Archive of Our Own

The night was young and the sun had finally set just in time for the Entertainment District to illuminate with warm lanterns and multicolored lights. It was the fall, and Musutafu had decked its streets for the upcoming holiday, Halloween. Halloween was a wonderful time for the citizens, dressing up in fun clothes and wearing wacky makeup. Unfortunately, Halloween was also the time when crime began to shoot up, whether it be petty incidents like fighting over the last piece of hero merchandise or more serious crime like murder or drug selling. For this reason, pros were grouped together to deal with calls more often. Even the higher pros like the number two hero Shoto were asked to have someone tag alongside them, though in Shoto’s case, he never minded working with those he knew. In fact, he always went with the Turbo Hero Ingenium for their combined power.

Ejirou Kirishima, the fierce wielder of the title Red Riot, was a lot like Shoto, except his partner of choice belonged to an entirely different agency than him. His choice was the Omnivorous hero, Suneater; many knew Suneater as the sweet shapeshifting hero with a crippling shy head. The public even called him “Sunny” for the way his smile brought comfort to anyone in distress. However, Kirishima always knew him as Tamaki Amajiki, the once socially stunted third year who got him an internship at a hero agency with the BMI hero Fatgum.

Working with the both of them was fun, and it felt a bit like being back at Yueii. Amajiki had gained a bit of confidence since their graduation, and he enjoyed showing off his skills with the animal parts he manifested. Kirishima himself was popular amongst younger boys, and whenever he was on patrol, they’d crowd together in clumps against railings to watch him at work. Fatgum’s natural charisma wrapped all three of them into a giant gift of positivity. It was part of why the fall was Kirishima’s favorite time of the year.

October was when Kirishima was assigned to his first call of duty with Amajiki and Fat. The month before, reports of drug usage had increased greatly, and it was becoming harder for the Night and Underground heroes to nab everyone. They called for reinforcements from any Day heroes who didn’t mind staying up late to assist. It was a simple job: patrol the streets and nab anyone who seemed out of line or suspicious. The trio had done it before when Red and Sun were still students, so it wasn’t a hassle to them.

“It seems quiet tonight,” Kirishima said as the three of them walked along the sidewalk, admiring the peaceful scenery. A few shoppers passed them, all carrying bags with different purchases inside.

“I wonder what the nighttime heroes needed us for. It seems pretty content out here,” Amajiki joked, munching on a takoyaki ball. Fatgum had bought them for both him and the man to share, but Amajiki had definitely taken more than he was supposed to. He’d have to repay Fatgum for what he took, though his superior never minded feeding his sidekick if it meant he’d be able to do his job. 

Fatgum chuckled, “I wish we could have one night of peace in the District. Problems’ll start soon enough. Keep your eyes and ears open.”

“Ya know, it’s a relief to be working with you guys again. Feels like I’ve been waiting all year for this,” Kirishima said, looking down at the floor in mild embarrassment. It felt awkward to say, but it was true. His superiors were some of the first to motivate him into stepping out of his comfort zone and dodge tensing up whenever things got hectic. If it weren’t for them, Kirishima would’ve never become Red Riot. He never would’ve become a symbol amongst young men to be brave. 

“Hey, don’t be embarrassed. Don’t get me wrong, working with the little kids is fun and all, but sometimes I want to work with people my age too.” Amajiki chuckled. That year, he had been assigned to Uravity’s quirk counseling a lot more, helping little ones with quirks that involved food and irregular body parts. He remembered when he was that little, afraid to so much as eat a fruit because the idea of a part he didn’t know sprouting from his body scared him half to death. Children with all sorts of conditions from mental to physical looked up to Amajiki for inspiration to do good. Hell, one of his first interactions with a child was of a little boy who swore to become “as spectacular as Suneater is”. That day sparked a fire within the man, and he wanted to do good for others no matter how bad his anxiety got. But, working with little children was only so easy until you found yourself shoving tissues up your nose to stop a nosebleed from a careless arm swing or a sneeze that led to an extension of the limb straight to the face. That was part of why Amajiki was looking forward to working with someone else around his age range again.

Fatgum laughed one of his hearty laughs, “I’m surprised you stuck out with counseling those little ones for so long. I remember you called me once in hysterics about a nosebleed a kid gave you.”

