Archive of Our Own

“You’re telling me he gets around with a name like that?”

“Yeah, I mean, he’s well on his way to the top five so he must be doing something right.”

“Who approved that? I mean ‘murder god,’ really?”

The voices echoed through the hallway and through Kirishima’s door. He sat at his desk looking over some potential internship students. His hand paused over a student’s profile; she was a promising young student with a forcefield quirk, but he wasn’t reading the page anymore, his attention had been stolen by the muffled voices heading his way. He froze as he listened to the conversation.

The sun hung low in the sky outside his window, flooding into his eyes and kissing his cheek but he hardly noticed over the sound of his heartbeat in his ears.

He only knew of one pro whose name sparked controversy like that.

“Red Riot!” the voice said, louder now, since the polite knock on his door.

“Hey,” he replied with a smile to one of the sidekicks that worked at his agency. The young man opened the door and invited himself inside, the receptionist from the front of the building wasn’t far behind him.

“We just got word that another agency wants to work with you. There's this villain they’ve been having a tough time pinning down and they need backup,” the man continued, walking towards his desk on the other side of the room.

“Of course,” Kirishima replied, standing from his desk. “This can wait.” He swallowed as he asked a question he already knew the answer to, “Whose agency am I collaborating with?”

His employees glanced at each other in a silent debate to say the full name. In the end, it was decided to shorten it.

“It's Dynamight’s agency. You two graduated from UA together, didn’t you?”

Kirishima’s head swirled with nostalgia at his name.

He remembered explosive emotions and consequential words whispered behind closed doors. He remembered frightened, scarlett eyes that hid behind a wall of misdirected anger. He remembered the easy friendship that blossomed into something more over years of soft looks and hesitant touches.

“That’s right,” Kirishima replied.

He’d never been to Dynamight’s agency on the other side of town. It was new, much like his; they were still novel to the hero scene. He knew this day would come sooner rather than later, but he’d face it like a man.

What happened between them… that was the past. There was nothing he could do about the past.

---

A few hours later, Red Riot had been debriefed and was standing outside a rather large building that looked as if were mere minutes away from collapsing under its own weight.

The villain, a woman known by the name Vagary, was said to be spotted around this area and he’d been sent with Dynamight to bring her in. She’d gotten away with countless crimes and left triple the amount of victims in her wake. Her quirk was tricky and it was a great distraction for her escape which is why, Kirishima guessed, he and Bakugo had been called to the scene. They were both top five candidates even at their age, so this appeared to be some kind of test to see how well they could handle an elusive villain like her.

There wasn’t a lot of information about her or her quirk, the information was still being processed before they got word that she’d been spotted here, so they had to leave with a little less information about Vagary than Kirishima would have liked. All he had to go off of was her photo and a vague description of her skills which included expert level defensive maneuvers and some kind of operative quirk which did not narrow down the possibilities of her abilities in the slightest.

Next to him, Bakugo seemed to be getting impatient. He walked up to the front door of the building and kicked it in without so much as a second thought.

Kirishima winced as he watched the building practically sway from the hit

There goes our chances of a stealth mission.

“Hey man, don’t you think that was a little on the risky side?” Kirishima said, smiling earnestly at Bakugo with raised eyebrows to soften the expression a bit.

The pro rolled his eyes in response. “Please, as if I’d be so careless.” Then he jabbed his thumb towards the support beams around the door without turning. “The building is old but those beams are steel, kicking in the door had little to no effect on the building as a whole.”

Observant as ever.

He walked further into the building without bothering to ensure Kirishima was following.

He still doesn't play well with others, huh? But damn, he’s good. Kirishima smiled before jogging to Bakugo’s side.

Bakugo stalked forward like he knew exactly where he was going. Every step was of full confidence. His eyes were fixed ahead like nothing in the room was of any interest to him, but Kirishima knew better. He knew Bakugo was examining every inch of this building as they walked, taking in any possible movement in the shadows, anything that seemed out of place.

They walked in silence, only the shuffling of their feet on the old, dusty ground and the creak of the floorboards provided any relief to the quiet tension.

Kirishima sensed a gap between them. It’d been there for a while, growing wider every time they met, but it was gaping so severely now he felt like he may never be able to bridge it again. It stared back at Kirishima with loneliness and desiderium.

“So, this kinda feels like old times, huh? You ‘n me being partners and all,” Kirishima said, breaking the silence and leaning forward with his hands behind his back as he spoke. He smiled but there was tentativeness and caution hidden behind it.

Bakugo stiffened at his words and his breath visibly caught in his throat. His eyes seemed to cloud over like he was trapped in some memory he’d tried to suppress. His eyes widened and he seemed lost in that memory, his face twisted and frozen.

Kirishima’s face fell and he reached out towards Bakugo. He had no idea why his words had that kind of effect on him.

What went wrong?

He started softly, “Hey, Kats—”

“No,” Bakugo said, his voice low and cold, catching Kirishima’s hand before it got too close.

Then he turned, his expression sharp now, like a knife. Kirishima stepped back. He’d never seen that look directed at him before.

“Shut up!” Bakugo yelled, squeezing his eyes shut. “Do you think I chose this? No. If I had a choice, you would have been in last place! I had no say in this arrangement, so don’t think that anything’s changed!”

He threw Kirishima’s hand out of his grasp and stomped further away from him.

Kirishima felt the gap between him and Bakugo again, calling for him, pulling at him, coaxing him to let go, to fall inside and wallow in that emptiness.

Kirishima watched, throat dry, as his friend took an axe to any chance he had of repairing that distance between them.

He furrowed his brow and shook his head once to clear his head. He didn’t have time to think about that now. He was a pro hero after all. It wasn’t manly to put personal matters before a mission. He had a job to do. This… could wait.

Kirishima started after Bakugo after he was already almost out of sight. It was incredibly dark in the building, only the cracks through the floorboards and the broken windows let in what little light was offered by the street lamps outside.

They walked up the stairs that creaked uncomfortably under their weight and checked each floor for any sign of activity. They cleared all the rooms up until floor 4 when suddenly Bakugo stopped and his eyes flicked to the ceiling. He raised his hands up slightly and sparks collected on his palms. Kirishima quickly tensed and took a fighting stance as well with his quirk providing a shield or a weapon depending on what was about to happen next.

Kirishima watched as dust sprinkled from the ceiling at every step from above. The footsteps were light, but it was clear whoever was up there wasn’t intending on hiding their presence in this place. Bakugo watched and waited until the footsteps were almost above their heads then he jumped and blasted the ceiling.

The person above seemed to expect this move and avoided the blast but jumped down through the hole in the ceiling after Dyanmight had already landed back onto the ground.

Vagary, Kirishima identified. He recognized her from her picture, even though the lower half of her face was obscured by a black mask. Her eyes were rose-colored and her hair was long, styled into two braids down her back. Her suit was all convenience, a combatant bodysuit with holsters for knives and other weapons situated for easy access.

Kirishima lunged towards her but she expertly dodged it by spinning to her left. She winked at him before jumping further away to dodge a second attack, then turned towards Bakugo.

He, as the woman had probably predicted, was already running towards her. Vagary drew a knife from a holster on her thigh and raised it like she was about to defend against Bakugo, but just when he got close, she dropped it. As it clattered to the floor she used the distraction to drop low to the ground and swipe her legs under Bakugo with intentions to trip him.

He was quick to jump and avoid her move with a blast that sent him hurtling into the air. The woman smiled and in one swift motion grabbed the blade from the floor and sent it flying after Bakugo. It hit his shoulder and buried itself deep into his flesh. He barely reacted to the stab, but it must have affected him because he didn’t immediately charge at her again.

Vagary clearly still had her eye on Red Riot too because she swiped some of the broken glass from the window and sent it flying towards Kirishima when he started towards her once again. Then she took off in the direction of Bakugo who’d landed and stumbled towards a wall on the other end of the room.

Kirishima held his hands up as a shield to block the shards of glass, but in the meantime, Vagary had grabbed a second knife from under her forearm and pinned Bakugo’s shirt to the wall. Kirishima watched as he moved, too late to stop her.

She glanced towards him before leaning in with her hand firmly on Dynamight’s jaw, lowering the mask on her face slightly before kissing Bakugo deeply on his lips. His eyes widened before they dulled, then he dropped to the ground, ripping the fabric of his hero suit as he fell away from the knife.

The woman blew a kiss towards Kirishima and tugged her knife out from the wall that had previously been holding Bakugo in place, before gripping the window pane and swinging herself out of it. She landed onto a nearby building’s roof and took off running at full speed. Kirishima ran to the window but she was already too far away.

It all happened so quickly.

They’d been far too underprepared.

