herself.
“Thank youuuuu.” He shoved one into his mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly before asking about the argument. “So, bees or Hulk?”
Mina slammed her hand on the table. “The Hulk!!! He could easily squish all the bees, and all the bees could do was sting him once before dying!!!”
Sero shook his head. “No, no, no. Bees are very quick. And if you get stung enough, it becomes poisonous and even one sting could kill you. So a whole billion? Hulk’s dead.”
Kaminari nodded his head energetically. “Yeah, yeah!!! He can’t kill all of them, they're too small, and the poison thing Sero mentioned! BEE SUPERIORITY.”
Mina groaned. “But the hulk is fast, he could run, and kill the bees when they get close. Kirishima, help meee.”
Kirishima shook his head. “Sorry Mina, but I have to go with Kaminari and Sero on this one. They have a point, the bees would win.”
“But- but- bullets bounce off of him!!!” Mina tried, exasperated.
“Mina, give it up already. You’re vastly outnumbered, one to four.”
Everyone turned, staring at Bakugou, who shrugged.
Kirishima was the first to react, turning back to Mina. “Yeah! Even Bakugou agrees, you’re wrong.
Mina grumbled. “Yanno what? Gimme back my nachos.”
Kirishima's face fell. “No, no you’re right, the Hulk wins, something about bullets, yep yep.”
Sero and Kaminari turned to look at him. “Bruh,” Sero started, “seriously? For nachos?”
“What? They’re good. And the only thing I have for dinner.” Kirishima said, putting another one in his mouth.
“We’ll forgive you if you give us one.” Kaminari said, narrowing his eyes deviously.
“What? But- but- there’s only five left!!!"
“So, give one to Soy Sauce, Dunce Face, and me, and keep two for yourself. Or else you can do your homework yourself tonight.” Bakugou said, reaching out a hand. Because even Bakugou would go further than usual for a nacho.
“Bruh, whyyyy.” Kirishima whined. Of course, tonight's homework was especially difficult. He frowned sadly at his dinner, before passing a nacho to Sero, Kaminari, and Bakugou before quickly eating the last two so he wouldn’t have to give them up as well.
Kaminari licked his lips, before freezing, pulling out his phone. “Shoot.”
Sero looked at him questioningly, before freezing as well.
Kaminari looked up. “We’re late to Momo’s study party!!!”
Mina’s eyes widened, and they all scrambled up, grabbing their stuff and dashing for the door. “Sorry, guys, see you later!!” Mina called over her shoulder as they ran for Yaoyorozu’s room, leaving Kirishima and Bakugou sitting alone in the room.
Kirishima and Bakugou sat there in awkward silence for a second, before Bakugou cleared his throat. “We should go study too, then,” he said, standing up.
Kirishima stood up as well, picking up his plate. “Sure, lemme just wash this quickly.” He did so, then turned to follow Bakugou back to his room. However, Bakugou turned a door early, heading to Kirishima’s dorm instead, sitting down at the table.
Kirishima paused slightly, unsure of what to do. His room? But… “Don’t you have to get your own homework?”
Bakugou pulled it out of his bag, placing it on the table. “Already got it.”
“Oh, alright.” Kirishima grabbed his own homework, before hesitantly sitting down across from Bakugou. A sharp gasp came from the other side of the table, and he felt a tight hand gripping his wrist. Kirishima shook his head. That didn’t happen, it was a fake show by a person who didn’t… It’s. Not. Real. It was fake.
He opened his eyes, to find Bakugou staring at him quizzically. “Uh. S-so, what should we start with?” Kirishima asked, forcing himself not to itch his neck in a nervous tick. Even if it isn’t real, I'm not risking anything.
Bakugou started to speak, but then his gaze fell behind Kirishima, to his nightstand.
Kirishima tilted his head, turning to see what Bakugou was looking at, and his eyes fell on the tiny parcel on his desk. “Oh yeah!” He said, reaching out to grab it. “I haven’t had a chance to open this yet.”
Bakugou nodded at the box. “Open it, then.”
Kirishima carefully untied the bow, and slowly picked at the tape, not wanting to tear the beautiful paper. Of course, he failed, ripping a long piece off. He sighed, ripping the rest off, and gasped when he saw what was inside.
“You didn’t.”
Bakugou smirked. “I found it on ebay for cheap and ordered it. So, yes, I did.”
Kirishima turned to look up at Bakugou. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!”
Inside the parcel was an antique Red Riot figurine, still in the box and in perfect condition. “How did you even..? This is the best present ever!! I could hug you right now!” He smiled, and Bakugou blushed slightly, looking away.
“It’s your Birthday. I couldn’t lose and let the others get something better.” He grumbled, rubbing his neck. “Okay, on the topic of your birthday, who did you get?” Bakugou said this quietly, and Kirishima almost couldn’t hear him.
However, he did, and it set off a string of arguments in his head. Should I tell him? But… What happens if I do? What if I tell him, and he reacts badly? I don’t want to lose him as a friend. However, I can’t keep it from him forever. Wouldn’t it be better to just get it over with, like ripping off a band aid? Ughhh. I wish I had just gotten someone I didn’t know, it would be so much easier.
Sighing, he pulled his knees up to his chest, hiding his face as he curled into a tiny ball and put his arm on the table towards Bakugou. There was a pause, but then he felt a hand brush against his. He winced, and the hand withdrew, but it came back, and he forced himself to be still.
