Kirishima sat slumped against a faded brown couch in the center of an 800 square foot apartment. Although he had a roommate, he was currently alone, flipping aimlessly through channels on their small television. It wasn't a fancy place. There were two small bedrooms, a living room, and a small kitchen area with a couple of bar stools against one of the counters. Working your way up in the pro hero world wasn't always glamorous, he had found out,

It had been five years since Kirishima's high school graduation from the prestigious U.A. Academy. He had spent the last several years working as a sidekick next to a pro whose quirk made for weak defenses; that's where Kirishima came in. It wasn't until recently that he had been picked up by one of the middle-tier hero agencies to branch out on his own as a pro, but it was finally happening. His dream was becoming a reality, even without a "showy" quirk.

The channels continued to flicker past with the pace of Kirishima's finger pressing on the remote. He thought as he flipped through, 'Comedy, romance, comedy, news, news, wait a minute...'

He stopped on one of the country's most prominent news channels, seeing a familiar blonde head of spikey hair. He listened intently to the newscast, failing to notice the sound of his roommate entering the apartment and rummaging through the fridge.

The bright blue haired woman reported, "Pro hero Ground Zero has made an impressive arrest of an especially elusive group of villains. These villains have caused a number of concerning events all across the nation, but proved to be exceptional when it came to escapes and under the radar movement. Never failing to impress us all, even with his aggressive demeanor, Ground Zero has succeeded once again." A quiet, annoyed man, Ground Zero, glanced at the camera before Kirishima slammed on the button to turn it off. He sighed, laying his head into his hands.

"You know, man, you'll have to get used to seeing him eventually. He just keeps getting higher on the hero ranks. The press loves him, all brooding and mysterious."

Kirishima jumped at his friends and comment, as he still hadn't noticed his presence before then. "Hey Kaminari. Yeah, he's definitely making a name for himself, isn't he? It's great!" He gave a half hearted grin.

"Don't pull that 'I'm super happy for him' bullshit on me, Kirishima." Kaminari plopped next to the red head and started slurping on an orange soda. "I mean, you could just call him. I don't think letting your heart stop every time you see him on TV is helping anyone."

"No. And damnit, Kaminari, my heart doesn't STOP when I see him. You're always making it sound like something bigger than it is. We were friends and I didn't want to prevent him for staying focused on his goal. We just needed to go our separate ways. I didn't need to get in his way..."

Kaminari peered at Kirishima over his soda can in the midst of a sip. Kirishima hated when he gave him that look. That look of KNOWING. He had never told Kaminari the full reason why he had cut ties with Bakugou upon their graduation. He had never told anyone. Saying it out loud would just make everything feel worse, hurt him deeper.

"So, What, five years later and you still have to hang on to some dumb chivalrous reason why you can't be friends with the guy?"

Kirishima began to open his mouth to respond, but was cut off by his phone started going off with a signature ringtone that meant his agency was calling. It was a recording of him saying "hero time!"

"Good god, Kirishima, that is literally the worst ringtone I've ever heard. Who makes a ringtone of THEMSELVES? I think my ears are bleeding."

Kirishima gave Kaminari a sufficiently annoyed glare before picking up the call. After a quick conversation with his manager, he was off to his assignment.

In these moments, he wasn't 23 year old Kirishima Eijiro. In these moments, he was Red Riot, a hero who refused to back down. He was strong. Unbreakable. He had just taken down a low level villain with a dangerous quirk that allowed him to shoot out gasoline and create sparks to ignite it. It had been a tough fight, leaving the red head with a number of burns on his rough skin. He had come out on top, however, having a quirk of his own well suited for this type of foe.

Kirishima was busy tying up the unconscious villain so the police could remove him to prison when a voice he hadn't heard in person in nearly five years made his heart stop. It was just like Kaminari had accused, those heart stopping moments. A number of fires had broken out because of the villain's quirk. It was dark, almost 10 at night. The tall buildings of the city created dark shapes dancing through the rising smoke. The fire department diligently worked to put them out. All of this, the dancing light of the flickering flames, the crackling of the searing smoke and sparks, made the moment the voice touched his ears seem that much more climactic. Like he had been waiting for this his entire life.

"You didn't totally suck at that, shitty hair." Bakugou Katsuki, Ground Zero, yelled out.