“I swear, I think that little girl did it on purpose. There was no reason for the arm of a kid that size to wreck my nose like that. I wanted to go home bad that day,” Amajiki blushed, sinking into his burgundy cloak.

Kirishima laughed. “Yeah, those kids are crazy. But hey, I’d rather be dealing with those kids than these so-called troublemakers out here. We’re in for a peaceful night, eh?”

“Don’t jinx yourself.” Fatgum warned, taking another takoyaki ball and munching on it.

The last of the festive lights flickered to life as the three men walked down another street, basking in the breeze of the night that only seemed to grow cooler.

__________________________

“Please, sir, don’t take my stock without paying!” 

A block away from the Entertainment District, a small costume shop was being held up by a couple of hoodlums with nothing better to do. There were five of them, all teenagers with nothing better to do. The leader was a boy with bright orange hair who called himself “Tanaka”. In the shop, they surrounded the shop owner, cackling like hyenas at how they intimidated him. Tanaka himself was getting the most fun out of the torment.

“What’s wrong with you, man? We just wanted a little something for the holiday season,” Tanaka sneered, “My boys were gonna buy something anyway. What kind of shop owner doesn’t sell to their own customers?”

The shop owner, a short and stout older male in his 50s, stammered, “I can’t sell to you if you’re stuffing merchandise in your bags!” He signed to the boys’ backpacks, which were all stuffed with clothes and trinkets in tune with the Halloween season. Aside from that, one of the minions, a mid-sized boy with deep green hair, held a tiny cat sculpture in his hand, the only thing they intended to buy.

“Come on, old guy. We just wanted to have something for the Halloween season!”

“I just can’t let you take my stuff! Why don’t we go to the register and you can pay for what you want?" The shop owner attempted to rationalize with the boys, but they weren’t having it. Tanaka took a step forward, bumping against the older man.

“Move,” he growled, narrowing his eyes at his submissiveness.

The shop owner tried one last attempt at defending his store. “I won’t let you leave.” he answered sternly, folding his arms against his chest. 

“Hmm. Then I guess we’ll just have to pass through you and move on with our day,” With that, Tanaka sprinted, rushing past the man and calling for his squad to follow him. The shop owner was mowed down by the remaining teens until he was left scrambling against the shelf to chase after them. He went to the front of the store, grabbed an old-but-tough wooden broom, and left his store, chasing after the reckless teens.

“Go, go, go!” Tanaka exclaimed, looking back to make sure his friends were still following him. They followed close behind, all except for one, a hooded girl named Yumeno, who was a few steps behind the rest of the group. “Don’t fall behind, Yumi! Keep up or you’ll be arrested, damn it!”

Yumeno ran at the same pace, but mumbled an apology under her breath. As much as tagging along for the robbing made her uncomfortable, she felt bad staggering and potentially ruining her leader’s plan.

“Get back here! All of you come back with my stuff! You can’t take those if you don't pay!” For as old as the shop owner was, he was keeping up with the vagrants, wielding his wooden broom as if it were a sword. 

“Let up, old man! Your heart’s gonna give out before you even catch up with us! Just say goodbye to getting the money for your stuff!” the mid-sized boy threw over his shoulder.

The shop owner slowed down, panting hard and leaning against a wall. “Help, please!!!” he squealed loudly.

Kirishima and Fatgum were deep in a conversation about hero work when Kirishima walked into the back of Amajiki, who suddenly stopped and looked to the sky. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” Kirishima asked, peering to see his partner’s face. Amajiki looked concerned, black eyes narrowed in concentration. His pointy ears twitched at a sound Kirishima didn’t hear.

Amajiki turned to him and Fatgum. “Do you two hear that?” he asked.

The two of them went silent to hear what he was hearing. In the distance, around the block, there was a small distressed noise that sounded like someone was calling for kelp.

“Kelp?” Kirishima thought out loud.

“Help. Someone’s calling for help,” Amajiki’s eyes widened like a frightened cat. “Come with me!”

The hero took off down the sidewalk, cape billowing behind him. Kirishima and Fatgum followed behind. Amajiki had always been a fast mover (Kirishima was amazed the first time he saw his superior use his Quirk, how fast he had scooped up past vagrants with his octopus tentacles), but since he officially became Suneater, it was as if the concept of being slow had vanished from his mind. It was partially why he climbed up to number eighteen on the hero charts; he never missed when it came to efficiency. Kirishima loved that about him.

