Eitaro was waiting for them at the front door. When he saw them approaching, he grinned and opened it, stepping aside to let them in first. Kirishima faltered slightly as he stepped over the threshold, for a moment panic setting in until he was able to shove it back down into the pit of his stomach. He was going to do this. He wasn't about to quit now.
The house looked almost exactly the same as he remembered it. The only notable difference he could spot right off the bat was that there were more pictures lining the entryway wall. He recognized Tamiko even though it had been years since he'd seen her. Most of the photos were of her, but he saw some of him and Eitaro too.
He realized he'd been zoned out when voices started to sound from the living area. He tensed up, and suddenly Bakugo was there, placing his hand on the middle of his back. A silent show of support. Kirishima didn't know if he could ever express just how thankful he was for his support.
"We're back!" Eitaro called, hanging up his jacket and starting for the living room.
"Eitaro? Is he here?" A familiar girl's voice asked and then she was there, poking her head around the corner. Kirishima found himself floored by just how much she had grown since they'd last seen each other.
When he'd left home, she was only twelve years old. She'd still been in that awkward stage of life where you weren't quite used to your own limbs. She'd always been kind of awkward on her feet and gawky and far too tall for her age, but now she seemed to have grown into herself. She was still tall, but now she had the curves to balance it out. Her hair was just as straight and jet black as Eitaro's and his own natural color, but it was much longer. She broke into a huge grin when she spotted Kirishima and ran up to wrap her arms around him.
"Eijiro!" She exclaimed, practically buzzing with happiness. "I can't believe it's really you!"
"I-me either!" He laughed, awkwardly hugging her back. "You look different!"
Tamiko pulled back and smiled. "You mean I don't look like a twig anymore?"
"Uh, no, that's not what I-"
She laughed, reaching over to punch him on the arm. "It's cool. I looked like a twig, you can admit it." Her gaze drifted to Bakugo, who was looking more than a little awkward. However, her eyes widened in realization soon after looking him over, and Kirishima rushed to cover her mouth before she could say anything.
Instead, she said her exclamation into his hand, eyes still as wide as saucers. Bakugo was looking everywhere except for at her, his scowl so deep Kirishima worried it might become permanent. When he was sure she wasn't going to scream, he slowly moved his hand away. She pointed at him and stated bluntly, "You're Ground Zero."
Bakugo crossed his arms and met her eyes. "Yeah, and?"
"Ground Zero is in my house." Tamiko turned back to Kirishima and fake whispered to him. "You didn't kidnap him, did you?"
"What? No! Of course not!" Kirishima rubbed at his neck. "He's, uh...a friend of mine. We...worked together."
"Uh huh, okay." She was about to say something else when the rest of the family turned the corner to the entryway. Kirishima's smile faded, and without thinking, he took a small step backwards, towards Bakugo. He felt Bakugo's fingers lightly brush against his wrist, another silent assurance that he was there to offer his support.
"Eijiro," Akio Kirishima, his father greeted.
"Dad," Kirishima greeted back, forcing his voice to remain stable.
"It's...good to see you again." He said. "You dyed your hair."
"Yeah." Kirishima swallowed. The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife, which was probably why Eitaro picked that moment to break the ice. He clapped once, making everybody jump and turn to him.
"Sorry, but there's only one guest bedroom left." Eitaro winked. "The house isn't all that big, you know. There's only two spare rooms and, well, Asami and I-"
"Got it," Kirishima rolled his eyes and hefted his bag. "Well, let's go."
Eitaro nodded and started for the stairs. Kirishima and Bakugo followed him, both boys trying to ignore Akio Kirishima's burning stare on their backs as they went. Everything about the house was familiar to Kirishima, and he wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, there were lots of good memories of this house. He remembered all the holidays and birthdays he'd spent with his family here, happy. But he also remembered all the times his father had done horrible things in the exact same place.
"Here it is," Eitaro announced cheerfully, stopping in front of one of the rooms. It wasn't the room that used to be his, thankfully, and Kirishima imagined that had probably been done on purpose. "This is where the two of you will be staying."
"Thanks, Eitaro." Kirishima smiled as they walked in and set down their bags.
"No problem, Eijiro. Anyways, Kayako is making dinner, and it should be ready within another hour or so. At least, that's what she told us. If you want, you can come back downstairs and chat while we wait. I'm sure Dad would like if you did."
"I'm sure he would." Kirishima was unable to keep the venom from his tone. Eitaro sighed.
"Right. Well, we'll be downstairs if you change your mind." And with that said, he turned and left the room, heading back to the living room with the others.
Bakugo closed the door and pressed his back up against it. "That was downright painful to watch."
Kirishima gave a dry laugh. "You're telling me."
