Kirishima knocked quietly on the door. No response. He knocked just a little louder, but still, there was nothing. Bakugo hadn't been in class that day, which was so abnormal that, naturally, Kirishima was worried about his best friend and wanted to check to make sure she was okay.

He stood outside the door for a moment of indecision more before laying a hand on the doorknob and turning it quietly, activating his quirk just in case – he'd made that mistake before – as he eased the door open.

The most un-Bakugo-like groan came from the other side of the door as a sliver of the bright hallway light shone into the pitch-black room. It was raspy, quiet, and – dare he even think it? – weak, a complete one-eighty from what he had come to expect from the explosive blonde. He quickly released his quirk, concern building. "Bakubro?" He kept his voice low, matching the frankly alarming volume Bakugo had just used as he opened the door further, stepping into the doorway to see what was going on. Another low groan came from Bakugo's bed, but there was no shuffling or any sign of movement. "Bakubro? You okay?"

Finally, enough light was allowed in the room for Kirishima to see. It fell directly across Bakugo's bed, straight onto her scrunched face. She was somehow cocooned in blankets and splayed out across the bed at the same time, her torso and head elevated by a stack of pillows she had shoved into the corner of the wall. She was half on her back and half on her side, trying to curl up away from the light as much as she could, but Kirishima could see, and it concerned him even more, that it was a half-hearted, energy-lacking attempt.

A slit of one ruby eye was visible for a split second before her eye snapped shut again and she turned her head just a tiny bit further into her pillow with a barely audible, "ow." She took a deeper breath and managed, "In. Door shut," with a weak, raspy voice and a tiny flick of her fingers.

Kirishima immediately did as she asked, stepping fully into the room and closing the door quickly behind him. He had to stop there, though, because he couldn't see a thing. "Dude, okay. That totally answers my question, and you're definitely not okay."

"Mmmh... Be fine soon."

"Not to be contradictory, but it doesn't really sound like that's the case." Kirishima blinked hard to try to get his eyes to adjust faster. There was no edge to her voice… at all. None of her usual anger, no yelling, no front… just exhaustion.

"Mmh-" came the reply again, but this time it was cut short as Bakugo got caught in a fit of deep, painful-sounding coughing.

Kirishima's eyes had now adjusted enough to the near-pitch darkness to be able to maneuver safely over to the other side of the room. Thankfully, Bakugo had stopped coughing, too, at least for now. Knowing that she was lying diagonally across her bed, he found the empty spot next to where he knew her upper body to be and gingerly sat down. Well, he tried to be gentle about it, but he misjudged where the edge of her bed was and bumped into it before he was able to land in the empty space, albeit harder than he had meant to. The jostling pulled a whimper – a whimper? – from the blonde, and Kirishima apologized profusely, his stomach in knots at her unusually vulnerable behavior. His eyes had adjusted more now, so he could see her next to him, her back to him as she curled into her pillow. He reached a hand toward her, careful not to move the bed too much again, and laid it on her forehead, immediately concerned at the amount of heat rolling off her skin. She normally ran warmer than most, he knew, but not this warm.

He couldn't help the tiny smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth and the way his stomach flipped when she sighed and – probably subconsciously – leaned into his hand. He couldn't help stroking her hair with his other hand, either. Until he found her own hand tangled in her messy hair, that was. It was absolutely freezing, and he immediately stopped to take her hand in his, worried yet further at the completely unnatural temperatures his best friend was displaying - her hands were normally really warm because of her quirk, after all.

"Bro, have you seen Recovery Girl?" The sullen silence was all the answer he needed. "Okay, come on. Let's go."

"No… don't wanna move."

"But… dude, you're worrying me. Like, a lot. You're never this quiet. Please?" Another silence met his words, and he knew there was no arguing with her. He sighed heavily. "Alright, fine. Not right now then. But what's wrong? Other than you're sick, 'cause that's obvious."

She sighed. "My head hurts. A lot… like my skull shrank and there's not enough space. Light… is like daggers through my eyes... straight into my brain... I can't breathe through half of my nose right now, and if I lie down right, I can't breathe at all. And-" Another fit of coughing stole the rest of her slow monologue, wracking her whole body. "-that," she whispered when it finally ended, though a couple more coughs escaped her.