Kirishima felt the bracelet move up his arm and curled up tighter, digging his nails into his palm and waiting for a shout. But the silence that followed was worse.
He pictured emotions of anger, disgust, and hate tracing Bakugou’s face, and felt tears well up in his eyes. “I’m sorry-” he started to choke out, but paused as he felt rough fingers brushing against his wrist.
“Is- is this real?” Bakugo looked up at him, pulling back his hand when he saw Kirishima's face. “Are you okay? What happened- oh. Did-” He fell silent, reaching out slightly for Kirishima, before pulling back.
Kirishima was in slight shock. What? What was happening? “I- I don’t-”
Bakugou took a deep breath, before putting his own hand on the table between them, looking at his lap.
It took Kirishima a moment to focus, but when he looked at Bakugou’s wrist, He froze. What. That didn’t make sense. But then- it was right there, in clear words.
Eijirou Kirishima. That was what was written on his wrist.
“But- what about Midoriya?” Kirishima managed to stutter out. “How is this possible?”
Bakugou shrugged, looking up at Kirishima. “I don’t know. Mine and Deku’s changed last night. I thought- I thought it meant I wasn’t good enough for anyone. I just- I had to know. Who you got, but I never thought- You actually got me?”
Kirishima nodded, smiling as tears slipped down his cheeks. “I did. And you got me.”
Bakugou nodded, and Kirishima noticed his eyes were starting to well up to. He stood up, walking over to Bakugou’s side of the table, and wrapped his arms around him, crying into his shoulder.
“I love you.”
Bakugou stiffened, before relaxing, leaning into the hug and squeezing Kirishima tightly back. “I… I love you too. I think I always have.”
Kirishima pulled back, rubbing his eyes. “What do you mean?”
Bakugou sniffed. “Remember my birthday?”
Kirishima nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“Remember how I said I was expecting someone else?” Bakugou's voice was barely above a whisper.
Kirishima nodded.
“That person I was expecting… It was you.” Bakugou smiled slightly, blushing.
Kirishima stared at him, awestruck. “Can I kiss you now.”
Bakugou looked up, a shocked expression on his face, but he nodded.
Slowly, cautiously, Kirishima leaned forward and Bakugou did the same. Kirishima felt soft lips touch his, and a tingling sensation went through him, followed by a wave of warmth. The kiss was soft, gentle, and sweet, and so, so, nice. When Bakugou pulled away, he just sat there, reminiscing in the memory.
He looked back at Bakugou, who was blushing furiously, staring at his lap. He touched his lips, smiling softly, and let out a small giggle. The noise seemed to surprise Bakugou, who startled, looking at Kirishima, who was laughing now.
“That was amazing.” He said, giving Bakugou another hug.
“..I guess.” Bakugou murmured, burying his face in Kirishima’s hair.
“So… What now? Are we dating?” Kirishima asked.
“Well, I should think so.” Bakugou shook his head. “Honestly, Shitty Hair, how stupid are you.”
Kirishima laughed. “Love you too, babe.”
Bakugou froze. “What did you just call me?”
Kirishima laughed again, falling over. “Babe.”
Bakugou scrunched his nose, trying to hide a smile. “Hrmh.”
Kirishima grinned. He’d been worried for nothing, per usual. He leaned on Bakugou’s shoulder, taking his hand in his and kissing it. “So, do you wanna tell people, or no?”
Bakugou groaned. “We’re going to have to, aren’t we? ‘Cause I’m assuming Raccoon eyes and them will pester us.”
“Yeah, probably.” Kirishima squeezed his hand. “So we’ll say it?”
Bakugou nodded.
“Cool.” Kirishima turned his phone on.
You: Guys I got a bf
Alien Queen: WHAT NOW
He turned his phone off, ignoring the pings, and snuggled closer to Bakugou. Speaking of whom, was glowering. Oops. “Uh. What is it?” Kirishima asked, playing innocence.
Bakugou shook his head. “You know what? I give up. I’ll just tell Mina you made a mistake and meant to write that you will never get a boyfriend.”
“No no no wait! I’m sorry! I take it back!!” He reached for Bakugou’s phone, but Bakugou held it out of the way, causing Kirishima to knock them both over, so they landed in a pile on the floor.
Welp. Kirishima was about to apologise, but then he heard a sound emit from Bakugou’s mouth. Was he.. Laughing?
He was. “God, you’re cute.” He gasped out between the laughs that were wracking his body.
Kirishima blushed. Cute! Bakugou had called him cute!
Bakugou quieted, holding his stomach. “Alright. I am going to sleep, because it is late. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
"It's late?" Bakugou held up his phone, and the time said 8:20. "...by your standards, I guess it is. Time flies, huh?"
Kirishima stood up and followed Bakugou to the door. Bakugou pecked Kirishima lightly on the head, before saying goodnight and heading from the room.
Kirishima flopped down on his bed, before realizing they hadn’t managed to get done what they originally intended to do.
You: Hey broBlasty: You literally just texted your friends to tell them we were dating, causing me the pain of a million notifications. You do not get to call me “bro”.
You: fine, baby
Blasty: ...
Blasty: Why are you disturbing my sleep.
You: what about our homework
Blasty: …
Blasty: shit.