Ever since discovering his quirk at the tender age of three, Eijiro absolutely has been enthralled with superheros- specifically Crimson Riot. His chivalrous spirit promoting manliness, honesty, loyalty and strength had lit a fire in young Eijiro's heart and inspired him to be the best that he can.
After being accepted into UA, Eijiro has taken it upon himself to continue living up to his hero's teachings. He's never one to leave his fellow students behind and strives to spread smiles and happiness through his actions. Naturally, it pulls at his heartstrings to see one of his best friends to go through such a rough time.
Eijiro also understands that jumping into action without a plan would be about as smart as walking into a dragon's den equipped with nothing but a foam sword. His explosive friend would have no quells in blasting any of their classmates to smithereens if they tried to hold an intervention. Of which Midoriya is trying to plan. Out of good intentions of course; but, when it comes to Midoriya, Bakugo's already short fuse seems to ignite in .02 milliseconds.
"I- I just never seen Kacchan like this before, it really has me worried for him." Most of class 1-A lounge in the quiet living room. Midoriya is in the middle of the sofa, squashed between Uraraka and Iida, parallel to Eijiro and his best bros- Sero and Kaminari. Even the ever elusive Todoroki is leaning on the back of Midoriya's sofa listening intently.
"I mean, have you seen him lately?" Midoriya nervously looks down and starts to fiddle with his fingers.
"Yeah, yeah we've all seen how poor Aizawa Junior has been." Ashido laughs out loud as she plops down on the arm of the sofa. Kaminari lazily hands the phone to her.
"Here's your phone back. Stop using me just for my quirk dammit. I have feelings too!"
"Mhmm, thanks Pikachu!" She leaps away from Kaminari as he tries to playfully shove her off the sofa.
"Too slow!" She dashes up to the elevator and sticks her tongue out at Iida who reminds her not to run after they just cleaned up so she wouldn't slip and get hurt.
"I agree with Midoriya. We need to do something to help him, at the rate he's going. I'm worried he's just going to crash and burn before the end of the term. Ribbit." Asui doesn't look up from the book she's reading but taps her mouth thoughtfully, "However, we all know that he won't accept help from us."
"Asu... Tsuyu do you have any ideas?"
"It would probably be for the best if just one of us talks to him. Maybe that's all he needs is a friend to talk to." Midoriya jumps up, startling Uraraka who had dozed off.
"Wha-?!"
"Oh, sorry Uraraka. I think that's a really good idea! I've known Kacchan the longest-" Eijiro also stands up and shakes his head.
"Midoriya, buddy... bro. I don't think it should be you. There's just something about your face that he just, I dunno, wants to punch? Kinda weird since you both are childhood friends and all. Buuut anyway! I'll go and talk to him!"
Midoriya cocks his head to the side and raises an eyebrow.
"Are you sure Kirishima? Um, like I've said, I've known him the longest and maybe... I could understand him better?" Kaminari barks out a laugh and slaps his knee.
"Damn Midoriya. It's like you're asking for your face to get blown off or sumthin'. Look, let Kirishima handle it, yeah? He got that hardening quirk so he couldn't get blown up no matter how hard Mr. Explosion tries. It's a win-win for all of us! We get to sleep safely in our beds for another night and even if Bakugo doesn't talk to Kirishima and explodes, at least he'll blow off some steam instead." the other classmates nod eagerly with Kaminari's counterargument and Eijiro's heart swells up with pride. He has a mission that he won't back down on, Mission: Saving Bakugo.
So here he is, one night later in Bakugo's room. In the dark. He's never one to admit it because it goes against his own firm beliefs, but Eijiro hates being in the dark. It's not at all like he's scared of the dark per say but more of the unknown lurking in the dark- hidden from sight and mind. He's gotta give Tokoyami props for embracing the dark though- or revelry in the dark as he likes to say.
Eijiro hears a noise and whips his head around, trying to locate the source of the noise. The hell was that? No way this place is haunted, s'like only a month old! He hears it again and freezes, positive that whatever is in here can hear the thunderous pounds of his heartbeat.
"Fuck off, ma," A gruff voice grumbles to his right and Eijiro has to stifle a giggle. "Get outta here, can't ya see me cookin' here?!" Holy shit! Bakugo talks in his sleep? He hears the sound again and after he's calmed down, he realizes that it was only Bakugo restlessly shifting around in his bed. Of course it would just be him moving around! I can't believe I almost had a heart attack over nothing! Boy, I'm so glad Kaminari wasn't here to see that. I'd never live that down! Eijiro goes back to his phone, trying his hardest to stay quiet.