Kirishima looked over at the nightstand next to him, seeing a water bottle near the edge, next to a box of tissues. Releasing her hand, he reached over and picked it up, immediately noticing that it was empty. "Do you have any more water in here?"

"…no."

He frowned, thinking. "Hang on a sec. I've got to move, okay?" There was no response, so he pushed off the bed as carefully as he could, trying not to disturb her too much. "I've gotta go down to the kitchen, okay? So that means I have to open the door, but I'll be fast!"

He hadn't expected a response to that, and certainly not the tiny, "okay," that basically told him that she wanted him to come back. He caught himself smiling again as he ducked out of the room, standing outside her door for a minute as his eyes readjusted. He headed down to the kitchen.

For Bakugo to have admitted all of that, she had to have been feeling ten times worse that she made it seem, Kirishima thought. No wonder she's exhausted. He made it down to the kitchen, grabbing a few new water bottles and heading to the cupboard that held different kinds of medicines before he even noticed that a few of his classmates were in the living room, watching him expectantly. "Huh?" he asked, sure he had missed something.

He had. "I said, 'How's Bakugo?' But I guess not good, huh?" Mina said, nodding to the cabinet he was rooting through.

"Yeah, not so good. She's actually really sick, but she doesn't wanna go see Recovery Girl. I can't exactly blame her, I guess, 'cause I wouldn't want to walk all that way either if I was feeling as badly as she is." He found what he was looking for – a pack of cough drops and some decongestants and painkillers – and closed the cabinet.

"Can we help?" Sero asked. Kirishima shook his head.

"Probably not. She seems… open to help, surprisingly, but I wouldn't push it. Maybe tomorrow, if she's better, you guys might come by, but I think it's probably best if it's just me today."

Mina, Sero, and Kaminari all nodded, Mina looking at the other two knowingly. Kirishima didn't pay her any mind, flashing them a parting smile as he took the things he'd gathered back up to Bakugo's room. "I'll see you guys later!"

Soon, he was back outside Bakugo's door. He rapped lightly on it before he opened it, slipping through and shutting it as quickly as he could. He stood still for another minute, his eyes adjusting once again, since he didn't want to hit something else in his temporary blindness. After a little while, he moved, putting the water and medicines on her nightstand. He kept one bottle in his hand, turning to her. "Hey, can you drink some of this?"

A beat passed, then Bakugo slowly shifted, eventually pushing herself into an upright position. Well, more upright, as she was still leaning against all the pillows behind her.

Kirishima met her bleary eyes. "That works," he smiled as he took the lid off the bottle and carefully handed it to her. She took it, hands mostly steady, and took a few sips before just sitting there, looking at him. He had grabbed a few of the cough drops and a couple of pills before he had sat back down on the bed. "Here," he said, offering the pills to her. She took them without much hesitation, then handed the half-full bottle back to him. He frowned a little, having hoped she would have drunk a bit more, but didn't fight her. He screwed the lid back on it, laying it on the bed next to the cough drops. He offered one to her, but she shook her head, eyes drooping though she blinked hard to keep them open.

"Thanks," she croaked. Kirishima smiled.

"You're obviously really tired, bro. You can go back to sleep," he said, watching her eyes droop again. "I can leave. I'll come back later."

"No, stay." Kirishima stopped moving, looking back at her, surprised. There was a hint of embarrassment in her glassy eyes, and she looked down at her hands as she said, "Please?"

Kirishima smiled at her again, scooting back on the bed to sit right next to her. "Of course." She smiled back at him, barely a quirk of her lips, as her head fell on his shoulder, her eyes closing. Kirishima noticed the strange angle her neck was in, knowing she would be hurting when she woke after sleeping like that. "Hey, move a second." She looked at him for a moment before she did, shifting to the side only a little, apparently assuming that it was he who needed to move. He did, pulling himself up a little more against the pillows so that he could help her if she needed it, but as soon as he did, she all but rolled onto him, laying her head on his chest and wrapping an arm around him.

