A/N: originally posted on ao3, 5/30/2021, under the username ladybug114. Title is from "Neptune" by Sleeping At Last. The first section takes place after the Two Heroes movie, the second takes place during the provisional licensing exam, and the rest follow chronologically after that, with the final section taking place at some point after the Overhaul arc. Please review if you enjoy!
1.
After they watched All Might, the professor, Melissa, and Midoriya get carted off by medical officials, after they made sure all their friends were still alive, after they gave statements to the police, after they finally, finally, made it back to their room, Bakugo looked at the floor and muttered, "Don't do that again."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kirishima look up from his phone and blink at him. "Don't do what again?"
"Don't," Bakugo started, and then he stopped, closing his eyes. He hated this. He hated expressing himself like this, but he needed Kirishima to listen to him. "Don't take a hit for me like that. You could've gotten hurt, dumbass."
Kirishima chuckled. "Bakugo, taking a hit is… kind of what I'm good for."
Bakugo whipped his head around to look at him so quickly that it hurt. "What the hell did you just say?"
"Hey, hey," Kirishima said, holding his hands up in a mock surrender and smiling sheepishly. "Calm down, dude. I'm just being honest here. That guy hit me and I was fine. If he had gotten you or Todoroki instead…"
Growling, Bakugo turned his gaze back to the floor. "It was still stupid," he muttered. "Your quirk doesn't make you invincible."
"Really, dude, I'm glad you're worried about me, but I'll be okay," Kirishima said, that stupid grin still on his face, and Bakugo snapped.
"I'm not worried," he spat, looking at him again. "I just don't want you to fucking die for me, shitty hair."
Finally, Kirishima's smile slipped. "I'll be more careful," he said, softly. "But you can't stop me from wanting to protect you."
Bakugo scoffed, flopped onto his bed, and didn't speak to Kirishima again that night.
2.
They were standing in the waiting room, watching their classmates try to finish the first part of the licensing exam, when Bakugo stalked over to Kirishima and shoved him against a wall, not quite hard enough to hurt.
"Woah, hey," Kirishima said, his eyes wide. "What's the issue, man?"
"I told you not to do that again," Bakugo growled, low, so that only Kirishima could hear him.
Kirishima tilted his head, confused. "Do what again?"
"You pushed me out of the way," Bakugo answered, narrowing his eyes. "I told you not to take the hit for me."
"Ah," Kirishima said, smiling slightly and rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess you did say that."
"Then why the hell did you do it?" Bakugo asked, almost shouting now.
Kirishima sighed, leaning against the wall and lowering his gaze, away from Bakugo's face. "I got scared, man."
Bakugo blinked, taken aback. "That doesn't make any fucking sense," he said. "If you were scared, why'd you get in the way?"
"Gah, no," Kirishima said, tugging at his hair in frustration. "That's not… I wasn't scared for me."
Bakugo just stared at him, not understanding, waiting for an explanation.
"I was scared for you, okay?" he finally said, dropping his hands and looking at Bakugo with something like desperation in his eyes. "We didn't know what his quirk was, and it was coming right at you, and… and I got scared."
"Hey," came a voice from behind them, and Bakugo groaned. Kaminari. "You guys okay over there?"
Kirishima mustered up a smile and held up a thumbs-up over Bakugo's shoulder, and apparently that was enough, because after a moment he turned back, the smile falling. "Listen, Bakugo, I'm sorry, but I can't… I can't promise that I won't do it again."
Bakugo's fists clenched at his sides. There was more he wanted to say, more arguments he wanted to make, but his brain couldn't find the words. "Don't blame me if it gets you killed," he finally muttered, and then he stalked off without another word.
3.
"This should be a simple exercise, one that might feel similar to the provisional licensing exam," said Mr. Aizawa, standing in front of them in one of the many training gyms on UA's campus. "You've each been randomly assigned a partner. You and your partner each have a target. Your goal is to protect both targets, while taking out as many others as you can. Watch each other's back- if even one of you loses a target, both of you are eliminated. Make sense?"
The class chorused an affirmation, and Bakugo grumbled but kept his mouth shut. Exercises like this felt stupid, but he was starting to figure out that they had some value, at least.
Even if the only value was kicking his classmates' asses.
"We totally got this," said Kirishima, cutting into Bakugo's thoughts with a bright grin and a thumbs up.
"Tch," Bakugo scoffed, turning his head away from Kirishima to look at the other groupings scattering around the gym. Todoroki was paired with Asui, and Deku was paired with Kaminari, which just didn't seem fair.