Kirishima went over his options. He could a) follow Vagary and hope to catch up with her before she hid away again and leave his partner here defenseless and unattended, b) stop here and wait for backup that wouldn’t come in time so he could stay at Bakugo’s side, or c) determine the mission tentatively unsuccessful and radio back to the agency that the pursuit was ongoing but temporarily ceased.

He sighed and took out his radio.

“Red Riot to Agency 00420,” he sighed into the device, calling over to Dynamight’s agency, since it was the closer of the two.

“Go ahead,” the radio barked back at him.

Kirishima looked at Bakugo, crumpled on the ground and rubbed his face with his hand as he spoke, “I have to report this mission tentatively unsuccessful. Dynamight is down, the opposing party was an expert at ‘distract and retreat’ so I made the ultimate decision to cease pursuit for now.”

“Understood, Red Riot. Are you in need of backup?”

Kirishima walked back towards the window Vagary escaped through and looked over the cityscape.

“That won’t be necessary, I’ll take Dynamight to the nearest hospital myself. Please let them know that we’re on the way.”

“Acknowledged,” the voice over the radio said through static.

Red Riot was in the process of returning his radio to its proper place on his belt when he heard Bakugo stirring.

“Woah,” Bakugo’s voice said.

Kirishima turned. Bakugo had propped himself against the wall and was staring up at Kirishima. Blood was trickling out of his wounded shoulder at an alarming rate but he didn’t even seem to notice.

“And I thought you were hot in high school. Goddamn, how tall are you now?”

Kirishima blinked.

Well that definitely didn’t sound like Bakugo.

Kirishima leaned down so he was at eye level with Bakugo and looked closer. His eyes had shifted from a deep crimson to a lighter, pink color, similar to the color of Vagary’s eyes. He looked a little dazed and his eyes were glazed over slightly. Kirishima furrowed his brows and Bakugo leaned in closer.

“You know, I always liked your hero suit, but I think it fits you even better now.”

Kirishima sighed. He understood now. The change in eye color, the out-of-left-field compliments, the general day-dreamy look on his face.

A love quirk, really? How could this be happening to him?

He breathed in deeply and decided just to ignore him.

“You’re losing a lot of blood, come on, I need to get you to a hospital,” Kirishima replied. He tried to lift Bakugo up by supporting his good shoulder but Bakugo’s eyes rolled back as they stood up.

He fell back to the ground and seemed to finally become aware of the knife in his shoulder. He pawed at the handle before finally wrapping his palm around it and Kirishima realized, again, a little too late what he was going to do with it.

“No, no, wait—” Kirishima cried out as Bakugo tore the blade out from his muscle.

He stared at the red-stained weapon then looked blearily up at Kirishima before he passed out again. He slumped against the wall and the blade clattered to the floor. Kirishima immediately pressed his hands to the wound to try to stop the bleeding but it was no use now. The only chance he had was getting him to the nearest hospital.

This was really not his day.

Kirishima scooped Bakugo off the ground like he weighed nothing more than a doll and made his way as quickly as possible out of the building. And he definitely didn’t blush at the feeling of Katsuki’s thighs in his arms or the feeling of his back pressed up against Kirishima’s chest.

Definitely not.

Because he can't think about him like that, he can't. Not after all this time. Not while Bakugo is vulnerable under a love quirk of all things.

Not when Bakugo’s heart doesn’t belong to him.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

It was cold.

It’s April already, doesn’t that mean spring is supposed to be here? It shouldn’t be so damn cold.

Bakugo walked slowly to the 2-A dorm building with his hands stuffed into his pockets and his face tucked into the collar of his shirt.

It was misting outside too so not only was it cold and windy, but he was also getting sprayed in the face with tiny water droplets on top of it all.

It was decided. He hated April.

“Hey, Bakugo! Wait up, man!” A voice called out.

He didn’t need to turn to see who it was. There was only one person with 1) a personality positive enough to be happy with the weather like this and 2) who would greet him like that.

Kirishima Eijiro bounded up from behind him and threw his arm around Bakugo’s neck. His smile was so wide it was almost too bright to look at.

“Hey!” he greeted again, “did you see the new dorm assignments? I can’t believe our rooms are next to each other again! How lucky, huh?”

Bakugo only grunted in return. He hadn’t even looked at the room assignments. He didn’t care who else was around him, why would he? It wasn’t like they’d be spending every waking minute talking to each other. If Bakugo had his way, none of them would talk to him in the dorms at all.

What was Kirishima so happy about anyway? It wasn’t like he was that fun to have around. And Kirishima was friends with everyone, wouldn’t he have been happy about any room assignment he got?

“What’s wrong?” Kirishima asked, his head tilting slightly while his face screamed I’m concerned.

“‘s cold,” Bakugo mumbled.

“Huh? Well why aren’t you wearing a coat then?”

“I don’t need one, mind your own damn business!” he shouted, shaking Eijiro’s arm off of him and picking up his pace.

Kirishima only laughed a little and jogged to catch up.

“Mr. Aizawa is waiting for us. I think you’re the last one to get here.”

“You didn’t have to wait for me.”

Kirishima shrugged and jogged ahead before turning to face him while walking backwards. He laced his fingers behind his head as he started to talk again and Bakugo quickly looked away.

Did he get… bigger over the break?

Kirishima was definitely taller now. He was barely taller than Katsuki at the end of last year, but now… yeah, he’d definitely grown. But that wasn’t all. Bakugo knew Kirishima didn’t like to be stagnant but it looked like he’d spent every waking minute at the gym since the last time Bakugo had seen him.

Bakugo narrowed his eyes.

He wouldn’t let this idiot beat him, he’d catch up for sure.

Kirishima was talking about some of the other room assignments now, but Katsuki wasn’t really listening, he was too busy avoiding his gaze.

Kirishima probably wouldn’t mind if he even noticed where Bakugo’s eyes had been drawn at all. It was like he was trying to draw Bakugo’s eyes there anyway, putting his hands behind his head like that. His biceps were practically bulging through his shirt. He’d probably just spout some bullshit about “manliness” or whatever the hell he meant by that if he did see him looking, but Bakugo didn’t want to risk it.

While conveniently looking away from Eijiro, Bakugo saw the steps to the front entrance coming up so he stalked forward and grabbed Kirishima’s shirt to spin him the right way before he had the chance to trip over them.

“Watch where you’re going, shitty hair,” Bakugo said gruffly, letting go of the fabric and pushing him forward as they walked.

“Dude, come on, my hair isn’t even that different from yours!” he complained as they entered the building.

“Kirishima! Bakugo!” Kaminari’s voice echoed through the room as they filed into the common space.

“Good,” Aizawa said in a monotone voice, barely looking up towards the boys, “we can start now. Take a seat.”

Kirishima took a seat next to Denki. The two fist bumped and mumbled quiet greetings to each other with wide smiles that no one but Kirishima ever really offered Bakugo.

Katsuki took a seat near Eijiro but he made sure to keep his distance.

It didn’t last long.

Kirishima closed the space between them like it was nothing, then sat with his legs crossed and his palms on the ground in front of him. Bakugo pulled his legs up towards his chest and draped his arms around them lazily as he listened to their homeroom teacher go over the same old rules from last year.

“... and most importantly, do not leave your rooms after curfew. Do you understand?” Aizawa finished looking specifically at Katsuki and Deku until they both nodded in agreement.

Deku was quick to nod with a face that looked like a million apologies all rolled into one expression.

Bakugo rolled his eyes and acknowledged Aizawa’s statement with a brief nod of his head.

It was a one time thing a few months ago, he wouldn’t leave the dorms again after curfew. Especially not with Deku of all people. Everyone just needed to drop it.

Aizawa stood and started to walk out of the room. “Enjoy your weekend. Class starts on Monday and until then, I don’t want any funny business. I do not expect to walk back into these doors until then, does everyone understand?”

A chorus of various agreements followed him out and as soon as the door closed behind him, everyone got up and shuffled around the room.

“Bakugo!” Ashido’s voice carried from across the room as she beelined towards him, followed closely by Sero. “How was your break? Did you do anything fun? I missed your cooking! Can you make dinner for us tonight? It’s already pretty late,” she sang as she got closer.

“Absolutely not,” Bakugo said, already heading towards the elevators.

“Aww, Kaminari, Kirishima, you said he’d agree!” Mina whined.

“Well I suppose if Bakugo isn’t going to help, I could step in,” a low voice belonging to none other than Todoroki Shouto said, inviting himself into the conversation.

Bakugo stiffened. He knew he was being set up by that bastard but he’d rather die than eat his cooking.

“No way, Icy-hot! You’re not going anywhere near the kitchens, everyone out of my way. I’ll do it myself,” he demanded, switching directions and storming into the kitchen.