The trio rounded the corner, locating the source of the calls. Aside from a few nighttime stragglers, there was an older man leaning against a wall, clutching a broom and barely sucking in a full breath. Amajiki turned his head. This time, Kirishima took the lead.

“Sir, are you alright?” the redhead asked, appearing quickly behind the man. He put a hand on his shoulder. The man jumped, but settled when he saw the men huddled around him, dressed in support gear and wearing faces that didn’t look like they wanted to cause him trouble.

“Ah, are you guys heroes? Please, I need help! Some teenagers took some things from my store and ran off without paying. I tried to catch them but they were too fast!” The shop owner explained frantically, barely able to separate his words before Kirishima shushed him.

“Slow down, sir, you’re running out of breath. Where did these robbers go?” Fatgum spoke up this time.

The shop owner pointed to the end of the street, “Down there. They rounded the corner. I think they may be heading to the main streets!”

“How many were there?”

“Around five of them,” the man explained, “Please, hurry!”

“Don’t worry sir,” Kirishima smiled, showing off his sharp teeth, “We’re gonna get your stuff back! Sit tight!”

And with that, Suneater and Red Riot had left Fatgum behind, charging down the street and around the corner. Fat followed behind, forgetting that the two heroes were an unstoppable wall when put to the task together. The younger men locked eyes with a group of kids that matched the description: five of them who were dressed in all black, holding bags of things that they surely couldn’t all afford. Tanaka walked in front, observing their surroundings to make sure they were clear enough to walk with their merchandise.

“That must be them,” Suneater turned to Red, speaking in a hushed voice. Red nodded his head, cracking his knuckles and getting ready to catch them.

“HEY!” Red Riot called to the teens. They stopped in their tracks and turned around slowly, afraid of the voice as if they knew exactly who was trying to grab their attention.

The mid-sized boy let out a shocked gasp and whispered to his group, “It’s Red Riot and that anxious hero! I forgot his name…”

“It’s Suneater,” Sun said sternly. The kid’s head snapped back, shocked that the hero could hear him from so far away. “But you don’t need to worry about that right now. You stole from a man’s shop earlier, didn’t you?”

The kids remained silent before Tanaka took charge, yelling “RUN!” before attempting to sprint away.

Suneater’s eyes narrowed, and he took no time summoning long tentacles in his fingers, reaching for the fools who thought they had a chance to escape. They latched onto each one quickly, leaving no wiggle room in his grasp. Suneater pulled his hand back, holding the entangled kids in front of him and Red Riot.

“Tried to take the ‘skidaddle’ route and you failed, eh? You guys know better than that,” Red scolded. The most annoying cases he had to take on were ones with young offenders, ones who were looking to get on someone else’s nerves and cause trouble. Puppy crimes, in the words of Fatgum. Most puppy crimes took too much time out of his and the kids’ lives, time that could’ve been spent helping out someone who actually needed it or filing the mounds of hero paperwork that seemed to spawn on him faster.

“That was quick, boys! I wasn’t expecting you to find those delinquents so fast,” Fatgum smiled, appearing behind Suneater. Red Riot returned it, but Suneater kept his eyes on the kids.

“They didn’t get too far, thankfully. They’re just a few kids making a disturbance tonight. Nothing too crazy,” Suneater commented.

“Damn you, let us go! Do you know how pissed my mom is gonna be at me! I don’t want to go to jail!” the mid-sized boy whined, struggling against the tentacle holding him to no avail.

Fatgum frowned, “If you knew your mom was gonna be mad for this behavior, why’d you go around stealing in the first place?”

The boy paused to try and come up with an excuse.

Almost in the blink of an eye, something unexpected happened.

Yumeno, the straggler, slipped from Suneater’s tentacle. She phased through and fell to the ground. She staggered to her feet with a terrified look on her face.

“What the heck?!” Fatgum explained. Yumeno wasted no time turning around and booking it down the sidewalk. “She’s got a quirk like Lemillion!”

Suneater retracted his fingers and shoved the remaining vagrants to Fat, who stuffed them in his body to keep them still. “Don’t worry, Fat, we’ve got her!” he called over his shoulder, running with Red Riot after the girl. She moved surprisingly fast, opposite of the speed she was running at before the group was caught. 