"Um, hey," Kirishima said, waving a hand in front of his face. "Shouldn't we make a plan or something?"
Bakugo opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment Aizawa blandly said, "Begin," and chaos broke out.
"Fuck," Bakugo muttered, grabbing Kirishima by the arm and blasting into the air, just in time to avoid a strike from Dark Shadow, ignoring Kirishima's yelp of surprise. "We need to keep moving," he said, landing on the ground and immediately dancing out of the way of Asui's tongue.
"Yeah, got it," Kirishima responded, dashing after him and weaving around obstacles. He yelped again, narrowly avoiding a shot of acid from Ashido, and shouted, "Mr. Aizawa, shouldn't there be some rules here?"
"Don't kill each other," Mr. Aizawa responded, and Bakugo rolled his eyes.
"Let's move, shitty hair," he growled, grabbing Kirishima's arm again and blasting into the air, an instant before Todoroki's ice covered the ground they had been standing on.
The exercise had only been going for two minutes, and already Aoyama and Sato, Sero and Shoji, and Ashido and Ojiro were eliminated.
They landed again, feet moving as soon as they touched the ground, when suddenly Kirishima shouted, "Bakugo, move!"
Bakugo felt Kirishima's shoulder shove him to the side, and in the next instant he watched him collapse the ground, clutching his ears, obviously being hit with one of Jiro's sonic blasts. Bakugo growled as Iida rushed towards them, having probably planned on using Jiro's distraction to take out Kirishima's target. "No you fucking don't," he muttered, stretching out an arm to grab hold of Kirishima's sleeve and blast them into the air, right before Iida reached them.
They landed on the other side of the arena, and Kirishima went to his knees, still clutching at his ears.
"Hey, dumbass, you okay?" Bakugo asked, ignoring the worry clawing at his stomach.
Kirishima didn't move, and the worry got stronger.
"Hey!" Bakugo shouted, leaning down and grasping Kirishima's shoulders.
He looked up at that, but his eyes were wide and… scared?
Bakugo clenched his jaw and then turned away from Kirishima. "Hey, teach, I think something's wrong!"
Mr. Aizawa shouted something, probably telling the rest of the class to pause the exercise, but Bakugo didn't hear any of it. Kirishima had reached up to grab onto Bakugo's arm, that expression still on his face.
Bakugo didn't know what to do.
Before he realized what was happening, Mr. Aizawa was kneeling next to him, talking to Kirishima, asking him questions, and then helping him to stand up. "I'm taking him to Recovery Girl," he said. "Seems like his ears got a little damaged, and he can't hear very well right now. Class is dismissed for the rest of the morning, I'll see you all after lunch."
Just like that, Mr. Aizawa walked out of the room, taking Kirishima with him.
Bakugo was left, standing, watching, knowing that Kirishima had just taken a pain and an injury and a fear that should have been his.
Kirishima was back in class that afternoon, fully healed by Recovery Girl. Jiro apologized about fifty times, Aizawa gave them a lecture on Quirk moderation, and Bakugo watched Kirishima out of the corner of his eye and didn't say a word.
4.
Bakugo was used to people talking about him, especially after Kamino. The whispers followed him almost everywhere, and he had gotten pretty good at ignoring them. The quiet assholes weren't worth the effort.
But, sometimes, they weren't so quiet.
"Surprised they let you come back to school," someone said, and Bakugo, walking to lunch with Kirishima, froze.
Slowly, he glanced over to where the voice had come from. There were two students leaning against the wall, both older than him, probably third years. One of them was small, kind of lanky, with stringy blue hair that almost completely covered his face. The other, the one who had spoken, was bigger, with green-tinted skin and short pointed horns.
The bigger one smirked as Bakugo turned to look at them. "I really thought UA had higher standards," he said, slowly shaking his head. "They must know you'll never be a hero."
Bakugo clenched his fists, ready to respond, but Kirishima beat him to it. "Oh shut up," he said, stepping around Bakugo and putting himself in front. "You guys are the ones acting like villains right now."
Bakugo frowned. He didn't need Kirishima, he could handle this by himself.
The smaller guy laughed. "What are you, his bodyguard?"
"No," Kirishima said, "I'm his friend. And I know Bakugo is going to be a great hero, way better than either of you."
"Kirishima," Bakugo muttered, "shut up."
Kirishima ignored him, and so did the others. "He couldn't even save himself," the small one said, and Bakugo could just make out the smirk under his curtain of hair. "How can he be expected to save anyone else?"
Kirishima scoffed. "Yeah, and I'm sure you guys could defeat the League of Villains on your own with no trouble."