"Wuz that? Ya think you're better than me?! We'll see about that, punk!" Eijiro pays him no mind until a few quiet moments later Bakugo bursts up from bed screaming "die!" at whoever he's fighting in his dream. After almost having his second heart attack of the night, Eijiro decides that Bakugo will be okay without him in the room for the rest of the night. He takes a peek at his phone's clock and sees that it's already nearly two in the morning.
He pushes off from the chair as quiet as a mouse and creeps over to the door, taking one more glance at his sleeping friend who had settled down after his outburst. He'll be fine. If anything happens, I'm right next door anyway!
Crawling into his own bed, he wraps himself into a blanket burrito. In order for Eijiro to be able to fall asleep, he needs three things. His room to be near freezing cold, to be wrapped up in as many soft and warm blankets as possible, and thirdly, to have the light in his bathroom on. The warm light casts soft shadows across his room as he snuggles down into his downy pillow. Hearing the occasional shout from his sleeping neighbor, Eijiro quickly falls asleep with a small smile.
Eijiro wakes up before the sunrise. As long as he could remember, his parents and him would always get up before dawn and go to the nearest park to watch the sunrise. He supposes old habits die hard as he makes his way up to the roof of the dorm building. This time however, he brings some dumbbells with. Might as well get some exercise in, gotta kill two birds with one stone.
The cool September wind swirls around playfully, tousling Eijiro's hair. Despite coming up to the roof every morning to watch the sunrise, he will never be able to get over the breathtaking view that his spot has to offer. With UA already being set on top of a hill, surrounded by nothing but forest there's probably no other place that offers a view like this. The leaves have began to change color earlier in the month and all below him stand the fiery hues of oranges, reds and yellows.
Still a little too early for the sunrise, Eijiro plugs in his headphones and begins to stretch. Letting his tired mind wander back to last night. He's still not quite sure on how else to help out his bro. He bites his lip on accident and silently curses to himself that sometimes, his teeth are just a little too sharp.
A sudden tap on his shoulder startles him, ripping out his headphones- he turns around quickly.
"Oh, sorry, did I scare you?" Midoriya stands sheepishly behind him, scratching the back of his head and offers him a smile.
"Dude! Not cool!"
"Haha, sorry sorry," Midoriya pauses and stares down at the forest, "Did you talk to Kacchan?" Eijiro sighs and rolls back his shoulders.
"I mean, kinda? Y'know how he is. He let me stay in the room though so he could get some sleep."
"Really? Wow, I mean that is saying a lot coming from Kacchan." Eijiro doesn't really say anything but focuses on the horizon.
"I knew that it would work."
"What would work, Kirishima?" He glances down at Midoriya and gives him a confident smile.
"When I was young, I always had nightmares. Nothing would help me except for my mom being in the room with me and she would just softly sing until I fell asleep." He pauses before quickly adding, "I mean, I didn't sing Bakugo to sleep haha."
"No, I get what you mean." The small teen next to him chuckles and shakes his head.
"You know it's a lot different seeing the sunrise from up here." He motions at the rising sun, "I usually always jog at this time but man, Kirishima, this is a damn good place to watch the sunrise." The two watch for a quiet moment as the sky is bathed in soft purples and pinks, the clouds turn a dusty gold from reflecting off the sun.
"Yeah. It really is."
"Imma win this time, mark my words Pinky!"
"Come at me then, bro! I can kick all your asses in my sleep!" Ashido yells out as she flings Sero's character off the screen. Kirishima smashes the buttons in hopes of beating the feared overlord of Super Smash Bros and to finally end the tyranny of Ashido once and for all. Now it was only down to Ashido and her Kirby and Eijiro's King Dedede. Kaminari and Sero shout in Eijiro's ears.
"Kick her ass! Avenge us!" Finally! I'm going to beat her! His hands harden in excitement and ignores the strain of the Wii U remote.
"Ya, spikey hair." The new voice breaks his focus and with an evil cackle, Ashido releases her ultimate move and absolutely destroys poor King Dedede. Both boys on either side of him let out a wail in agony and demand a rematch with her. Eijiro sees Bakugo leaning against the wall with a ghost of a smirk playing upon his lips.
"You did that on purpose!" The blond rolls his eyes.
"As if I have room to care about some stupid ass game," He huffs out, "I need to talk to you." His other three friends seem not to hear as they're still bickering on the character selection screen.
Bakugo and Eijiro make their way up to the fourth floor. Stopping abruptly, Bakugo stands expectantly in front of Eijiro's own room impatiently.
"Well? If you get to just up and fucking barge in my room, you might as well see how it feels too."
"Uh, yeah that's fine. It's unlocked." Bakugo opens the door and makes himself at home on Eijiro's bed. He takes a look around the room and snorts.
"The hell is with your room?"
"Hey! It's very manly!"
"If you say so." Eijiro sits down opposite of him, in his desk chair.
"How're you feeling, Bakugo?" Bakugo dismisses him with a wave of his hand.