Kirishima froze, his heart thumping wildly and a whole bunch of butterflies flapping around in his stomach. Bakugo was never this touchy. There were times that he wished she were – those times that he couldn't tamp down his feelings toward her and refocus that energy into training – but he had basically accepted that she didn't like him the way he liked her.

And that's what he tried to remind himself now. She was sick, and he knew he couldn't really read too much into her actions. But man, did he want to.

He also mused how he would be more likely to get a straight answer if he asked her now how she felt about him, since she was probably too tired to yell at him. But that felt wrong, too. So he just forced himself to relax and not read anything into… anything. The fact that she had accepted his help. That she had asked him to stay. That she was cuddling with him. That maybe she liked-

No, he told himself. Stop.

A couple of small coughs tore themselves from Bakugo's throat. They were nothing like the deep, worrying ones from before, but they were a welcome distraction from his rambling thoughts. "Hey, Bakubro, do you need-"

"Ka's'ki," she mumbled.

Kirishima's brain short-circuited. "Huh?"

She picked her head up, meeting his wide, surprised eyes. She gave the tiniest smile, repeating herself. "Katsuki."

"Katsuki," Kirishima echoed, the name both foreign on his tongue and completely natural and right. She smiled just a little wider, resting her head back on his chest and sighing.

"Katsuki," he muttered again. "Katsuki." He ran his fingers through her hair subconsciously, his mind going a mile a minute.

No one called her Katsuki. So that had to mean she felt differently about him than about everyone else, right? That he was closer to her? But, he still reminded himself, she was probably not thinking straight. He looked down at her, completely relaxed as she slept. Her long hair, which had been an unkempt mess of tangles before, had been smoothed out under his hand as he thought, fanning out behind her. It was beautiful, he mused. Everything about her was beautiful. He loved seeing this side of her, this side that no one else got to see. He loved knowing this softness existed, even after it was her tough demeanor that initially drew him to her. He loved the passion that pushed her to be number one as much as he loved the cuddly, cute girl that he had just learned existed. He loved how her drive to succeed pushed her past all of her limits and that trying to keep up with her pushed him past his, too. His heart hurt with how much he loved her, and hurt more with the knowledge that she didn't feel the same way.

He forced himself to look away from her, to try to pull his mind somewhere else. He dug his phone out of his pocket – the pocket she was not lying on top of, luckily – and turned it on, lowering the screen's brightness as much as he could and making sure to keep the light from hitting her face. He unlocked his phone and it opened to the last screen he had been using: his text thread to her. It asked where she was, why she wasn't in class, if she was okay, and then said he was going to stop by and check on her as soon as he got back to the dorm before asking her again to respond to him. He knew now why she hadn't responded, knowing that she probably hadn't even seen the messages. But this wasn't helping to not think about her (nor was the weight on his chest that just felt so right even as it crushed him), so he went to find some puzzle app or something to distract him-

A knock on the door did the job, and the person only waited a second before cracking the door open. "Kacchan? Kirishima?" Midoriya's quiet voice asked.

"Ka-Bakugo's asleep," Kirishima replied and Midoriya pushed the door open further, carrying a plate as he entered and automatically closing the door behind him. Kirishima kept his phone lit, aiming it at the ceiling to shed a little light while keeping it dark enough to not hurt Katsuki's eyes.

Midoriya softly walked over to them, taking in the scene as he whispered. "Mina, Sero, and Kaminari said that you hadn't eaten anything since lunch today, since they've been in the living room all afternoon. And since it's past six, I figured you would probably want something. And Kacchan probably hasn't eaten anything all day. So I thought I'd bring you this." He held the plate out to Kirishima, some fish on it next to a small bowl of rice porridge. He took Kirishima's phone from him so Kirishima could take the plate, placing the phone on top of the box of tissues on the nightstand, keeping it above Katsuki's eye level. He grabbed the chair from Katsuki's desk and brought it over to the bed so he could whisper and still be heard. "Mina and them wanted to bring it to you, but I thought Mina and Kaminari would probably be too much energy in here and Kacchan wouldn't want Sero to see her like this, so." He shrugged, looking back at his childhood friend's sleeping face.