The big one growled, apparently tired of the conversation, and Bakugo knew in an instant that things were about to go very badly. He wasn't one to back away from a fight, but he wasn't sure if they could win this one.
And… he didn't want to prove them right.
"Kirishima, let's go," he tried, but Kirishima wasn't listening.
"Alright, heroes, let's see how good you are," the big one said, and then he moved, faster than Bakugo would have guessed from his size. And as he moved, Bakugo realized that he had been wrong- those weren't horns on his head, those were spikes. And more were cropping up all over his body as he launched himself towards Bakugo.
Before Bakugo had a chance to react, Kirishima was in front of him, the spikes scraping across his hardened skin. "Back off," Kirishima hissed, shoving hard enough to make the guy stumble back a step.
Bakugo kept his eye on the other guy, whose hair started to rise up as wind circled around him, faster and faster, surrounding him in a miniature tornado.
Bakugo prepared himself, his hands sparking at his sides. He didn't want this fight, he wasn't going to start it, but like hell was he going to let someone attack him and Kirishima without fighting back.
Just as the tornado started to move towards him, though, it suddenly died down, the wind dissipating as quickly as it had appeared. "What the hell," the guy muttered, and then his gaze turned to something behind Bakugo and his eyes widened.
Bakugo, though, grinned as he turned, knowing exactly what he was going to find.
Sure enough, both Kirishima and the spike guy were ensnared in capture tape, and Mr. Aizawa stood behind them, his Quirk activated. "You two are in 3-B, right?" he asked blandly, looking between the two students who had confronted Bakugo.
The small one nodded, eyes still wide.
"Right," Aizawa said, dropping both his Quirk and his scarf. "I'll talk to your homeroom teacher later. Now go away."
The two scampered off without looking back, and Bakugo was left in the hallway with Kirishima and Mr. Aizawa, who just raised an eyebrow at them and waited.
"It was my fault," Kirishima said immediately, taking a step forward. "Bakugo tried to stop me, but I provoked them."
Bakugo scoffed, but something like gratefulness bloomed in his chest at Kirishima's words. "They were looking for a fight from the beginning," he said, pushing the feeling down. "They didn't give a fuck what we had to say."
Mr. Aizawa frowned, and Bakugo had the feeling that he knew there was more to the story than that. He expected his teacher to call them out on it, but instead he simply said, "Doesn't matter who started it, you should've known better than to continue it. Bakugo, detention for two days. Kirishima, detention for a week."
"Yes, Mr. Aizawa," Kirishima said, his eyes trained on the floor.
With a nod, Aizawa started to walk down the hallway away from them, calling over his shoulder, "Try not to kill someone on your way to lunch."
Bakugo snorted, but Kirishima didn't react, and Bakugo's smile dropped. "You didn't have to do that," he muttered.
"Which part?" Kirishima asked, turning to him with a grin that Bakugo could tell was forced. "Calling them out or taking the blame?"
"All of it was stupid."
The grin stayed, but faltered. "I was trying to defend you, man," Kirishima said, and there was a note of hurt in his voice.
Bakugo ignored it. "I don't need you to," he growled, and then he turned and walked away, pretending not to notice Kirishima reaching out to him, mouth open, the smile gone completely and the pain written clearly across his face.
Bakugo didn't care.
He didn't.
5.
"Hey, Bakugo!" Kirishima called, a few weeks later, chasing him out of the classroom at the end of the day. "I'm heading down to the development lab before going back to the dorm, want to come?"
"Why?" Bakugo asked, not bothering to turn around.
"Ah, well, Hatsume asked for my help to test out a new invention she's working on, and I just thought it might be kind of fun?"
Bakugo paused. Kirishima hadn't mentioned their confrontation in the hallway, even during the couple of days they had detention together, but he was sure they were both thinking about it. Maybe this was Kirishima's attempt to brush past that. "Alright," Bakugo agreed, letting a smirk spread across his face, "especially since she probably made something to kick your ass."
Kirishima laughed, following him out of the classroom. "Yeah, probably," he admitted, "but I can handle it."
Bakugo snorted, leading the way to the lab. It was quiet when they arrived, and Bakugo looked at Kirishima and raised an eyebrow.
"She's probably working in the back somewhere," Kirishima said, rolling his eyes. "Hey, Hatsume! We're here!" he called, putting his hands up to his mouth.
"There's so much shit in here," Bakugo remarked, peering into the room. He had been there a couple of times for costume modifications, but there was even more junk than usual scattered around.
"Hatsume!" Kirishima called again, "what's-"
Suddenly, chaos.
A burst of light, a loud noise, Hatsume yelling something from somewhere.