Bakugo scoffed and pushed off of the door, walking over to lay down on the bed and make himself comfortable. he propped his arms behind his head and crossed his ankles. "I'm not gonna interfere in your decision. If you wanna stay, I'll stay and if you wanna leave, we'll leave. It's your choice, Shitty Hair. But if it's any help, your old man did seem like he's changed from what you described to me."
"Yeah, he does." Kirishima sighed, sitting down on the bed right next to Bakugo's leg. "I'll stay for now and see how things go."
They ended up staying in the room until about an hour later, Tamiko knocked on the door to let them know that dinner was ready. The boys got up off of the bed where they'd been scrolling aimlessly through their phones and followed her downstairs to the dining room.
Everyone was already there, seated at the table. Kayako, the woman Akio had married after Kirishima's mother died, was just setting the turkey down in the center of the table when they sat down. Kirishima sat down in between Eitaro and Bakugo, with Tamiko across from him. There was a pretty girl with long, blonde hair sitting next to Eitaro, who Kirishima guessed was Asami. Akio was sitting on the opposite side, an empty chair next to him for Kayako.
"Food looks great, Kayako." Eitaro complimented, clearly still trying to break some of the ice. Kayako smiled as she sat down beside her husband.
"Thank you, Eitaro. I hope it tastes as good as it looks, then."
"Well, let's find out!" Eitaro grinned and started making his plate, which led to everybody else doing the same. The food was passed around the table until everyone had what they wanted and they started eating.
The silence was deafening. The only sounds were the clinking of silverware on the plates as they ate. Kirishima felt like he was going to explode, and the only thing keeping that from happening was Bakugo's hand on his arm. Just before he was about to lose it, Akio cleared his throat and glanced up from his plate.
"So, Eijiro," He started. Kirishima looked over at him. "How did you meet Bakugo?"
"We worked together." He said automatically. "We did a joint project together a few months ago and ended up becoming friends."
Akio nodded. "And...how is your work going? You weren't very specific over the phone."
"It's going well." He said. "I've even started looking into merchandising companies, and I've gotten a lot of sponsorship opportunities as well. I might be able to quit working at the movie store soon if things keep going good."
"I'm glad to hear it." The silence settled back over them like a weight. The rest of the dinner passed in the same awkward fashion, only the occasional small talk there to fill the silence. By the time everyone was finished, Kirishima just wanted to curl up in a blanket and dissolve.
His offer to help with the dishes was turned down by Kayako, who insisted that he was considered a guest and shouldn't have to help with cleanup. It wasn't very late, but he was exhausted after dealing with the awkward disaster that was Christmas Eve dinner, so he chose to skip out on hanging out with Eitaro and Tamiko in the living room and headed back to their room to call it a night. Bakugo followed behind him, sitting down on the bed while Kirishima went to the attached bathroom to get ready for bed.
When he was done showering and had brushed his teeth, he came back out and sat down next to Bakugo, who had been playing some kind of game on his phone. "I don't know if I can take this, Bakugo." He admitted. "We can't even talk to each other."
Bakugo paused his game and sat up. "If he wants to make things right, then he's gotta do it himself. Your only job is to be there to hear it."
"I guess you're right." He yawned. "Doesn't make it any easier, though."
"Anyways, Shitty Hair, I'm gonna go take a shower." He was about to get up but Kirishima grabbed his wrist before he could. "Wait!"
"What?"
Kirishima turned his face away to try and hide the heat spreading across his face. "What are we gonna do about...you know, the sleeping arrangements? I mean, I don't mind making a futon to sleep on the floor, so you can have the be-"
"Quit being so fucking stupid, Shitty Hair." Bakugo pulled his wrist free and rolled his eyes. "We can just share the fucking bed. It's not a big deal."
"Sh-Share the bed? But-"
"Look, it's not like we're fucking, so-"
"Bakugo!"
"Well, we're not, are we?" His face was probably the same color as his hair as he vigorously shook his head. Bakugo shook his head and threw his towel over his shoulder before traipsing into the bathroom. "You're a fucking idiot, Shitty Hair."
Despite his harsh words, Kirishima couldn't help but smile. He knew that Bakugo still liked him, and the feeling was definitely mutual, but he also knew that Bakugo would respect his feelings. But in the meantime, that didn't mean they couldn't have some innocent fun.
Okay, just to clear something up before y'all heathens go crazy, NO THEY DO NOT HAVE SEX AFTER THIS. ALL THEY DID WAS SLEEP IN THE SAME BED. GO GET YOUR HOLY WATER, PEOPLE. Ahem, anyways, we are realllllly close to the end of this book now! I'm planning to make the next chapter wrap everything up, and then I'll be writing an epilogue as well to make it an even 20 parts because ya girl's OCD as fuck. Hope y'all enjoyed! See ya next time!