“Stop, young lady!” Red called. Yumeno ran faster, determined to not get caught by the heroes. She bent a corner that led to the quieter parts of the District, and Suneater took no time summoning wings on his back in case Yumeno tried anything drastic.

“Leave me alone!!!” the girl squealed, trying anything to rid the heroes from her. 

When Red and Suneater caught up to her, she was already halfway down a street leading to a dead-end. “Caught ya!” Red Riot said, hoping it’d be enough to get Yumeno to stop running. His words cut through the air and pierced her heart, and she froze in fear as she realized there was no escaping the heroes. She turned around to see the men, who were standing over her menacingly. Yumeno tightened the strings on her coat, trying desperately to hide her face from the men.

“Where do you think you’re going? This is a dead end,” Suneater asked, retracting his wings. Once again, he didn’t need them after all. 

Yumeno stammered before suddenly focusing on the ground. She looked determined to examine the scuffed up sidewalk. Then, the floor became like jelly. In an instant, the girl and the two heroes phased through the floor, falling until they hit the cold bottom of a cellar of some kind. It was dimly lit by old overhead lights and felt damp and cold.

Amajiki caught Kirishima and helped him to stand back on his feet. “What the heck??” Kirishima looked around, fixing his mouth piece that had been knocked out of place through the phasing. Amajiki shrugged, equally as confused at their situation as the redhead. Yumeno herself looked confused, as if she had no idea she just transported the trio to an entirely different floor than the alley.

“Where did you take us?” Suneater asked.

“Um…I don’t know. I panicked. It’s a part of my quirk.” Yumeno shrugged.

Amajiki folded his arms. Rarely ever did he enjoy getting mad at vagrants, but he was in an entirely different area than where he was before. Who knew when they’d get out of the mystery place?

“Please don’t hurt me. I…I was only going along with them.” Yumeno whimpered, voice wet and quiet.

Red Riot tilted his head, “Why would you go along with those guys if they were committing a crime? That’s pretty unmanly if you ask me.”

Yumeno shrugged. “I don’t know. Those guys said that if I went with them, they could make my quirk useful. I told them I was a useless person. They were only trying to cheer me up.”

Red and Suneater turned to each other, both holding a look between sympathy and righteousness. On one hand, they had a girl standing in front of them who might have needed some quirk counseling to deal with insecurity, but on the other hand, she did help a group to rob a man of his goods. It was one of the many tough situations with some juveniles. Most of the crimes they committed were out of emotions rather than malicious intent.

“What’s your name, young lady?” Amajiki asked after some time.

“...Yumeno.” the hooded girl answered after some time, still not showing her face to the heroes.

“Yumeno. I get that you feel bad about your quirk, but it’s no excuse to get yourself in trouble,” Kirishima put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. She didn’t move at all. It was as if she was a statue.

“...’ut up,” Yumeno suddenly interrupted, barely audible above a whisper.  Neither Kirishima or Amajiki heard her at first.

“What’d you say?” Kirishima asked. He inched a bit closer to the girl, who had begun to nervously pick at her hands. Something was gravely wrong with Yumeno.

“Shut up,” Yumeno repeated, louder this time. She raised her head, showing off her face. Kirishima flinched. Yumeno’s brown eyes were completely darkened, and she looked…evil. She had dark circles under her eyes, and one of them was accompanied by a tiny scar. Her lips were dry and trembling. She was caught in a web of emotions, but something about her was off.

“Yumeno-” Amajiki began, but he was cut off by the girl reaching into her dark coat. In a swift motion, she pulled out a shiny black pistol. It wasn’t anything special and as generic as the ones in the shooting range, but it was still a gun nonetheless. A threat. That threat needed to be dealt with quickly.

“SHE’S GOT A GUN!” Kirishima exclaimed, backing up quickly. Amajiki stammered, caught off guard by what Yumeno held in her hands.

Tamaki Amajiki. What kind of person as anxious as him deserves to have such a powerful Quirk? The girl thought. Anger crept up her throat.

Before the hero could move, a flash stopped him.

Then, a crack rang through the air. It sounded ugly, like a painful bone fracture. 

The bullet flew from the chamber through the air.  Time seemed to slow down. 

One second, Amajiki was overcome with fear, physically okay but mentally startled. 

Next, he felt something enter his stomach. He took one breath and felt something in his intestines. Something that wasn’t supposed to be there. An intruder.