Yaoyorozu announced that she’d start on some tea and Jiro accompanied her. Uraraka and Mina took seats next to them and watched Bakugo as he got everything he needed together on the counter.

Kirishima waltzed in not too long after and Mina piped up again.

“Um, I thought you said that no one else could step foot in the kitchen?”

“Aw, don’t you know by now, Ashido?” Kaminari said, shrugging his shoulders as he walked by casually with his hands up in the air. “Kirishima has a VIP pass when it comes to Bakugo. No rules apply to him.”

Bakugo tried to pass the blush on his face off for anger as he told off Kaminari, claiming that it was untrue. But as he spoke, he couldn’t help but feel like Denki’s words had more than a little truth to them. He just hadn’t realized other people had caught on to that too.

“Hey, chill out guys. I’m only trying to help so Bakugo doesn’t have to do this all by himself,” Eijiro insisted with a hand displayed gently on Bakugo’s back, the other outstretched towards Kaminari who looked smug, several feet away from Bakugo.

Bakugo shivered at his touch. He was warm and his touch was welcome. Kirishima was treading in foreign waters, and Bakugo didn’t know how to react. He always refused touch from other people. No one was usually brave enough to try. But then came Kirishima, all smiles and personal morals, breaking down everything Bakugo thought he knew and building him back up without needing to be asked.

He watched Kirishima hum to himself as he followed Bakugo’s directions to a tee without so much as a complaint and he wondered when things had changed.

Always the mediator, always holding everyone together. How does he do it? Stay so calm? Keep everyone happy?

---

Bakugo stared at the ceiling of his room. If he had his way he would have been asleep hours ago. He needed to take care of his health otherwise how could he possibly become the no. 1 hero someday? That meant eating healthy, keeping to a rigorous workout schedule, and going to bed early.

But he didn’t have his way. So instead, he was stuck staring at a pattern on his ceiling; lines alternating light and dark, casted up there from his blinds, obscured only by the curtains that draped over the large windows. The moon was full tonight so it was extra bright outside, making the pattern even more apparent.

Maybe that's why he couldn’t sleep.

Because it wasn’t on account of him replaying the memory of Kirishima's touch on his back over and over in his head, that much was for certain. He wasn’t still thinking about how warm his hand felt and wishing he could hold it for himself.

And it definitely wasn’t because he ran into Kirishima coming back from his shower earlier that night. He most definitely didn’t blush at the sight of a towel wrapped around his waist and the sight of his hair that looked impossibly soft falling into his eyes.

And it absolutely wasn’t because of Kaminari teasing him all night about his friendship with Kirishima either. He wasn’t thinking about the bounds of that friendship, not even a little bit.

That would be ridiculous.

It was because of the moon; it was too bright.

Bakugo groaned and sat up in bed. At the same time that he sat up, he saw a shadow appear outside his curtains. If he thought he was awake before, he was definitely awake now.

Who would be out there at this time of night?

Didn’t matter who it was, he could take them. They won’t catch him by surprise.

He swung his legs over his bed and made sure to make little to no sound as he padded quietly to the edge of the curtains and threw them open with his palms already igniting in expectation of an intruder.

What he didn’t expect to see was Kirishima Eijiro leaning on the balcony railing, smiling at him through the window.

Why the hell is he still awake?

Bakugo slid open the door to the balcony and Kirishima waved.

“Dude, Bakugo, you seriously have nothing on your balcony,” he said with a slight giggle.

“Why would I waste time on something like that?”

Kirishima shrugged and looked over his shoulder, “So we can hang-out out here.”

“Hang out on your own balcony! What are you doing out here anyway?” Bakugo demanded, stepping outside.

“Thought you might be lonely,”

“Why the hell would I be lonely in my own damn room?”

Kirishima shrugged again and looked back at Katsuki, “Everyone gets lonely.”

Bakugo didn’t miss the slight waver in Kirishima’s voice. He lowered his hand and he felt his anger melt away.

Was Kirishima lonely? Is that why he was risking punishment from Aizawa to see Bakugo?

“Yeah whatever,” Bakugo replied, looking away sheepishly, shoving his hands into his pockets.

He walked over to Kirishima and looked out with him. A breeze whistled through the balcony and caused Bakugo to shiver in response.

“Oh, I forgot, are you cold out here?”

Yes

“No.”

Kirishima smiled knowingly and turned away from him. He looked up at the sky and Bakugo, in return, looked at him.

His hair was still down, he hadn’t bothered to style it again after his shower. It flowed in the slight breeze and whisps fell into Kirishima’s eyes every now and again, but he didn’t seem to notice. Katsuki did, though. He wanted to brush his hair back and thread his fingers through it. He wanted to know how soft it really was.

“Hey,” Kirishima asked after a little while. “Are you telling me you really never get lonely?”

“Course not,” Bakugo replied. His response was quick. Too quick, like he’d trained himself to reply like that. “What kinda loser actually thinks about dumb stuff like that,” he finished, his voice low and quiet.

It wasn’t true. He felt lonely. Of course he did. He was lonely right now.

He found himself thinking that Kirishma was just a little too far away. In more ways than one.

Kirishima smiled and exhaled through his nose like a small laugh.

“I don’t believe you, man,” Kirishima said, looking up at the moon.

It was bright. Impossibly bright. Like Kirishima. The way he smiled, the way he laughed, the way he engaged with other people.

The entire way Kirishima existed was like the moon. Overshadowed by the brilliance of the sun, overlooked because it was always there. Its consistency was why people loved it, that, and because it was beautiful in its own way.

That’s how Kirishima was. Beautiful in his own way. Consistent. Sturdy on his own.

The way he looked after everyone else around him was expected and appreciated.

But who looked after him?

“Not for a second, Bakugo Katsuki,” Kirishima said, finishing his thought.

Kirishima.

So close but so far away.

Like the moon, once again.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Kirishima leaned against the wall of the waiting room. He stared at the light flickering above him and let his eyes unfocus.

He hated hospitals.

He didn’t like the harsh lighting or the smell. He didn’t like the feeling of despair in the air surrounding him or the desolate faces of the other visitors. He didn’t like the way he felt there either. Hopeless, powerless.

“Woah,” a small voice cooed from his left. He glanced towards the noise and saw a small girl, so frail he was surprised to see her standing upright. She gripped a stuffed animal in the shape of a cat and stared at Kirishima with her eyes so wide they looked like they might pop out of her skull. “Are you Red Riot?” She asked in a whisper.

Kirishima’s expression softened and he bent down to one knee. He’d almost forgotten he was still in his hero costume. Which meant, in his mind, he was still on duty.

“Sure am!” he said, mustering a smile and as much energy as he could.

She smiled so softly it was almost nonexistent. “My brother really likes you, you know.”

“Is that so? Is he here with you?”

She shook her head sadly. She let her cat stuffed animal fall to the floor, gripping it only by its paw now, then lifted her free fist up towards Kirishima. It looked as though she was holding something within, so Kirishima held out his hand too, palm up, so he could receive whatever she wanted to give him.

The girl plopped a smooth rock into his hand. It had red and brown speckles all over it and Kirishima recognized it instantly.

He kept a small stash of these in his hero suit for rescue missions. They were really just small pieces of polished granite, but if he ever had a child who he needed to get out of a scary or unsafe situation he would press one of these into their palm and tell them to “keep it safe for him” while he got them out of that situation. Once they were out of harm's way, he always let the kid keep the rock as a sort of reminder that he’ll always be around to help. Not only did it give the kids something to focus on besides their fear, but it also gave them a piece of Red Riot to keep around in case they ever needed a reminder that they don’t need to be afraid.

Except, he didn’t recognize the little girl and he made a point to remember names and faces of children he saved to the best of his ability. It was the least he could do as a pro.

“Is this yours?” he asked gently.

The girl shook her head again, slowly, with teary eyes.

Oh, Kirishima realized.

His heart dropped to his stomach, but he kept his smile on to keep her attention.

He squeezed the rock in his hand and blew on it once before holding it back out to the girl.

“Well, you see this is here to protect you now, you know. Think about it as a good luck charm from Red Riot, okay? Anytime you feel lonely or scared, just hold it here in your palm and good luck will come your way. Got it?”

The girl smiled and a tear streamed down her face. She wiped it away quickly and took the rock from Kirishima’s hand. She squeezed it tight with both her hands wrapped around it, her cat in a heap by her shoe, and stared up at him again with her huge blue eyes.

He picked up her cat and held it out for her to take. She looped her arms around it without letting go of the rock with either hand and hugged it tightly.

“Red Riot.”

Kirishima turned to see the head doctor standing at the base of the hallway.

He winked at the girl and ruffled her hair a bit before standing up and walking over to the doctor.

