Chapter Text
♡ Word Count: 2,115 ♡
~ 'Sunrise, sunrise Looks like mornin' in your eyes' ~
~ 'Sunrise, sunrise Couldn't temp us if it tried' ~
(Sunrise, Norah Jones.)
A beautiful day with a lovely view. Kirishima took a deep breath as he watched the sunrise outside his window. The gorgeous haze of orange, red, and yellow blend in the sky always made him melt. His typical wide, sharp-toothed smile was now a relaxed tug at the corners of his mouth.
Despite the twinge of pain in his chest, he was enjoying the morning. That feeling only grew when Kirishima saw his favorite person waiting for him outside his dorm. Bakugou was leaning on the wall beside his door. His smile widened as he swung his arm over the angry blond's shoulders, happily greeting him. "Hey, Bakubro! Good morning, man!" Bakugou rolled his eyes at the nickname, snarl on his face as always. He was quick to start walking, gaze forward. If he were late, he'd start a riot. "This early in the morning and you're already so goddamn chipper! And I told you to stop calling me that, idiot!" he barked in retort. Kirishima just chuckled, patting the blond's shoulder as he walked beside him. "I'm happy to see you too, bro!" Bakugou groaned. "Gods."
Kirishima took his arm away to cover his mouth, a small cough forcing itself out. Suddenly, the slight pain in his chest grew, even spreading to his throat. He shook his head and put his smile back on. "How was your weekend?" Bakugous piercing ruby eyes shifted toward the other. A flicker of concern came across his sharp features. He quickly plastered the scowl back on when he caught himself. "None of your business, dumb hair!" But when he saw Kirishima staring at him with his soft crimson eyes, he couldn't help but answer. "Ugh! It was perfect! Happy?" Kirishima instantly brightened at the answer and nodded eagerly. "Very."
The walk was typical for the two; Kirishima talked Bakugou's ear off only for Bakugou to respond in small noises and nods. If he didn't know he was listening to his daily ramble—truly too long of a list to name—he'd be offended. When the duo arrived at the school building, Kirishima saw Mina waving him over. He pouted for a moment but bid Bakugou farewell. "See you later, Bakubro!" he waved goodbye before jogging to his pink friend. With a roll of his eyes, Bakugou lazily waved before rushing to class. "Yeah, yeah."
Mina smiled and gave Kirishima a tight hug, and he was quick to reciprocate. The two were always physically affectionate to the ones they loved most, especially with each other. Lots of their classmates thought it was because they were dating. The heteronormative assumption made them both want to vomit.
After a moment, they separated so they could walk to class. They made chit-chat as they did. "Kiri! How was your weekend, Mr. Manly Man?" Mina asked, excited to hear about whatever Kirishima did. "Mins! It was okay." Mina's eyes widened a bit, shocked he wasn't giving her every detail. She made a mental note he wasn't as high-energy as he usually was. "Just okay?" she asked. Kirishima shrugged, looking into the distance for a moment. "Yeah. My chest has been kinda weird, but besides that, I've been great!"
Mina gasped and instantly started feeling Kirishimas forehead for a temperature. She hadn't seen him sick since middle school, and it was bad. "Oh no, Kiri! You don't feel sick, do you?" Kirishima shook his head, not thinking twice about the feeling. "Nah, it's no biggie-" the redhead's cough interrupted his speech, quickly covering his mouth with his hand as he turned away. He shook it off before smiling. "I'm sure I just worked out too hard, Mins."
Mina sighed, knowing he wouldn't ask for help unless it was way worse. She knew being pushy with Kirishima never worked, so she always gently nudged. "If it doesn't get better, I'm sure recovery girl would be happy to help." As she spoke, she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Kirishima shrugged. "I don't wanna trouble her over nothin'. Really, I don't know why I even brought it up. I'm great! Don't worry about me." In an attempt to comfort her, he gave a sweet smile. Mina nodded begrudgingly, gently patting his shoulder before taking her hand away. "If you say so."
Somehow Kirishima and Mina made it to the classroom just in the nick of time, both sitting as the bell rang. Another cough forced itself out of him. "Huh..." He stared down at the orange and yellow petals in his hand, his brow furrowing.
'What the...?' Kirishima thought, examining the petal closely. 'Did I somehow eat a flower? I know I'm kinda dumb, but how could I not remember that?' He internally scolded himself, thinking back on the last few days.
Kirishima was heavily entranced; he didn't even notice Aizawa take a step into the classroom and tell them they were starting the day with training.
Kaminari noticed Kirishima seemed to be out of it, so he gently nudged him. He couldn't tell what Kirishima was staring at, but saw he wasn't standing as the rest of the class did. "You coming, dude?" the yellow-haired male questioned. Kirishima quickly shoved the petal in his pocket. He received a confused look, so the redhead gave an anxious smile before nodding. "For sure!"
Not even knowing where they were going, Kirishima followed the class. The hall quickly faded to the background, questions still flooding his head. 'There's no way I ate a flower...right? No, I would totally remember eating a flower! ...RIGHT?' The sound of laughter snapped him out of his head. As he took in his surroundings, he bit the inside of his lip. Of course, it was the locker room. Why wouldn't it be? "Dang it..." he accidentally muttered.
Sero nudged him with his shoulder. "You okay, Kiri? You haven't been yourself today." Kirishima's head tilted like a confused puppy. He slowly realized he had said the thought aloud. Kirishima laughed at himself. "I'm great! Thanks for asking, man! How are you?"