Then, the pain from the shot kicked in. Ache spread throughout his stomach. The pain made it impossible to suck in air, and Amajiki felt like he was dead. But his eyes were open…right? He was in limbo, feeling everything too deeply. He had enough energy to turn and attempt to shield his body from the gun.

Yumeno’s final shot was sloppy. One last time, she raised and shot, but she missed trying to land a hit on the side of Amajiki’s temple. She ended up shooting his left arm and putting a nice hideous hole in the side of the hero’s cape. Amajiki screamed, not expecting the shot to his arm to hurt the most.

“SUNEATER!” Kirishima shouted.

Amajiki looked down at his body, watching as his body began to leak crimson. Tacky holes decorated his costume, showing where exactly he was hit. There was a shot on his stomach and his arm. Places that weren’t supposed to be hit by anything.

Fuck. Amajiki thought. He didn’t normally curse, but this wasn’t like any injury he had received before. Even being shot with a quirk-erasing bullet as a teen wasn’t the same as being hit with a regular bullet. At least the quirk-erasing bullet didn’t draw any blood. He fell backwards and hit the concrete hard, feeling a cold pain grow on the back of his head.

Ejirou, move. Kirishima begged his body to move, but he was frozen in place. He felt like a teenager again, watching his partner be shot and doing nothing to stop it. He couldn’t protect him then, and he couldn’t protect him now. You’re not hurt yet. Do something!

Yumeno turned to Red, who wore a face of horror. His red eyes were about to shatter, and his body trembled. She wasted no time raising her gun at him. Easy shot, she thought. She pulled the trigger immediately, almost finding satisfaction in hurting him.

Kirishima yelped, hardening too late to stop the bullet from nicking him. It hit him in the side, and he felt a sharp pain followed by what felt like water being poured on his body. He whipped back to Yumeno, who was tucking her gun neatly back into her jacket.

“I really can’t stand you heroes. Always acting like you know troubled people.” The girl spoke with a visceral hatred, flashing her gritted teeth at the two. She took off her hood to reveal a head full of light purple hair, shaking her head as if it was some kind of farewell message. “No one was there to help me when I was down. Take this as a lesson to not be so self-righteous.”

Suddenly, Yumeno walked to the wall of the underground building and held her fingers against it. She phased through It was as if she planned to do it. There was no trace of her. She simply disappeared, never to be seen again.

Kirishima blinked before being hit with a sharpness in his right hip.  His head was still spinning, but he looked down to see what the damage was. Indeed, he had been shot too, though the damage was far more severe than he thought. There was a nice hole on the line where his waist was, and blood began to rush down his side, staining his pants. 

He looked to Amajiki, who was on his back, panting hard, trying to conceal his wounds with blood-soaked hands. It seemed to pour out of him, and it would only be long before someone could come and help him. Amajiki looked at Kirishima, and his face twisted in horror. To him, Kirishima was about to fall over and die, his body covered in red and his chest rising and falling unevenly. It felt like the worst day of his life letting someone younger than him get hurt. 

“E…jirou…?” he whimpered, trying to pull himself up. Kirishima took a step forward and was met with an indescribable pain, but he kept going and knelt beside Amajiki.

“You’re hurt,” Amajiki said. Kirishima shrugged. His side hurt more at the movement, but he could push through it. The most he could do was pay attention to his superior and see how he could help him. He unbuckled Amajiki’s support gear to get a better look at him. His black bodysuit was already ruined, and his stomach was clenched in pain. In hero training, they went over the basics of first aid for people in need, and it proved useful then, but in that moment, all of that information flew out of the window. Kirishima couldn’t remember what exactly to do for a gunshot wound, but he knew to try and stop the bleeding.

What to use? He looked around frantically for any kind of cloth to use. Unsurprisingly, there was none available in the dead-end, but there was one thing he could use in front of him. He grabbed Amajiki’s red cape and hardened his hand, tearing a large chunk off the end and folding it in half. He pressed it to Amajiki’s stomach, the spot that seemed to be gushing the most, and blood seeped out of the wound as the other man let out a wail in pain.

Kirishima apologized, tearing off another piece of cloth to use for his arm this time. He folded it into a thin line, opting to create a makeshift tourniquet to try and stop the slow bleeding. Kirishima rolled the man over, careful to hold him in a spot where the injuries to his torso weren’t affected by the pressure.