“Hey Doc, is Dynamight going to be okay?”

“Yes, except we’re having a hard time getting him to sit still,” the doctor confessed. She rubbed her face once and continued. “We’re afraid he's going to rip his stitches. He’s cleared to be discharged but, uh, he’s only requesting one thing.”

Kirishima had a guess. He could hear the shouting from where he was standing just a few minutes ago.

“We’re aware of the fact that he’s under the influence of a love quirk, however, if you could just see that he gets home—”

“Of course, I don’t mind at all,” Kirishima interrupted.

The doctor thanked him and she told him that there shouldn’t be anyone else in the room at the moment and directed him towards Bakugo.

His stomach was in knots. He didn’t really want to see Bakugo like this, but he didn’t have much of a choice and he wanted to make the hospital staff’s job a little easier if he could.

He paused before opening the door and took a deep breath before entering the room.

Bakugo immediately turned towards the door with a look that could kill, but when he caught sight of Kirishima, his expression softened and a smile spread across his face easily. It was strange. Kirishima had never seen a look like that on his face before. He’d seen the soft smiles that Bakugo tried to hide by turning away; the quiet ones that were just barely there but you could see it all in his eyes; he’d seen the rare and broad, effortless smiles Bakugo used when he laughed; and he even knew the smirks he plastered on his face when he felt confident or even borderline cocky. But never this. Never love-sick.

He didn’t like it. It wasn’t him.

“Hey, Kirishima, I was wondering when you’d come in.”

“Yeah, listen,” Kirishima replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve just been assigned to make sure you get home alright. You’re under the influence of a pretty powerful—”

“I’m not going anywhere unless it’s home with you.”

Kirishima’s mouth went dry.

Why did this have to happen to him of all people?

He coughed to clear his throat. “I don’t really think that’s such a good idea, Bakugo.”

“Why not? Scared you might fall for me?” he asked, narrowing his eyes playfully.

I already did. So long ago.

Kirishima sighed and searched Bakugo’s eyes. He didn’t know what he was looking for exactly. Maybe a sign that he knew he was hit by someone’s quirk or maybe the exact opposite of that, that he really meant what he was saying deep down. Only Bakugo’s rose-tinted eyes stared back at him, glazed over, and full of something Kirishima couldn’t quite pin down. Desire maybe? Something that didn’t seem entirely ingenuine but was somewhat forced anyway.

He sighed. It was no use. He just had to endure whatever Bakugo said like it was ingenuine. That’s the only way he could interpret this. No wishful thinking. No use questioning it only to get hurt later when the quirk inevitably wore off.

“Come on, let’s get you back to your apartment.”

“You heard what I said. It’s yours, or I’m not going.”

“I heard ya, just don’t care,” Kirishima said, walking over to the hospital bed.

In one swift motion he threw Bakugo over his shoulder and made his way out of the room, careful not to jostle his bad shoulder too much.

He gestured goodbye to the head doctor with a two finger salute as Bakugo struggled over his shoulder, but it didn't, however, seem to occur to him that he had a quirk, and a powerful one at that, that he could use to get out of Kirishima’s grip.

They’d barely gotten out the doors to the hospital when Bakugo gave up and started to take notice of his position. He traced Kirishima’s jaw with the knuckle of his pointer finger and his breath tickled his neck as he leaned close to Kirishima’s ear and said:

“You’re really just as beautiful as the day I let you go.”

Kirishima’s body stopped moving. He couldn’t think straight, his eyes fixed onto the street outside the hospital, but he couldn’t really see it. He felt an intense ache pool his chest he had the fleeting thought that it may never be able to fully heal.

He swallowed a few times to get rid of the lump in his throat, but it was no use. He blinked, then turned in the direction of Bakugo’s apartment. He’d never been invited, but he knew the way by heart. And after a few moments of silence, he replied, quietly with a dull sting in his throat from holding everything back, “Please, don’t say things like that, Katsuki.”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

“Actually, no, I think that’s a terrible idea.”

“What, why?”

“Why? I don’t know Kirishima, maybe because if we get caught Aizawa will kick us to the curb, no questions asked?”

“Please, if he was going to do that, he would have done it ages ago. You know how many questionable things we’ve done over the years? Besides, we’re third-years now. It would be a waste of our potential to expel us now,” Kirishima’s raspy voice teased as he coaxed Bakugo towards him.

Kirishima was currently balancing precariously on the railing, walking back and forth with surprising balance and grace for his size. He stopped and jumped down easily, walking over to Bakugo with two quick steps. He grabbed both of his hands and stepped back, pulling him with him.

“You’ll regret it if you don’t come.”

“Like hell I will.”

“Alright then, I guess I have no choice,” shrugging his shoulders and freeing his hands. “I’ll have to go wake Kaminari, he’ll go with me for sure.”

“Only because he’s an idiot with barely enough brain cells to make informed decisions.”

“Oh yeah, like me?” Kirishima said, swinging his legs over the balcony railing, watching his feet dangle over the side.

This was the first year that Bakugo had a room on the second floor, the view wasn’t as great from down here, which he wouldn't have minded much if it weren’t for Kirishima making it part of his nightly routine to come over here and pester Bakugo before bed. It’d been over a year now since it became an unofficial part of their routine. They’d somehow managed to score rooms together for the third time and Bakugo was beginning to wonder if there was some meddling behind the scenes to make that happen.

“No, you just have no sense of self-preservation. It’s different,” Bakugo replied, turning halfway towards his door.

“Ah, suit yourself,” Kirishima said, jumping off the balcony entirely.

“Kirishima!”

Kirishima hit the ground and rolled to the side to soften the fall then gestured for him to quiet down.

“Come on, man, you don’t have to come but don’t get me caught!” he called back quietly.

Bakugo scowled down at him and Kirishima smiled back, beckoning Katsuki to join him.

He groaned and said under his breath, “Fuck it, fine,” and hurdled over the side of the balcony, creating a few small explosions to cushion his fall. He landed gracefully beside Kirishima and started walking off immediately.

Kirishima said nothing, but his smile only grew wider as they walked.

It was hot that night. It was well into the second trimester by then which meant that it was smack dab in the middle of the summer. Bakugo liked it more than being cold, but that didn’t mean he was altogether happy about being hot when the sun had set hours ago.

Kirishima hopped ahead and said quietly, “Almost there!”

Bakugo rolled his eyes. How did he get roped into this?

The gate surrounding UA’s swimming pool was within eyesight now and Kirishima glanced at him with a look of enthusiasm and anticipation.

Bakugo couldn’t help but feel the same by pure association.

Kirishima climbed the fence with impressive speed. Bakugo watched until he hit the ground on the other side before choosing to simply flip over it with a little boost from his quirk. When he landed, Kirishima was already taking his shirt off.

He threw it to the side and kicked his shorts off before running and jumping into the water with a front flip. The splash made it all the way to Bakugo who’d barely even taken his shoes off yet.

Kirishima popped back up and pushed his, now wet, hair out of his face and smiled brightly at Bakugo.

“You think that was good?” Bakugo asked with a wicked smile tearing across his face. He stepped back and took off in a mad dash towards the pool, blasting himself into the air before crashing down in a cannonball. The water in the pool lapped at the sides and swayed Kirishima in the water.

Kirishima laughed and pushed his hair out of his face. “Dude, not everything is a competition.”

“I know that!” Bakugo yelled back, swimming over to where Kirishima hugged the edge.

The water was cold but the contrast felt great considering how hot the air around them was.

Bakugo propped his elbow up on the side of the pool next to Kirishima and glanced over at him. He was staring off at something in the distance, lost in some thought Bakugo would never know. The moonlight outlined his skin and made him look like he was glowing. It illuminated Kirishima like he was the only thing in the world.

The word ethereal made a hell of a lot more sense looking at him in that moment.

Eijiro pushed off the wall abruptly and floated on his back as he stared up at the sky.

“Hey, Bakugo,” he asked after a while of silence. It had been peaceful like that, listening to the rustling of branches, disrupted from their stationary existence by the summer breeze, the soft hum of the bugs buzzing around the woods outside the school, the swirl of the water when Kirishima moved his arms to stay afloat. But Katsuki didn’t mind the interruption, not if it was Kirishima’s voice.

He looked towards Kirishima as a response, and he continued without needing a verbal reply. “If you could trade quirks with anyone else in the class, which would you pick?”

“That’s easy, none of them.”

Kirishima laughed and moved back closer to Bakugo, treading water now to stay upright.

“You can’t say that, you have to pick one.”

Bakugo scowled. “No.”

Kirishima grinned like he knew the answer already.

“If you already know what I’m going to say, why would you even bother asking me?”

“I want to hear you say it.”