The two continued their idle chit-chat as they changed. Sero talked about how his parents surprised him with a pet tarantula over the weekend, and of course Kirishima's response was about how manly tarantulas were. The locker room was by far his least favorite place in the school, so he'd distract himself by talking as he stared in his locker.
Kirishima always felt guilty in the locker room. He always had a grimy feeling looking in anyone's general direction. Even though he knew he wasn't being gross, he never wanted to make anyone uncomfortable. That was unmanly! He always left as fast as possible, and today was no different.
Aizawa gave a lazy direction to his students. "Warm up with a spar." He was clearly more sleep-deprived than usual. Shortly after speaking, he somehow spawned into his yellow sleeping bag.
Kirishima jumped when he felt a hand grab his shoulder and start to drag him. "Come on, dumbass." He smiled happily at Bakugous gruff voice, immediately feeling better. He stumbled for a moment before ripping away from the grasp, running ahead of Bakugou. "Happy to beat the best!" he exclaimed, readying himself for a fight.
Bakugou's shit-eating grin appeared. "Hah! Yeah, right! I'll blast your ass into the ground!" Kirishima shook his head, smile growing. He was eager to fight with Bakugou. He would always be the number one hero in Kirishima's eyes. Being able to spar with Bakugou made him feel super manly. "I'd like to see you try!" Kirishima punched his hand, his hardening quirk causing a loud thud.
Bakugou was quick to start, smiling wildly as his explosions erupted left and right. It'd been too long since he could truly let it all out. He never went easy on anyone, let alone Kirishima, who could harden his skin in a millisecond—if anything, he went harder on him.
Kirishima smiled just as widely as the blond. He dodged and hardened to every explosion, seemingly in sync with Bakugou. They'd known each other for around two and a half years now, and he'd gotten good at predicting his attacks. He landed a few blows but could never bring himself to go as hard as he could. It would be different if it were a villain, but it was Bakugou. Of course, he never told him this. He'd never hear the end of it. He could picture how that would go: "Dumbass, I can take you in my sleep! Punch me as hard as you can or go eat rocks!"
After 40 minutes of countering, Bakugou exploded himself up into the air, determined to win. As he fell back to the earth, he grabbed Kirishimas shoulders and slammed him into the ground, landing on top of him. In the other shock, Bakugou successfully pinned Kirishimas wrists into the dirt beside his red locks.
Truthfully, the "warm up" had gotten ahead of Kirishima and Bakugou. The two panted heavily, both covered in sweat. Through the heavy breathing, Bakugous grin brightened as he celebrated. "Pinned! Hah! I win!"
As he stared up at Bakugou, Kirishimas face bloomed, his red eyes and hair now matching his face. His stomach erupted with a burning sensation he'd never experienced before. The feeling made him want to melt into the floor and hide till he died, but all he could do was lie there pinned to the floor. Soon the burning made its way to his throat, a coughing fit rising out of him. He tilted his head to the side as he coughed harshly, trying his best not to get it on the blond.
Bakugou was fast to get off him when he heard the coughs. All he could do was stare as his best friend coughed. He didn't know how to console him, especially with the rest of their classmates strewn about.
Once Kirishima could sit up, he covered his mouth with his hand, coughing for a while. He tore his hand from his mouth and stared in horror at his bloody palm. Suddenly, he was flooded with thoughts again, confusion, and fear riddling his face. Kirishima's stomach dropped and his eyes widened in terror as his hand began to tremble.
Feeling Bakugou's eyes, Kirishima faked a laugh and a smile. He meant for it to cover his fear, but it came off more terrified if anything. "Yeah, y-yeah you... You totally got me, man!" he paused, gulping down some blood as he stood up. "I-I'll, um...I'll see you later!" Kirishima ran inside before Bakugou could say much.
Bakugou stared in awe as the other ran away, stood frozen in place. "Where the hell are you going, moron?!" He contemplated running after him but ultimately decided to stay, not wanting to upset the already sleep-deprived teacher. He scanned the area, trying to find Aizawa to inform him of the situation. Instead, he found a few flower petals splattered with blood where Kirishima once sat. "What the hell?"
Kirishima's brain raced as he raced through the halls. He panted harshly, legs feeling weak as he sprinted. He finally arrived at the nurse's office, leaning on the doorframe as he attempted to catch his breath.
Seeing a student with fear in his eyes, Recovery Girl sprang into action. She quickly made her way toward the door. "Kirishima, where are you hurt?" she asked as calmly as she could, voice wavering.
All Kirishima could do was show his shaking hand. "Sit, sit!" she urged, leading him to a bed. She examined the blood, grabbing a set of tweezers and slowly picking up a petal from the red-stained palm. Her small eyes widened as much as they could as she examined the petals, collecting them all in a small bag. It was nothing she'd seen before, at least in real life: Chrysanthemum petals scattered his blood.
Confused, Recovery Girl sealed and set the bag down. She tried to comfort the panicking student, putting her small hand on his. "It's okay. It'll be okay. Lay back, Kirishima." Kirishima followed the direction, eyes fixated on his hand. Recovery Girl got a warm, wet rag and gently wiped the blood off his palm. "I need you to take a deep breath, sweetie." Kirishima nodded once, closing his eyes. He took in a deep breath of air, chest puffing up before deflating.
After a few deep breaths, Kirishima fell into a light slumber. The adrenaline had faded away, now replaced with exhaustion. Even in the uncomfortable bed, he managed to sleep pretty well.