Kirishima smiled widely at him, putting the plate down on the bed for now. "Thanks, man. I didn't even realize it got so late. It's been… interesting." He glanced down at Katsuki before looking at Midoriya, who met his gaze.

"I understand. Kacchan is… different… when she's not feeling well. I mean, once she gets past the beginning and starts feeling awful. Before that, she's just a bit more irritable than normal. But you probably noticed that."

"Yeah, but I thought she was just stressed about school or something. I didn't realize she was getting sick. I feel bad that I didn't notice."

"That was kinda her goal, so I don't think you should feel bad about that. You're here now and that's what matters."

Katsuki suddenly shivered and gasped, her eyebrows scrunched as she tensed, her arm tightening around Kirishima and her face buried in his chest. Kirishima knew that wasn't going to help her breathe. He grabbed the edge of the blanket she had mostly discarded earlier and pulled it up over her shoulders, running his hand through her hair again, messing more with the shorter pieces in the front this time, and rubbing her arm with his other hand. Within a few moments, she relaxed, shifting enough that the two boys thought she might have been waking up before sighing and stilling again.

"You're good for her, you know?" Kirishima looked at Midoriya, who was watching Katsuki with a small smile. He looked up at Kirishima, his smile growing. "She's… better with you. I thought, for a long time, that she would never have friends. She had followers, sure, but not friends. I thought I could be that for her, but I know I can't. I'm just so glad that she has you."

"I'm glad to be her friend too, but-" He stopped himself, looking back down at her. Should he say something? Midoriya knew her best out of everyone, so maybe he would have some advice? But what if admitting it out loud make it harder to ignore his feelings and keep being just her friend? He didn't want to lose her, and he certainly didn't want to make it harder to be around her-

"But you like her more than that."

Kirishima's wide eyes whipped back to Midoriya's knowing gaze. "Wh- how- wha-?"

Midoriya laughed, louder than he had been whispering, but Katsuki didn't move. "Kirishima-chan, you try to hide it, but it's so obvious! And it's obvious that you're trying to hide it too!"

Kirishima moved his hand from Katsuki's arm and rubbed his face, flustered. "Really? Oh, man. That's not good. I thought I was hiding it! I don't want to push her away! What do I do?"

Midoriya laughed again. "Honestly? I wouldn't worry about it too much…. She likes you too."

Kirishima froze, eyes wide with shock for the fourth time that afternoon. His mouth moved a couple of times before he could get out a strangled, "What?"

Midoriya was trying to hold in more laughter, but he couldn't. It seemed to be all he could do to keep it quiet. "Oh, man, you really are blind! Of course she does! Do you ever see her do that with anyone else?" He motioned to the two of them as they were. "Or even touching anyone else if it's not to spar?"

"Well- I- but she's sick right now. She's not in control of her-" Midoriya held up a hand to stop him.

"Kacchan is always in control of her actions. Even if she's sick. That might lower her inhibitions, but unless she's delirious – which has only ever been once, and that got really bad – she's not going to do something she doesn't mean to. So no, this," he pointed to Katsuki, "wasn't an accident."

Kirishima was looking at Katsuki with whole new eyes. Then, realizing, he looked back at Midoriya. "She… she told me to call her Katsuki."

Midoriya's smile grew even further into a huge grin. "See? If that isn't proof, I don't know what is."

The boys sat in silence for a few minutes, Kirishima's brain working too fast as he pieced things together and Midoriya grinning as he watched all of the different expressions cross Kirishima's face.

Midoriya chuckled again, standing. Kirishima looked at him questioningly, still dazed. "I should probably go so you can figure everything out," he said, returning the chair to its place at the desk.

"Uh… thanks, man."

"I'm glad to help," Midoriya smiled. "Don't forget to eat. And if Kacchan wakes up soon, try to get her to eat something too."

With that, he left the room, leaving Kirishima alone with his roiling thoughts.

He looked down at Katsuki. "You like me too?" he mused.

"Thought it was obvious," Katsuki rasped, making Kirishima jump at the unexpected reply.

"Wait, how long were you awake?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Was kinda in and out…."

"And you weren't mad that Midoriya was in here?"

Katsuki huffed and shifted a little, tightening her arm around his stomach. "Wasn't worth it. And apparently someone needed to get it through your hair-for-brains."