Bakugo sighed heavily, then said quietly, “Deku’s.”

Bakugo looked over at Kirishima agin and his expression hadn’t changed; he was still grinning like he’d won some grand prize.

“You happy now?” Katsuki asked, raising his voice. “I could control his power way better than he ever will!”

Kirishima snickered.

Bakugo smiled at him like the hopeless fool he was. Already in over his head without knowing just how far he’d fallen.

“Well, what about you then?”

Eijiro hummed and tapped his chin.

“You asked and you didn’t even have an answer in mind?” Bakugo exclaimed, splashing water in his direction.

Kirishima tilted his head away and smiled as he closed his eyes to avoid the assault.

“Well, if you’d asked me that a few years back, I would have said Ashido’s, no hesitation. But now, looking back, I think what I really wanted was her confidence and I have my own now. So I guess I’d have to say… Uraraka’s or Todoroki’s!”

“Huh? Why those ones?”

“Don’t say it like that! Uraraka’s quirk is so manly! It can be used in so many different ways it’s hard to know exactly how she’s going to use it when you’re fighting against her! And Todoroki’s all power, I’d kill for a showy quirk like that. Makes it really easy to go pro.”

Bakugo narrowed his eyes as he read between the lines.

“You’re going to make a good pro too, a great one! Way better than icy-hot will ever be! So don’t be an idiot.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Kirishima explained. “I just had to work really hard, and that’s not a bad thing! It made me who I am today!” He said hardening his fists and clashing them together proudly.

Bakugo found himself smiling again. Softly this time, without realizing.

Kirishima deserves everything he wants and more.

Eijiro moved closer and swept Bakugo’s hair off of his forehead then smiled through a laugh.

“It’s weird not seeing you with your hair all spiked up, you know,” he commented, his hand lingering in Katsuki's chlorine soaked hair.

“You’re one to talk!”

Eijiro’s lips turned up slightly and his hand wandered to the back of Bakugo’s neck as he leaned closer.

Bakugo’s heartbeat quickened.

“Hey, Bakugo,” Kirishima said again, his voice nearly a whisper.

He could hardly make a sound leave his throat to reply.

“What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve done lately?”

His eyes widened slightly and his heart beat so rapidly he was sure Kirishima could hear it from where he was standing. It felt like the feeling Bakugo got right before a fight with an impressive opponent. All exhilaration and anticipation coursing through his veins.

He didn’t want to wait anymore. He was sick of guessing.

He moved forward swiftly, pulling Kirishima in by a hand on his throat and kissed him deeply, passionately, like nothing else mattered but this moment between them. It was all thrill and the sweet taste of affection, a long time in the making.

Bakugo leaned back finally and said with a cocked eyebrow, “That answer your question, Eijiro?”

Kirishima didn’t reply at first. The look on his face was warm, like he accomplished something significant.

“I’ve been wanting to do that ever since we were first years, you know,” Kirishima replied sheepishly.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“No!”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t think you were interested, man!”

“I was interested! I just…”

Bakugo went quiet. Truth was he’d known for a while how he felt about Eijiro and he’d had suspicions about his feelings as well, but he never acted on them because in all honesty…

“... I just thought you deserved better. I still do, but—”

“Hey, don’t go around making my decisions for me,” Kirishima said sincerely. “I’m all big and strong now. I can handle you, I can handle anything.”

“Is that right?” Bakugo said, a smile playing on his lips again.

“Yeah,” Kirishima taunted.

Bakugo backed up and tackled him, throwing all his body weight onto Kirishima, catching his lips once again as they crashed into the water.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

“He’s asleep now,” Kirishima said through the phone.

“You’re still there with him?”

“Yeah, I’m still here. I’m just waiting for someone from Bakugo’s agency to show up with Vagary’s file. I just want to know exactly what I’m working with here.”

There was silence on the other end for a moment until Kirishima heard a sigh. “Are you okay, Ei, really? Because if you aren’t, there are plenty of other people who can keep an eye on him. People who won’t get hurt by this situation the way I know you will.”

“I appreciate your concern, Mina, but I’ll be fine. I’ve hardly spoken to him in years, it can’t turn out that badly,” Kirishima lied.

Mina didn’t sound convinced when she said, “Okay, if you say so. I won’t argue with you. I’m not your mom.”

When Kirishima finally hung up the phone after a long string of goodbyes, he heard a knock at Bakugo’s door.

Good timing, he thought.

Kirishima opened the door and his eyes went wide at who was standing outside of it.

“Midoriya?”

“Kirishima! I didn’t know you were going to be here! I just heard that Kacchan was down because of a quirk so I went over to his agency to see if he was okay but obviously he wasn’t at the agency and they just sent me over here with this file because I was already on my way to check on him and—”

“Woah, it’s fine Midoriya,” Kirishima said, cutting him off. He knew from years of experience that Midoriya could go on like that for a while. “Do you want to come in? Bakugo’s asleep, but you can wait if you have the time.”

“No! I didn’t know you were here. I shouldn’t be here if you’re here. Kacchan would get angry if he thought we were talking, and I’ve already said too much,” he said in one breath. Then he cocked his head and said seriously. “Are you okay?”

Kirishima shrugged, “Yeah, sure. You don’t need to worry about me. If you’re going to leave though, can I have the file before you go?”

“Yes, of course!” he shouted, shoving the file into Kirishima’s hands. “Don’t tell Kacchan I was here! Bye Kirishima!” Izuku continued, already halfway down the hallway.

Kirishima sighed. It had to be Midoriya at the door.

Izuku and Bakugo finally got close late in their third year at UA. Midoriya seemed to understand something about Bakugo that he didn’t let anyone else see. Whatever that was, Kirishima had been happy that Bakugo was getting what he needed, but he couldn’t help but feel the distance beginning to grow between them when that happened.

What had Midoriya offered Bakugo that he couldn’t give?

Kirishima shook his head and slid down the wall by the door. He couldn’t spend any more time and energy trying to figure out why Bakugo made the decisions he made. He’d picked them apart enough in high school, he couldn’t afford to do it again.

The TV was on and Bakugo was asleep in the next room but Kirishima could see both from where he was sitting. It was as good a place as any to read the file.

He turned his attention to the envelope in his hands and opened it gently. A few pieces of paper were stuffed inside; the first one was the most official looking document, with a headshot of Vagary and her real name in small kanji below it. Also included on the document was an official description of her quirk as it had been reported by her victims, since she’d never been registered as having a quirk before turning to crime.

It was, in fact, a love quirk of sorts. Witnesses and victims claim that her ability made their brains cloudy and it felt as if someone else was taking over their thoughts and actions. Though everything they did and said was out of love, the victims reported feeling violated and confused after it had finally worn off.

According to those affected by Vagary’s quirk — officially known as “love-sick” on the document — the affects wore off between 24 and 48 hours of first contact. She was only able to affect those she made lip-to-lip contact with, since it was believed her quirk’s affects had to do with the molecular makeup of her saliva, but the amount of people she could put under her influence at one time was unknown.

That sure would have been helpful to know going in, Kirishima thought.

He looked at the next page which detailed her various crimes. It was mostly petty crime. Trespassing, breaking and entering, misuse of quirk, assault, etc. but she’d most recently been caught trespassing on the Mayor’s estate, attempting to break and enter his residence. Some of the other accounts of breaking and entering were of lower level government officials, but she never stole anything from them, which struck Kirishima as odd.

He heard stirring from Bakugo’s room and he glanced up from the papers. Bakugo wandered out looking a little lost. It had only been about 20 hours since he’d been hit, so the quirk probably hadn’t worn off yet. He looked around the room before spotting Kirishima. His expression softened like Kirishima’d seen only a handful of times before and his heart lurched.

“How long was I out? Didn’t mean to keep you waiting on me,” he said softly, crouching down to where he was sitting.

“You didn't,” Kirishima insisted softly, trying not to look back into his eyes. He didn’t want to see what lay within them.

Bakugo settled down on the ground with him and placed his head on Kirishima’s lap. He drew mindless circles on his leg and propped his head up slightly with his hand as a cushion as he watched the news on the TV.

Kirishima tried to act normal. He flipped through the other papers from the envelope in Vagary’s file. The rest of the documents were victim statements in full, but Kirishima couldn’t read them. The words swam on the page like alphabet soup as he tried to pretend that this was all okay. He reminded himself that Bakugo wasn’t really the one doing this. It wasn’t really him because he was under a love quirk, but it didn’t help. It didn’t help in the slightest because it hurt anyway. The small touches, the warm silence, the unmistakable love in Bakugo’s eyes as he gazed up at him. It was so comfortable, so easy. His body positively ached for what could have been.