He was standing on a nearby mountain of rubble from the fight. Kirishima could hardly believe his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. For a few heartbeats, he refused to look up, lest it turn out it truly was a dream. He finished tying the villain up, working carefully to ensure the knot was tight. His heart began to pound.

"You're just going to fucking ignore me?" Bakugou called again. He hopped down from the rubble, hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face. Kirishima thought it was a little funny to hear such familiar speech from the man. On the news, he was always silent but in truth, he clearly hadn't changed. He just knew how to keep up appearances to the public. Brooding and mysterious, like Kaminari had said.

Another minute passed and Kirishima realized he still hadn't responded. He finally decided to indulge himself. He slowly lifted his head, allowing his eyes to meet the angry blonde's. Those angry red eyes he had once seen every day.

"Hey man..." he muttered. "Didn't know you were in town..."

Bakugou looked curiously back at him. "Yeah, my agency sent me out this way to raid a hideout for some villains we'd been after." Tiny explosions danced on Bakugou's hands before he clenched them into fists. "They didn't stand a chance."

The cocky, sadistic grin that once was a staple of Kirishima's day played on Bakugou's face. "I'm glad you're doing well, man, seriously... you're already in the top five heroes. Pretty impressive especially when you consider how quiet you always are on TV." Kirishima smiled.

"Fuck you, I'm a gem."

"Sure, man."

The two stood there, not saying anything while the police finally arrived to remove the villain. Kirishima finally spoke up. "Well, i should get home. Good seeing you though... Bakugou..." it was tough to get the name out. Kirishima turned, heading away from Bakugou,

"The fuck?" The reply was incredulous.

"What?" Kirishima turned, surprised.

"Come grab something to eat with me, dumbass. It's been five years." It wasn't a request. Kirishima was glad it wasn't. If it had been a question, an invitation, he might have been able to convince himself to say no. A command took away this option. Bakugou wanted to catch up with him. Excitement bubbled up inside of him. Kirishima felt incredibly happy and grateful to know Bakugou still thought of him as someone worth spending his time on. Would his heart ever stop pounding like this?

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure!"

'What am I thinking?' Kirishima mused as the walked along together, him following a beat behind Bakugou. 'I shouldn't even be doing this. I don't know if I can sit across from him and not want to go back... change everything... I can't forget...' Kirishima felt hyper aware of everything. The blood pumping through his veins. The muffled thump of his pulse in his ears. The warmth of his cheeks.

They walked just a few blocks away from the scene. They arrived at a late night bar frequently visited by other heroes and found a booth by the front window. They waited for their server. Kirishima kept stealing glances at the blonde sitting across from him, who had his chin on his hand and was scowling out the window.

"I see you on TV sometimes." Bakugou stated flatly.

Kirishima knew he had to act like himself no matter how fast his heart was beating. He had to be happy, outgoing Kirishima. Bakugou could smell fake bullshit from a mile away. He had to be good at this. "Yeah! I finally got to break away from being a sidekick this year!"

"I know." The reply was quick. Quicker than it should have been. Did Bakugou follow Kirishima's activity closely? Did he care enough to know what he was up to even after so long? He coughed, trying to steer his thoughts back to normal conversation. 'Have to stay focused.' He thought.

"I live not too far from here. It's a decent city. Mostly small time villains. This guy was actually pretty bad for what we normally see." Kirishima gestured back towards the area they had just left, referring to his recent capture.

"I watched the whole thing. You almost got your ass handed to you a few times."

Kirishima scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Yeah, I was a little overtired tonight. Not at the top of my game. Honestly, my roommate had a girl over last night and I, uh, couldn't sleep for obvious reasons." He cringed a little, remembering the sounds that carried through the thin walls.

"Roommate?" Bakugou turned away from scowling at the window to face Kirishima. His brows were still pulled together, looking annoyed. For some reason, he looked even more annoyed, Kirishima noticed.

"Yeah, Kaminari and I live together. I mean, eventually I'd like to get my own place, but until I become more prominent that just isn't going to happen. Sidekick pay is a joke so I was never able to save up much before now..." Kirishima thought he was doing pretty well at this whole "acting normal" thing. Talking about the city he lived in, his roommate, finances, job, totally normal.

"So you stay friends with that idiot and cut me off like some piece of shit?"

Kirishima wasn't sure it would be possible to have a normal conversation now.