"Yeah, I don't wanna talk 'bout that." He glares out of the window, his thin eyebrows knitting together- drawing a shadow over his sharp red eyes, "I mean, I guess I do gotta talk 'bout it huh? Ugh, stop looking at me jesus. Just look somewhere else okay? Okay." Eijiro turns his chair around and studies the clock ticking above his desk. He hears the irritated drumming of Bakugo's fingers against his headboard.
"I don't know what the fuck you did last night but whatever the hell it was- it worked. I swear, if you say that it was from the power of friendship or some lame shit like that; I'm outta here." Holy shit, is he trying to thank me? "I just gotta say that if you tell anyone about this..." Bakugo trails off. "It's bad 'nough they already know I got nightmares. No need for 'em to fucking know that I gotta have you in the room or some shit for me to sleep. Man, that sounds so fucking stupid now that I say that out loud. Dammit." Well, guess it's best not to let him know that Midoriya knows then.
The bedsprings squeak as Bakugo stands up suddenly.
"This shit is so damn stupid. What am I? Some sort of school kid whip? This is just so fucking frustrating. I try so damn hard and what happens? I'm just stuck with these nightmares. Like seriously?!" As he ends the sentence, he finishes it off with an angry shout.
"This shouldn't even be a problem for me! I'm going to be number one! I don't have time for some worthless nightmares." He continues to vent and before Eijiro can stop himself, he stands up and clasps his hands on Bakugo's tense shoulders.
"Bakugo! Dammit, listen to me."
"Get offa me punk, wanna die?" Bakugo makes no movement to shake him off but just glowers into Eijiro's soul.
"Bro, you went through a lot of shit. It's normal to have nightmares. It'll be okay."
"I didn't come here to get some motivational speech from you." Eijiro takes a step back, crosses his arms and studies the irritated blond in front of him.
"Okay, so then why are you here?" Bakugo lets out a puff of exasperation and plops back down on the bed.
"To make a proposition, dumbass." Eijiro says nothing and instead sits back down on his chair, waiting for him to continue. "You keep doing whatever the hell you do so I can actually get some sort of fuckin' sleep and in return I'll tutor you." Eijiro feels his grin spread and he jumps up to his feet.
"Wait- really?! Holy shit! Deal bro!"
For the next few weeks, the two teens fall into a routine. After classes, Bakugo tutors to Eijiro as much as his patience can handle and after Eijiro's nightly work out, he makes his way to Bakugo's room to just chill for a few hours until Bakugo is long knocked out.
Eijiro leans back against the wall and beams up at his friend.
"Bro! I actually got a good grade on that test! You're the best!" Bakugo snorts.
"Damn right I'm the best. Now shuddup, I'm trying to get some shut eye."
Eijiro himself is about to fall asleep when he hears a startled shout from the bed above him. Eijiro jumps to his feet. This has never happened with me in the room before!
"Bakugo!" The boy thrashes in his sleep and a series of pops and crackles warn that there's going to be an incoming of fire. "Bakugo, wake up!" There's no time to gently wake him up, he's going to set the whole building on fire! Fire starts to dance upon Bakugo's palms, licking up and down his fingers. The bed sheets start to smolder and the smell of burning fabric fills the air.
Eijiro activates his own quirk and jumps onto the bed and shakes Bakugo's shoulders gently, but hard enough for him to start to wake up. Relief floods Eijiro's heart as Bakugo's eyes shoot open. The fear in his eyes instills a feeling of dread that shakes the core of Eijiro; Bakugo quickly reaches up and grabs Eijiro in a tight hug. Oh my god, I've never seen him scared before. This is bad, real bad. He's never been this close to Bakugo before. The smell of smoke still hangs in the air but Eijiro is still able to smell the spice of Bakugo's shampoo. A soft blend of cinnamon, cloves and he thinks ginger?
"Baku-" The strong arms around him tighten and he hears a sob.
"I actually died- I never died before. Fuck, it was so goddamn real," both of them stay quiet for a few seconds before Bakugo pushes Eijiro away. Bakugo sits up, clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles turn white. Eijiro puts a tentative hand on his arm.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Bakugo drops his head and shakes it tiredly.
"No. Nothing is fucking okay. And no, I'm not gonna fucking talk about it." He looks over at Eijiro and frowns, "Did I burn you?"
"Nah, bro. I'm fine." Is he worrying about me? Eijiro doesn't know what to say and clears his throat.
"Do... you want to try to go back to sleep?"
"Fuck no! I don't wanna go to sleep for the rest of my life. Fuck that shit." They sit in uncomfortable silence for what seems to be the longest time.
"I need to clear my mind." Bakugo swings his feet over the bed and throws on sweatpants over his shorts and heads out the door.