He’d been wrong. He lied to Mina and he lied to Midoriya. He wasn’t okay. He couldn’t deal with this, even after all this time. It was taking too big of a toll on him.

He needed to leave. He itched for an escape. Kirishima combed through his hair with his hands anxiously before getting up and stumbling towards the door.

The papers scattered across Bakugo’s floor as he stood abruptly.

He heard someone’s voice echo in his ears. It had to have been Bakugo’s but Kirishima couldn’t tell for sure, it sounded warped and unfamiliar in his head.

He mumbled something close to an excuse and fumbled with the door until he finally swung it open and left in a rush.

If only things had turned out differently.

If only Bakugo hadn’t slipped through his fingers.

That could have been the life he was living right now if he’d only tried harder to keep Bakugo in his life, not some twisted, painful version of it caused by the quirk of some elusive villain.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Kirishima sat in a field of dandelions with his face twisted and his head tilted to the left. He always made that same expression any time he was thinking really hard about something. There was a pencil with a chewed eraser behind his ear and an open textbook in his lap.

He sighed and fell back into the grass, a small puff of dandelion fluff drifted in the wind as he landed softly on the ground. The pencil bounced onto the grass and the textbook fluttered a few pages ahead from the sudden movement.

“I don’t know Kats, English really isn’t my subject.”

“You know it, stop being lazy,” Bakugo said, throwing a pen at his face.

Kirishima hardened his arm and lifted it like a shield over his face to keep the pen from hitting its target. He glared up at Bakugo who was sitting with one leg propped up a few feet away, but there was no heat in his gaze.

Then Kirishima lifted himself off the ground and crawled over to Bakugo.

“I only need to know three English words anyway.”

Katsuki snorted. “Oh yeah, what are they?”

“I,” Kirishima started as he got progressively closer to Bakugo.

“Love,” he continued, pushing Bakugo back into the grass

“You,” he completed, pressing his lips to Bakugo’s as he hovered over top of him.

Katsuki smiled into the kiss and twirled the chain of Kirishima’s necklace which hung loosely around his neck with his index finger as he stared up at him.

“It’s a shame those words won’t help you on your exam with Present Mic,” Katsuki smirked.

“I only need to pass these exams anyway. Graduation is right around the corner,” Eijiro reasoned, falling into the grass next to Bakugo.

“That is not a 'top five’ mindset,” Bakugo reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kirishima laughed, pulling his textbook closer to him again.

Before they could get settled into studying again, though, the ground shook so violently that Bakugo was having a hard time seeing what was in front of him. He held closely to the ground and tried to find the source of the disturbance.

The cause became abundantly clear when several buildings began to crumble in the city just across the field they were sitting in.

Without hesitation, the two young heroes got up and sprinted towards the destruction. Immediately, they were in the hero mindset.

“There’s only one hero agency anywhere near here, there will be backup soon but not from an agency that specializes in rescue or natural disasters. We can help until then!” Kirishma yelled over the chaos as he ran side by side with Bakugo. “Go ahead, use your quirk. I’ll be right behind you!”

Bakugo was used to working alone but he much preferred Kirishima by his side, or at least it had become the way he was most comfortable fighting as of late. That didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of doing things on his own though.

He set off a blast on the ground to send him into the sky but without his hero suit, he couldn’t go very far without needing to set off another. When he made it to the wreckage, he couldn’t find the source of the disturbance. It didn’t seem like a normal earthquake, it was too controlled. His eyes searched the scene and he didn’t see many victims either. No one was trapped under rubble, no one was around who needed immediate attention.

It didn’t seem right.

“Oh, I know you,” a voice came from behind him. A man wearing tattered street clothes stared at him through small, manic eyes. “Seen you all over the news the past few years. Always causing a stir, never quite in the right, are you?”

Bakugo’s heart skipped a beat. He would not let this guy talk to him like that. He’d heard those words all his life. That he was dangerous, that he was destined to go bad one day, that he needed to control his anger before someone got hurt. He’d even heard those things in his own head from time to time. But he was wrong. Bakugo Katsuki was the name of a hero and he was going to show him that.

“Shut up! I’m gonna take you down before any of the pros get here,” Bakugo replied, a smile breaking across his face as his eyebrows narrowed.

“We’ll see,” the villain taunted, crouching low to the ground. He placed his fingertips to the asphalt and closed his eyes.

Suddenly the ground started to shake, just as violently as the first time, except now it seemed like all of that destructive energy was focused in Bakugo’s direction.

He blasted himself in the air so he wouldn’t be affected on the ground and it worked for the most part, except this time he was able to see the aftermath of his destruction. Buildings were crumbling and falling left and right and citizens were beginning to get involved.

The shaking ceased and the villain called out, “I cleared this area so no one would get hurt, but it seems like all those innocent people are beginning to get pulled into our little mixup. Maybe you should leave this to the pros, yeah?”

“Like hell I will!” Bakugo shouted, flipping his hands so that he could propel himself straight for the villain.

He ducked then lunged for Bakugo while he was still in the air.

“Careful now,” he said as Bakugo landed. “I wouldn’t get too close. My quirk doesn’t just work on the ground, it will have the same effect if I get my hands on you as well.”

He pressed both of his palms to the ground and smiled up at Bakugo, his canines catching in the sun. The villain’s eyes were wild like that of a man who had nothing to lose.

Bakugo charged forward as the man’s quirk began to shake the ground once again. Katsuki extended his hands out towards the man. If he used the right amount of power he could knock him unconscious and he wouldn’t be able to do any more damage to the city or harm any of the citizens.

He lined up his shot. I got you now, he thought, a triumphant smile spread across his face.

“Bakugo! Watch out!”

Kirishima?

Bakugo turned and the world moved slowly. He saw where the villain had been aiming. It wasn’t at him like Bakugo’d originally thought, but the building directly behind him instead. But it was too late now, the building behind him was on trajectory to crush them both and the man looked eager for it.

How could he have missed that? Of course the guy had a plan. He wouldn’t aim nonsensically, but was he really willing to die alongside Bakugo? That was pure insanity!

He turned his head further and saw Kirishima’s outstretched hand, hardened by his quirk.

No.

He felt intense pressure on his side as Kirishima pushed him out of harm's way and his body flew several feet away, just inches from the crashing building. He hit the pavement hard, scraping the skin off of his knees and rubbing his palms raw against the loose gravel as he tried to slow his fall. Strong pain filled his side with every breath but he didn’t care. As soon as he had stable footing, he instinctively ran back towards the falling building. Back towards Eijiro.

The bricks tumbled to the ground, falling loosely from the sides of the building as it deteriorated before Bakugo’s eyes.

He wouldn’t make it back in time.

“No!” He screamed, his voice carrying over the sound of the wreckage.

He watched as the building settled with a horrifying crunch against the pavement below. Burying Kirishima along with it.

And everything went hauntingly quiet.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Kirishima was tired.

He was sure if he stopped for even a second he would collapse. It had been hours since he left Bakugo’s apartment, over a day since he last slept, but he was so close.

He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his face to try to stimulate himself into staying awake just a little bit longer.

Not long after he left Bakugo’s, he got a call from his agency. A report about Vagary being spotted a few blocks away. Kirishima knew what she was doing now, her strategy was beginning to fall together, although her ultimate goal was still a mystery. She was good at diversions for sure. He kind of respected her in pure efficiency. She was clearly making up for a lack of pure strength in battle. Her entire approach while fighting two of Japan’s most promising heroes was to distract, evade, and escape. And she was good at it. Hopping between agencies’ territories, causing confusion between them all about who would come after her. It was impressive to say the least.

He was already one step ahead though, she’d wandered into his home turf and Kirishima knew every inch of it.

There was an old covered bridge in the direction that she’d been spotted. It had several, large tunnels branching off through the sewers from there, but the system hadn’t been in use for years, it was all dried up now. He knew the place pretty well after his handful of years in the pro hero scene. Criminals loved an easy escape.

He’d find her there, he was sure of it.

---

He jumped down from the bridge and landed below where there was an old road underneath. He didn’t bother looking around up here. The action would be below, no use wasting time.

He ducked through the first tunnel and walked through the old concrete sewer system. His footsteps echoed after each step. She would hear him coming but she would lose her stealth as well.

He was debating ducking into one of the smaller tunnels leading away from the main one when he heard a soft voice call out, “You’re persistent.”

She wasn’t far away, simply sitting against the edge of one of the smaller pipes to the side of the main system. She had one leg propped up and her arm draped casually across her knee.

“And here I was, believing that all the pro heroes in this city were incompetent jackasses. I guess you’re just a cut above the rest huh, Red Riot?”

“I get around,” he shrugged, hardening his arms and taking a fighting stance.