Bakugo didn't have time to process any of it, but Kirishima did, pushing Bakugo aside and throwing his arms into the air.
Bakugo stumbled, covering his eyes and coughing as smoke started to fill the room. "What the hell?" he exclaimed, as some of the smoke started to dissipate and his eyes stopped watering.
"That wasn't supposed to happen!" came a voice, and Bakugo growled. Hatsume.
"Yeah, big fucking surprise," he grumbled, watching as the girl emerged from whatever corner she had been working in.
She had the decency to look embarrassed, at least, and she looked like she was about to say something, when suddenly her eyes widened. "Kirishima?" she asked, stepping forward. "Did my baby hurt you?"
Bakugo froze, realizing suddenly that Kirishima hadn't said a word since the explosion. He turned his head slowly to look at his friend, and almost immediately had to wince and look away. Kirishima's arm was bleeding, and he was picking out small shards of metal that seemed embedded into his skin.
"Ah, it's not a big deal," Kirishima said, and Bakugo could hear a smile in his voice, but he could hear pain, too. "Accidents happen."
"Isn't your quirk supposed to prevent this?" Hatsume asked, tilting her head. "Seems a little stupid if a hardening quirk can't stop metal from piercing you." As she spoke, she reached over to a work table that had somehow avoided the blast, grabbing a (hopefully) clean rag and handing it to Kirishima.
He took it gratefully, and Bakugo finally looked over as he started to wrap the cloth around his arm. "I'm still working on my reaction time," he admitted, "so I didn't get my quirk up in time."
"You should see Recovery Girl, dumbass," Bakugo muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. He hated this. He hated this.
Kirishima laughed. "Yeah, probably a good call. Don't wait up for me, Bakugo, alright? I'll see you at the dorm later."
Bakugo didn't answer, but Kirishima didn't wait for him to, walking out of the room with a wave, cloth still wrapped around the still bleeding wounds on his arm.
As soon as he was out of the room, Bakugo whirled to face Hatsume. "You're a fucking idiot," he hissed.
Hatsume just shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal," she said. "And Kirishima said it himself, he should've been able to handle it, but he didn't react fast enough."
He did react fast enough, Bakugo thought, the realization slamming into him like a freight train. He just used his reaction to get me out of the way, instead of to protect himself.
"Anyway," Hatsume continued, "guess I'll have to show off my babies some other time. Your quirk isn't going to help me at all."
"Yeah, like I'd fucking help you anyway," Bakugo muttered, rolling his eyes. "See you never, hopefully."
Hatsume just waved cheerily at him, already pulling out some tools, and Bakugo got out of that room as quickly as possible.
He stomped his way out of the building, sticking his hands in his pockets and leaning against the wall next to the front entrance, exhaling heavily. Students and faculty walked past, going about their business, but after one glance at Bakugo's stormy expression they moved quickly on their way.
Finally, almost half an hour later, the door pushed open and Kirishima stepped out, the cloth gone and no blood visible on his arm.
"Oh, hey man," Kirishima said, grinning as they made eye contact, "thought I told you not to bother waiting."
"Didn't have anything better to do," Bakugo responded, pushing off the wall and shoving his hands into his pockets. "Come on, shitty hair, you're probably gonna need a nap after that."
Kirishima laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, you're probably right."
As they walked, Bakugo tried desperately to shut off the thoughts running through his brain. Kirishima just kept doing this, and he was getting fucking sick of it.
"Hey, you good?" Kirishima said suddenly, cutting into Bakugo's thoughts and making him flinch.
"Stupid question," Bakugo muttered. "I'm not the one who got hurt."
Kirishima brushed him off with a wave of his hand and a smile. "Recovery Girl took care of that without any issues. Like you said, I just need a nap and I'll be good to go."
Against his will, Bakugo's hands to started to shake. "Don't… don't act like this isn't a big deal," he said, forcing the words out of his throat. "You keep doing this, getting yourself hurt because of me."
"You're my friend, man," Kirishima said, that stupid smile still on his face, and Bakugo couldn't handle it anymore.
Finally, finally, he exploded. "Why the hell do you care?!" he shouted, his hands still trembling at his sides.
Kirishima's eyes widened, the smile finally slipping, his mouth opening, but Bakugo didn't give him a chance to respond.
"No one has ever cared," he hissed, clenching his fists in a desperate attempt to stop the shaking. "What the fuck makes you any different?"
"Bakugo," Kirishima started, and then he paused, sighed, corrected himself. "Katsuki. You're… You're my best friend. I think you're incredible, you're strong and passionate and you care so much about things." He laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck, his face flushing pink. "I guess it sounds kind of lame, but I… I like you a lot, Katsuki."