“Eji…” Amajiki spoke brokenly, “You need…to help yourself.”

Kirishima shook his head. “No. You’ve got three shots and I’ve got one. The last person I need to worry about is myself.”

“Eji, you’re covered in blood.” Amajiki’s eyes widened. What the hell are you thinking?

“I’m fine.”

“But you’re—”

“I’m fine.” Kirishima said harshly. He never raised his voice around Amajiki, but his head was spinning, and he didn’t want to see his partner die all because he took two seconds to take care of his own wound. Reinforcements wouldn’t be around for another couple of minutes, so he was all Amajiki had.

“--oys?” the earpiece in the two men’s ears crackled to life. Kirishima held his hand up to it.

“Fat…? Is that you, Fat?” The red-head asked frantically.

“Yeah, it’s me. I heard shots. I handed those teens over to the police before I set off for you two,” Fatgum explained, “Are you two okay?”

Kirishima looked down at himself again. He was still bleeding, more than he was before. The spot started to tingle a bit, and he could feel his pulse in his side. Amajiki looked like he had bathed in tomatoes, the skin around his injuries starting to darken. He was losing a lot of the color in his skin, a nasty pallor spreading across his face. Neither of them were fine, but Kirishima was afraid to worry Fatgum. He’s not gonna come fast enough.

“No,” his mouth spoke before his mind did. “Amajiki’s bleeding really bad and I am too. That girl we were chasing…she…um…” Kirishima trailed off. He began to shiver. The situation was dire. He didn’t want to admit that he let Yumeno go, that she got away after shooting people and that she’s somewhere out there, potentially hurting others.

“Ejirou, what did she do to you?” Fatgum asked softly. The man was one of the few heroes who addressed his juniors by their first names, even when they became pros. He spoke with care, as if he were a father to them. 

“...She shot us. And I let her get away.” Kirishima responded after some time. He added more pressure onto his stomach, and Amajiki hissed in return.

Fatgum was quiet for a moment before saying, “It’s okay, Ejirou. I’m coming to you guys. Tell me where you are.”

Kirishima looked around. The dead-end was dark and ended in an alleyway with the back of a brick building. They had left the Entertainment District a long while ago. Wherever they were, it had no landmark on it.

“I’m not sure, Fatgum. We’re in an alleyway. She ran so far that we made it out of the District.” Kirishima said.

“Okay, just hold on. I’m coming. Stay where you are.” Fatgum commanded. Kirishima nodded before the earpiece went silent again. He reminded him of his mothers a lot, how they were both fierce and always willing to protect their son no matter the circumstances. He remembered the first time he ever got injured as a pro, both Fat and his mothers showed up at the hospital and stayed with him until he was healed enough to leave. Fat was like the father Kirishima never got to know.

A part of Kirishima began to relax as he heard Fatgum’s voice echoing in his head.

_________________________________________________________

Kirishima had no idea how long it was when he opened his eyes again. He didn’t even know he closed them until he heard a choked noise come from Amajiki. He flinched awake, only to discover he had begun to lean against the wound on Amajiki’s stomach, too much weight being pressed in one spot.

“I’m sorry,” Kirishima said quickly, letting off the wound. Amajiki didn’t respond. His hair was in front of his face, so he had no idea if he was even awake anymore. Kirishima coughed, blood droplets falling from his mouth into his hand. 

Stay awake, Ejirou. Come on. Kirishima fought the delirium, pouring all of his remaining strength into trying to stop Amajiki from bleeding anymore. The man had already lost enough blood, he couldn’t afford to lose anymore.

Don’t be useless. Amajiki needs your help.

“Still here, Amajiki?” Kirishima wheezed out. He pushed his indigo bangs out of face to see if he was awake. Indeed, Amajiki was, but barely conscious. His eyes were half-lidded and full of tears, revealing only a sliver of his dark eyes. Judging by how wet his eyes were, he had started crying sometime when Kirishima lost consciousness. His forehead was the only part of his face that wasn’t spattered in blood. His mouth still leaked crimson, running down the sides of his face and coating the sidewalk beneath him. Amajiki could hardly move his lips at all, but he stared at Kirishima.