“Please,” she sighed, rolling her head on her shoulders. “I’m not much of a fighter, you know. Besides, I can escape any time I want to. But you made such an effort to come find me down here. I thought I would at least say hello.”

“Doubtful. But I'l bite, what do you want?”

“From you? To be left alone.”

Kirishima smiled. “Sorry, it's not exactly in the job description to let criminals run free.”

“No? But you had no problem with it last time we met. Or were you a bit distracted that time? You know, if it’s easier, I can recreate that scenario,” she replied, standing up lazily from the ground, pulling at the strands of her braid mindlessly as she spoke. “Where is your partner by the way? Dynamight, was it? Don’t tell me he’s still out of commission? I thought you two would be… preoccupied for a while,” she finished narrowing her eyes slightly, smiling at Red Riot like she knew more than she was letting on.

“No. Unlike you, I had no intentions of taking advantage of him.”

“Oh, so righteous of you,” Vagary replied, rolling her eyes and clapping satirically. “Listen, not all of us have quirks that allow us to have such an upstanding moral compass.”

She stepped forward in a lazy sort of way and her eyes flickered to her left. Another woman was standing there against the wall. She’d been hidden in the shadows before and Kirishima cursed himself for not being more cautious. Of course she had backup.

The other woman looked a lot like Vagary, as far as Kirishima could tell. He wondered what her quirk was and how he should prepare. There had been no information that Vagary had been working with other people or that she had any family.

Had that been part of their plan all along? Take their victims by surprise by making them believe they were dealing with her alone and then overwhelm their enemies with backup of unknown strength and ability?

Suddenly Kirishima felt a sharp sting in his back and he fell to his knees.

He whipped his head around and caught sight of a third person, rounding him from behind.

Where had he been this whole time?

The newcomer had a long tail, sharp at the end which secreted what Red Riot could only guess was a paralyzing agent because he was already losing feeling in his legs. He was unable to stand back up and defend himself.

This wasn’t good.

“Anyway,” Vagary said in a bored voice, closing the distance between them now that Kirishima was no longer a threat. “Now that you won’t be moving for a while, you might as well talk to us. Well, actually, you don’t have much of a choice because you won’t be able to lie anyway. My sister will make sure of that.”

What? A truth quirk? What kind of information did they want from him anyway?

“Why’d you come alone? Where is your partner, really?” The woman asked, keeping away from Kirishima, still hovering in the shadows.

“He’s not here,” Kirishima said, sounding forced. The sound was too quick, like his voice was being drawn out like a magnet. His words formed before his mouth could keep up.

“Well, why not?”

“I just couldn’t take it any more. The way he looked at me. The things he said. The— the touch…” he said, his voice breaking.

Vagary knitted her eyebrows. “Well, what’s the problem with that? Thought I was doing you a favor, really.”

“It's not real! Don’t you understand? It's tearing me apart. I can't take it anymore. I can't listen to those words and look into his eyes anymore. It hurts too much knowing it’s not real.”

“Who said it wasn’t real?” She purred, moving in closer.

Kirishima should have tried to hold back against the truth quirk, he knew better. But Vagary was getting to him, acting like her quirk did no harm.

“It's a love quirk! Don’t you understand? You’re the one making him say and do those things! It’s not his own will!”

Vagary clicked her tongue and shook her head as she walked a circle around Red Riot slowly.

“Let me tell you a little secret. My quirk? It simply digs out someone’s deepest, darkest desires and brings them to light. It’s not a love quirk, sweetheart. It's one of desire. If your Dynamight is telling you those things, doing anything he wouldn’t ‘normally do.’ Well, it’s because he’s been freed from his chains of fear and hesitation. He’s not under the influence of anything, not really. If anything, he’s just being forced to indulge in his greatest wants and needs, all of those wishes and desires he won’t take for himself. It isn’t really as cruel as you think.”

“What?” Kirishima asked, his eyes growing wide. He felt dread seeping into his chest. Digging a hole there like it planned to sit for a while. “That's not true. Stop lying. I read your file. You’re registered as having a love quirk! Your powers cause people's heads to go foggy and say things they don’t mean!”

“Those files you have on me were created by the victims, yes? A word to the wise,” she said, her tone low and serious. “People will say anything to reverse the damage done by the truth, lover boy. Besides, even if I wanted to reverse it I can't. I didn’t go to a fancy school like UA. I didn’t train with my quirk, I just use it to my advantage sometimes. You’ll just have to wait it out.”

Red Riot was beginning to understand now. They didn’t want information from him. They were waiting for something. Toying with him until the time came that they needed to leave.

He wracked his brain. What was it that she had been doing before he’d been sent to apprehend her with Dynamight?

“What are you thinking about?” the woman with the truth quirk asked.

Kirishima wondered how she was doing it. She was far enough away that it was hard to tell if she was changing anything in particular about herself when she used her quirk. She was, however, wearing a mask over her eyes so he started to wonder if it might work in a similar way to Eraser’s quirk.

“Why are you going after political heads?” He asked finally.

“What? That’s easy, but you’re not really in a position to demand anything, are you?” Vagary answered.

She placed her pointer finger on his chin and tilted it up as she leaned in close to Kirishima.

“Yeah I don’t think so,” a rough voice echoed from further down the tunnel. “Get your hands off of him.”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Bakugo sat with his head on top of his fists, leaning over the hospital bed.

He didn’t know how long he’d been there, just that he'd been hell for the nurses lately. He didn’t care. They could still do their job with him here. No way was he going to leave Kirishima now.

There was a string of several hours while Eijiro was in surgery that he couldn’t be anywhere near him but now he refused to leave his side.

He heard the door open but he didn’t bother looking up. It didn’t matter who was there. Nothing mattered right now except that he was here with Kirishima.

“Go home,” Aizawa’s voice carried across the room.

Bakugo didn’t move. He refused to acknowledge him in any way. He didn’t care about the consequences of his actions right now. He’d deal with it later. He didn’t feel like sitting through a lecture.

He heard a chair being dragged towards the bed and the sound of someone’s weight being pressed into it.

After several minutes of silence between them, Aizawa sighed.

“If it weren’t for Recovery Girl, Kirishima wouldn’t have survived this at all. Even with all that treatment he’ll still be out for another day or two and he’ll need even longer on bed rest. It’s going to be a long road to recovery. You can’t be here the whole time. You need to eat. You need to sleep.”

“I did sleep,” Bakugo said, his voice rough and raw.

“Hardly. So I repeat: go home, Bakugo. Kirishima will still be here when you return. I can even stay here while you’re gone. The whole time.”

Bakugo didn’t answer. He slid his hand along the covers before finding Kirishima’s hand, limp and cold. He held onto it and squeezed tightly. He brought his other hand to clasp them together over Kirishima’s fist and then finally looked up towards Aizawa.

“I know how you’re feeling—”

“Like hell you do.”

“—But this wasn’t your fault. If this had happened a year or two earlier, I would have expelled Kirishima for his recklessness, for endangering himself. I tried to drill it into you kids that you don’t need to sacrifice yourself to be a hero. Hero work means so much more than that. So, I can’t say I don’t feel a little responsible for this outcome. I should have seen this complex of his a mile away. It's… familiar to me.”

Bakugo should have seen it too. The signs were all there. Hell, Kirishima’s first instinct in battle was to throw himself in as a human shield, but even he had limits. He’d pulled stunts like this in the past where he’d go beyond his physical limits for someone else’s sake, with little to no regard for what might happen to him.

That can’t happen again. No, this will never happen again. Not if Bakugo had anything to say about it.

---

Bakugo didn’t leave. He skipped class the next few days, refused to eat or sleep. He just stayed with Kirishima. Because he knew what was going to have to happen when he finally woke back up.

People came to visit. Sometimes in pairs, sometimes alone. They never stayed long. Claimed it was because they just “didn’t want to see Kirishima like that.”

Bakugo couldn’t blame them. Looking at Kirishima covered in bandages and hooked up to an IV like that, it tugged at his heart. He hated it. Hated that it made Kirishima look weak. He was the strongest person Bakugo knew. He didn’t deserve those looks of pity from his classmates. He deserved to be cherished. He just sacrificed himself for the city's sake.

…for Bakugo’s sake.

The door opened and Bakugo looked up.

Midoriya stood in the doorway. His eyes wide like a cartoon character, his face pale like a ghost.

“H-hey Kacchan.”

“Deku.”

“I brought you food from Lunch Rush. It’s—”

“‘m not hungry.”

“Okay,” he said quietly, placing the food on a table anyway.

He went silent after that. Bakugo nearly forgot he was in the room at all. He didn’t care that he was there.

Bakugo held onto Kirishima’s hand, dragging his thumb across the skin on his knuckles gently as he stared up at Eijiro.