Kirishima looks down at his hands before getting up and trudging to his own room.
"I failed." He mutters to no one in particular as he shuts the door gently behind him and for once, letting the darkness envelope him.
The next day Eijiro stays locked up in his room, researching on how to help someone get over nightmares. He knows that seeing someone might help, but the day that Bakugo agrees to see a doctor will be the day that hell freezes over. He frowns at some of the advice he sees like: "Get more sunlight and take essential oils, they always work!" or "Get a dreamcatcher!" However, some websites do seem to give somewhat helpful information. "Try to reduce stress!" Eijiro runs a hand through his hair, since it's Sunday and there's no class today- he didn't even bother to spike it when he got up this morning.
"Reduce stress? I don't know if that's even possible for him. Dude's a walking ball of fury. Not exactly peaceful." Muttering to himself, he doesn't notice the door slide open.
"You're starting to sound like fucking Deku over there. I can hear you through the damn wall." Eijiro jumps in his seat, a string of words catches his eyes before slamming his laptop shut.
"Bakugo! Where have you been?! I looked all over for you this morning." He shrugs and glares down at his feet.
"Told you, had to clear my damn head."
"Well... Did it work?" Bakugo shuffles in the room and flops down on the bed, not saying anything for a while before shaking his head.
"They were just so fucking close that time. It's like with every damn nightmare they get closer and closer. Until they... actually fucking killed me I couldn't even do anything. I couldn't even move. Fucking hell. I can still feel the pain." He absently rubs his hand on his chest and grimaces, "The hell is wrong with me?" Bakugo's hand reaches up towards the ceiling and slowly closes and drops down over his eyes, "These damn headaches don't help worth shit either."
"Do you want me to get something for that? I bet Iida got something for headaches!"
"Nah, just stay there. I don't even wanna move. I'm so exhausted." "Be there for them, comfort them. That's all you can really do sometimes." That line whispers to him and he claps his hands together.
"There might be something that will help." Bakugo doesn't even move, he just snorts.
"I don' think anything will help Kirishima." He said my name again.
"Okay, like it might sound weird but you gotta listen. Let me lay down with you." At this Bakugo wearily props himself on the bed and gives him a questioning look.
"And how in the hell would that help?" Eijiro leans back in his chair and sighs, he can feel his face grow warm.
"Because maybe you just- I dunno, need a comforting presence?"
"Are you comforting?" Eijiro gets up.
"Well, I guess I could always get Midori-"
"Don't even finish that name dammit," Bakugo sighs, "Sure. Fine. Fucking whatever. Not like I got anything to lose anymore. Just remember if you tell anyone-" Eijiro waves him off.
"I know, you'll burn everything and everyone I love and hold dearly." Bakugo tiredly shoots a finger gun at him. What is he even doing?
"Bingo." Eijiro climbs into his bed and Bakugo reluctantly slides over to make room on the small bed for him. Eijiro chuckles under his breath.
"Nothing weird with two bros taking a nap at ten in the morning yeah?" Bakugo rolls over on his side, his back facing Eijiro.
"Shuddup before ya do make it weird. Damn punk." Eijiro stares up at the ceiling trying to calm down his ever beating heart. Why am I feeling so nervous? Oh, probably because there's a chance I'll wake up and fire will be everywhere. Slowly oh so slowly his eyes close and nods off in a dreamless sleep.
"Ya." A sharp elbow pokes him in the ribs and he automatically activates his quirk.
"Who's there?!" Another jab to the ribs.
"It's me, you're hogging all the damn blankets and it's cold as shit in here. Stop being a blanket hog." A warm blush creeps across his face and he untucks his blanket burrito for Bakugo.
"Oh, right. Sorry."
"Whatever asshole." Bakugo pulls the blankets up to his chin and his breathing become slow and relaxed. Once again does Eijiro find himself lulled quietly off to sleep. This time with a dream.
Author's Note
I thought I would get done with this chapter earlier but I got distracted by YouTube videos... Also, I'm not sure why, but I can totally see Kirishima playing as King Dedede? Also, time to be honest. I've never even played Super Smash Bros but it seemed like something the gang would play together. I actually have a lotion that has that smell, I really like it. It's called... Fire lol. Smells so good though. After writing this chapter I'm just imagining Bakugo speaking with a New York accent. Just kinda fits him? Anyway, that's all I really have to add for now. If there's any pairings you want incorporated in here feel free to let me know, I'm pretty lax with writing with more ships. Well, until then. Fairwinds. It's finally off to sleepland for me.
If you see any asterisks anywhere, I'm sorry. I work off of two computers and I use an online program to write everything but it doesn't have an italic feature so I put asterisks to mark where italics are needed. I reread the chapters a few times but I still might miss a couple here or there once in a while. Just let me know if you see any and I'll fix it up!