“That’s good. Just keep staring at me, okay?” Kirishima gave a pained smile, flashing his teeth that had been stained from his own internal bleeding. Neither of them were fine, but the last thing Kirishima wanted was for Amajiki to worry about him. Despite his efforts, Amajiki couldn’t help himself.

“…Eji…please-,” he slurred, following with a gag from the blood. He weakly grabbed Kirishima’s forearm, and he could feel the man trembling under his touch. Kirishima looked down at his side. There was more blood than he thought there was. The pain didn’t register, but he knew anyone else would be making more of a fuss than he was. Amajiki felt more tears fall down his face. Why are you still focused on me?

“You told me,” Kirshima brushed off his partner’s worries again, “ I’m worried about you…‘Jiki.” He lifted up the piece of cloth that had become soaked in blood. The wound was still gushing, and his efforts to stop the bleeding were starting to fail. Amajiki was losing more and more of the color in his skin, and he looked sickly pale. Kirishima couldn’t tell if the color was from the loss or the conditions of the cellar.

Are you going to die on me? 

The younger man felt himself starting to panic. He had seen Amajiki hurt before. Hell, the first time they worked together, he had been shot with a quirk-erasing bullet. Amajiki had cracked a bone in his face, and had even tanked a hit from an overpowered Tomura Shigaraki. Every single time, he had gotten back up and sprung back into his work, almost with a newfound confidence he himself didn’t know he had. But this was different. It wasn’t familiar. It was gross and messy and it smelled strong of iron. Medical professionals or backup wouldn’t be there to retrieve them. The stakes were enough to make his heart race.

Amajiki’s eyes fluttered, and he coughed again, blood pooling in the back of his throat. He could feel the aching in his stomach and his chest, and breathing became harder and harder. He didn’t want to die. He wanted nothing more than to keep his eyes open and get back up, get help for Kirishima who was struggling to not gag on his own internal bleeding. Through the aftermath, he had managed to protect him again, using his remaining energy to keep him from dying. He had neglected his own suffering to help someone else.

Red Riot was a true hero. He never shied away from helping other people. But was Suneater, if he couldn’t even help his own partner? If a stupid bullet was enough to prevent him from helping someone else in need?

Take care of yourself. Please. You’re hurt. His thoughts remained in his mouth, and Amajiki couldn’t speak at all anymore. The world around him was beginning to become fuzzy. It was getting harder to focus on anything. He looked towards the ceiling, barely able to see the blurred glimpses of yellow that resembled the distant lights. He wanted so badly to get up, to help Kirishima who was teetering in and out of consciousness. He wanted Fatgum to come with reinforcements, to catch Yumeno, to start the entire night all over again so that no one would be hurt. But there they were, half-dead with only each other and one of them was too weak to help out.

One minute, Amajiki was staring at Kirishima, telepathically pleading with him to help himself and stop his bleeding. But then, Amajiki felt his eyes start to get heavier and heavier, and his body felt like weights were sitting on each one of his limbs. He couldn’t focus anymore., and his eyes shut.

Kirishima watched as his partner slipped away. His heart twinged with fear, but his strength was all up. He wanted to stay awake and keep fighting, to be awake in time for Fatgum to come and help them get out of whatever room they were in, but even the thought of someone coming had fizzled into a lost cause for the two men. 

We’re hopeless, Kirishima thought as his breathing slowed.

“‘Jiki…I think…I think I’m gonna pass out,” Kirishima mumbled slowly, not expecting Amajiki to hear him. His body began to sway, and everything felt frozen. Fatgum’s not coming. Nobody’s coming to help. 

Stay awake, Ejirou.

Kirishima felt his body go limp and his muscles relax.

Don’t pass out. Stay awake.

His eyes closed quicker than he expected them to.

Damn it, Ejirou!

He hit the ground, the cold floor slamming into the side of his face. 

Kirishima was out. The cold air seeped into his body, making him shiver and curl into himself.

He was down. He wouldn’t be getting up again. Internally, he cursed himself over and over again for leaving Amajiki to bleed. For not being stronger. For not being a hero. But the redhead’s last sense to dissipate was his hearing. If he couldn’t see his partner, he at least wanted to hear him breathing. Kirishima listened attentively as the last of his awareness faded away.

The last sounds Kirishima heard were the slow, nasty gurgles that came from Amajiki, signaling that help was never going to come for them.

Not even when they needed it the most.