He was going to wake up soon and Bakugo would have to leave. But for now, he could at least have this.

“You love him. Don’t you,” Deku asked like it was a statement. Like he already knew the answer.

Bakugo refused to respond. He didn’t need to tell Deku anything. Whether he loved Kirishima or not had nothing to do with him.

“Just because you’re new to it, doesn’t mean it’s any less true,” he continued gently.

“What do you know about it, Deku? Look what it did to him.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that. Think about what Mr. Aizawa said, Kirishima’s hero complex was bound to cause something like this eventually. It wasn’t your fault, Kacchan!”

“Shut up. Shut up!” he said, grabbing his head in an attempt to ground himself. “You don’t know anything! You weren’t there! He did this to himself to save me and I… I couldn’t do anything in return.”

Midoriya stared at him, tears pooling in his eyes. He was debating something in his head, Bakugo could see it. Then he let out a sob and launched himself forward, pulling Bakugo into a hug. It was soft and all-encompassing despite the force of it.

And, for some reason Bakugo didn’t understand, he let him.

“He won’t blame you,” Midoriya whispered.

“But I do.”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Kirishima fought to regain control over his limbs, but the best he could do for now was turn his head and move his fingers. Until he could move his legs again, he was unable to help, but it seemed like Bakugo had the situation under control for now.

Watching Bakugo in action was always incredible. He’d been at the top of his game since his first year at UA, maybe even before that.

But watching Bakugo fight angry, that was something else entirely.

Bakugo lunged forward and grabbed the woman with the truth quirk. She barely put up a fight at all. He hit her head against the wall with enough force to knock her out, but Kirishima knew she’d be fine. Bakugo was careful like that. She crumpled to the floor and laid there on the ground, still as a mouse. The man with the stinger on his tail was also unconscious a few feet away.

The order in which he took them down was calculated. Kirishima wondered how long he’d been watching before he stepped in.

He immediately went for the man with the paralyzing abilities because he had the most dangerous quirk in combat. He took him down quickly using ranged attacks so his opponent couldn't get close enough to harm him. Then he went for the woman with the truth quirk because she didn’t put up a fight at all. Kirishima suspected that she’d never been trained for a fight and Bakugo must have picked up on that too.

And he only went for Vagary third because…

“Saved you for last so you knew what was coming,” he said, turning towards her. His eyes were dark. “I didn’t know what to expect from you the first time I took you on, but this time you have nothing up your sleeve. I know what’s in your bag of tricks, so what’s left? What do you have now?”

Vagary threw two knives in Bakugo’s direction and one towards Kirishima before taking off in the direction of the exit.

She was quick, but Bakugo was quicker. He smiled like he’d already won and hit one of the knives away, dodging the other before sending a blast from his hand behind him to give him an extra boost of speed in order to defend Kirishima against the last one.

“Cheap move, but you miscalculated,” he said using his quirk to fly towards Vagary. “You thought you could distract me by pulling Red Riot into this fight. You thought I would lose focus to protect him because you were under the impression I hadn’t been paying attention. But that’s where you were wrong. I always have an eye on Kirishima!” he shouted, sending rapid blasts towards her.

Vagary stumbled from the pure shock and power of Bakugo’s quirk and when the smoke cleared she was down at last.

Bakugo landed and looked down at her with disdain. He grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her back towards the other two and pulled a rope from a loop on his belt.

He came prepared. Kirishima thought.

Eijiro struggled to push himself up off the floor so he could stand upright. He finally had a portion of control back over his limbs, for the most part at least, but he still felt unsteady. He was lucky that that villain’s poison didn’t last any longer.

He watched Bakugo tie the three criminals up all together. He favored his left side as he followed through with the motions. Clearly he hadn’t healed completely before straining himself.

Bakugo finished tying the final knot and stood up. He glanced at Kirishima out of the corner of his eye before starting off back towards the exit.

“Hey, wait, don’t you think you should stick around until the cops come to detain them?” Kirishima called after him.

“The police were already on their way when I came down here. Heard their sirens. I had a bad feeling so I told your agency to call them as backup after they sent me after you. They won’t regain consciousness before the police come to collect them.”

That wasn't what he was worried about.

“How’d you know where to find us?”

“After I woke up from that one’s damned quirk,” he said, gesturing towards Vagary, “I didn’t know where you went but I figured you’d be reckless enough to come here on your own. So I went to your agency. They told me a few locations you might be. Guess I just got lucky.”

Kirishima doubted that. He probably thought through each option thoroughly and chose correctly based on the information he did know.

But Kirishima didn’t have the time to gather his thoughts to say something in return before Bakugo sighed and said gruffly, “Anyway, I just came to finish what I started. Besides, you’re here, aren’t you? Don’t see why I need to be too.”

Kirishima watched Bakugo walk in the direction of the exit. With each step he took, he was bringing himself further away from Kirishima, but not just in distance. With each step he widened the gaping cavity between them. With each step, he tore open Kirishima’s heart a little more.

He felt his heartbeat quicken.

No.

Not this time. This time he’d stop him. He’d try. This time he’d make it known how severely he needed Bakugo in his life, how much he cared.

He wouldn’t let history repeat itself. Not when there was a second chance staring him in the face, asking him what he was going to do about it.

He’d learned from his past. He’d grown from it. And this time, he’d bring Katsuki with him. He wouldn’t let him walk away. Not again.

“Wait!” he called out. His voice echoed across the tunnel creating a cascade of his assertion. He clung to the wall of concrete to keep himself upright as he took tiny steps towards Bakugo. Tiny steps to bridge the gap. “Please, I can't… just stand by and watch you walk out of my life again.”

Bakugo stopped but he didn’t turn around. He stood still, refusing to move any closer but made no effort to run away either.

“Bakugo, tell me. Did I do something wrong?”

His answer came at a delay.

“No.”

The response was cold and short and hit Kirishima like a wave, knocking him over, sending him tumbling into the unknown.

“Then what was it? What happened? Please talk to me, Katsuki.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he repeated in a low voice. Then he breathed in deeply and said quietly, so quietly that Kirishima almost missed it, “It was the opposite of that.”

Kirishima’s head spun. He didn’t understand. What was it, then? Bakugo walked out of his life like it was easy, and nothing was the same after that. Eijiro had spent days, weeks, months, trying to piece together what made him go, what he’d done to push Bakugo over the edge. And now he’s telling him it wasn’t because of anything he did?

“You occupied my everything,” Bakugo continued after sojourning in a moment of silence. “I… loved you.”

“Then why did you leave?”

“I don’t need to tell you anything,” he replied in a low voice.

“No, you don’t. You never owed me anything, ever.”

“So then stop thinking about the past! Move on Kirishima! For your own sake.”

He was trying to push him away with harsh words. But that wouldn’t work. Not on Kirishima.

“Is that what happened? Did I say something wrong or push you too far? Is that… why you stopped loving me?”

“No! Goddamn it Kirishima, no!” Bakugo shouted, his voice cracking as he raised it.

Katsuki whipped around to face him finally, his face streaked with pain. His eyes were pleading and every inch of him screamed I’m hurting.

“You were perfect, don’t you understand? You did everything right! And that’s why! That’s why!” Bakugo’s voice shook as he spoke. Whether it was from anger or from holding back, Kirishima couldn’t tell. “I couldn’t just stand by and watch you suffer like that. You… you’re too much, you’re too good. You were always there, every time I needed you to be. Fuck, Kirishima, you… you even put your life on the line without hesitation and…” he squeezed his fists so tight his knuckles started to turn white. “I almost lost you because of that! I couldn’t be the reason you lost your life. I’d rather suffer the rest of my goddamn life than have to live in this hell knowing you weren’t here with me. Even if… you weren’t with me.”

He paused, unclenching his fist and looking up at the concrete above them. “I never left. I… watched you. Tracked your progress. Made sure you were doing okay and didn’t push yourself too hard. I never stopped loving you, Eiji. Never. Just knowing you were safe and living a happy life? That was fine. That was fine by me.”

“It isn’t fine by me,” Kirishima said softly.

He pushed off the wall and walked shakily over to Bakugo. He took Katsuki’s face in his hands and stared into his eyes. They were so familiar, so grounding. And they gave away everything Kirishima needed to see. All the pain, everything he was holding back, everything he wanted.

Kirishima pulled him into an embrace and he could feel Bakugo’s heart pounding in his chest as he pressed closer to him.

The constant ache in Kirishima’s chest that had become a part of him over the years finally eased. The divide hadn’t closed, not entirely, but they were bridging the gap. Together.

“I missed you, Eijirou.” Bakugo said, his voice small and raw.

“I’ll be here. From now on. I’ll always be here.”