"Insults? Well, you must be feeling better."

"Mmph. A tiny bit, I guess. Not really. But you deserved it," she said, looking up at him through half-lidded eyes and with a tiny grin pulling at her mouth.

He was about to reply when a coughing fit seized her and she curled up more tightly into herself, withdrawing her arm from around him to cover her mouth. He immediately missed her cuddling into him, but was more concerned when a few seconds passed and she dragged herself upright, her coughing not lessening as she hunched over, tears coming to her eyes as she struggled to breathe. Kirishima sat forward too, worried, but at a loss as to what to do. He put a hand on her back helplessly, reaching for the water bottle at his side. Finally, her coughing slowed enough for him to hand her the water which she drank greedily before leaning her elbows on her knees to catch her breath. She quickly wiped her eyes, her head hanging as she groaned softly.

"You okay?"

A wry chuckle escaped her. "Not really."

Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, that was kinda a stupid question. But hey," he continued, "since you're up now, would you try eating something? For me?" The face she made at the mention of food lessened a little by the time he finished speaking, so he took it as a win.

"I guess." She scooted back to lean against the pillows as he picked up the plate Midoriya had left. He sat next to her, offering her the bowl as he started eating his own food. They ate in silence, Kirishima digging in with gusto upon realizing how hungry he was and Katsuki picking at the porridge more than eating it, but she did take a few bites. When she had finished about half of her small meal, she placed her bowl heavily back on the plate and her head fell back on his shoulder, her energy spent.

Kirishima couldn't hold back his smile as he thought about the fact that Katsuki – Katsuki – liked him back. He looked down at the fluffy blonde head resting on his shoulder, setting the plate down. He reached over, running his hand through the hair by her face. "Hey," he said softly, shyly, and as she lifted her head to look at him curiously, he turned, cupping her face in his hands. A spark of fire relit in her tired eyes as he gazed into them. She quirked an eyebrow – a challenge? – and a cold hand came to rest on his. "I-" He cleared his throat, nervous. "I've been wanting to do this for a long time now," he said, eyes dropping to her lips as she fought the smile pulling at them.

"You'll get sick, too," Katsuki murmured.

"I probably will already. Besides, we're both going to go see Recovery Girl tomorrow," Kirishima replied distractedly.

"So what are you waiting for, then?" His eyes flicked back to hers, alight with mischief now. "Coward."

His eyes widened, and before he had time to react, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to her. Even though her grip had nowhere near her normal strength, they came crashing together as if they were magnetized.

It was the most amazing kiss. It was like her quirk had somehow gotten inside his brain, but it was the best feeling he could imagine. He wished the explosions and the sparks – everything that was just her – would never stop.

She pulled away relatively quickly, needing the air her congested nose wouldn't allow her, but leaned her forehead on his, smiling openly now. Her hands had come to rest on the back of his neck sometime during the kiss, now getting slightly heavier as she fought the exhaustion taking her back over. Kirishima grinned widely – there was no stopping it, and he didn't want to anyway. He pecked her lips, not wanting the moment to be over, and she returned it before ducking her head and leaning back against his chest. He turned back against the wall, hoping to make her more comfortable, his hand running through her hair again. As she settled, he looked down at her, her eyes closed and the smiles not having left either of them as she muttered, "Coward."

A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while since I was on here, huh? I was pretty sick recently, so this story popped into my head. I've read through it so many times (which is actually not normal for me) because I've never felt that I'm good at any sort of romance writing, even the little tiny, itsy-bitsy bit of it in this piece. So if anyone has feedback or critiques (keep them nice, please? I've been getting a lot of mean comments on some stuff recently), I really would appreciate it!

Also: I know the foods that I used are not Japanese. I dont know what I could put in place of them, so any suggestions there would be welcome too! (Edit: I changed these, so hopefully they're more accurate now!)

Last thing: I feel kinda weird asking this, since I usually don't (and since I'm rather insecure about this piece specifically), but if anyone is so inclined as to make any fanart of this piece, I would actually really *love* to see it!

Okay, I'm done now, promise. Sorry for the long A/N!

~Mirnava