Bakugo opened his mouth and then shut it again, taken aback almost as much by the use of his given name as by the words themselves. "What the hell does that mean?" he finally asked, mind racing.
Kirishima's smile faltered, just a bit. "Um," he said, "it means that I like you? I've been trying to show it for a while, but I guess I needed to be more obvious."
Bakugo felt lost, a step behind, like this conversation was speeding past and leaving him in the dust. He didn't know what to say, so he just didn't, and the smile slipped further from Kirishima's face.
"Bakugo?" the redhead said, after the silence stretched just a moment too long. "It's, um, it's okay if you don't feel the same way."
It was almost amazing, Bakugo thought, feeling strangely detached from himself, how quickly someone could go from flushed and laughing to pale and withdrawn, just in response to a little bit of silence.
His silence.
Kirishima inhaled, and it was shaky, his breath stuttering in his chest, and Bakugo noted it with that same distant observation that he couldn't seem to get out of. "Right," Kirishima said (and were the corners of his eyes shining with unshed tears, or was that just the reflection of the slowly setting sun?), "I'm going to head back to the dorm, now. Um. See you in class tomorrow."
He paused for a moment longer, but Bakugo was just stuck, silent and still, and eventually Kirishima let out another shaky sigh, turned around, and walked away, leaving Bakugo alone.
+1.
"Guys, we have a problem!" Sato called from the kitchen, and Bakugo looked up from his place on the common room couch. It was the weekend, and most of them had ended up in the common room, drawn by the smell of multiple kinds of baked goods.
"What's up?" Uraraka asked, jumping up from the game she was playing with the other girls.
Sato poked his head out from the kitchen, looking apologetic. "Just realized we don't have enough cocoa powder, but I've already got stuff in the oven, and I can't leave to go get some more. Would someone mind…?"
"I got you, dude!" Kirishima said, ignoring Sero's protests as he paused the video game they were playing. "Sero's beating me anyway."
"You're not supposed to leave campus alone, though," Uraraka pointed out.
Before he even realized what he was saying, Bakugo flatly said, "I'll go."
Kirishima looked at him quickly, wide-eyed. They hadn't spoken to each other since their confrontation a few days earlier, but Bakugo just stared him down, not budging.
Sato, of course, didn't know about all that, so he just grinned at them. "Ah, thanks guys! I'll make sure you two get the first pieces."
"Oh, that's why you two volunteered," Uraraka giggled, and Kirishima smiled at her half-heartedly, still looking at Bakugo.
"Uh, yeah," he said, "um, we'll be back as soon as we can."
Bakugo stood up, hands in his pockets, and jerked his head towards the door. "Let's go, shitty hair."
Kirishima flinched, just barely, and led the way out the door, raising a hand in farewell to Sato as he went.
Bakugo followed, ignoring the clenching of his heart and the pit in his stomach, wondering why the hell he had decided to do this.
They walked in stifling silence for almost ten minutes, leaving the UA campus behind and moving into more crowded streets on their way to the nearest grocery store. It wasn't until there were more people, and more voices, around them that Kirishima finally spoke up.
"I don't know what you want," he said, eyes glued to the sidewalk. "It seemed like you didn't want to talk to me at all, which is…" He cut himself off with a sigh, and Bakugo felt his face flush with shame.
"That's not," Bakugo started, but he didn't know how to finish that sentence.
Kirishima glanced up at him, his gaze skittering to his face and then away, his smile tight. "It's okay, Bakugo, really. We can just move on."
Bakugo didn't want to move on, not really, and he was just opening his mouth to say that when, suddenly, someone screamed.
Both boys locked eyes, all awkwardness immediately put aside. "Alleyway up ahead," Kirishima said, and as soon as Bakugo nodded confirmation, they both took off in that direction, hearing a few more voices yelling as they ran.
They turned a corner and, in a flash, Bakugo took in the details of the scene in front of them. The street was mostly residential, lined with apartments, but there was a convenience store that seemed to be the center of the action. There was a man standing outside of it who was, quite simply, on a rampage. His fists were literally glowing with energy, and he was slamming them into walls, doors, and anything within reach.
There were people around him, either residents or shoppers, and most of them seemed to be barely avoiding his blows. At least one person hadn't been so lucky, as Bakugo saw a young man slumped on the ground, unconscious, with a young woman standing over him.
"Pretty sure I know who screamed," Bakugo muttered, his hands already starting to spark.
"We have to do something, right?" Kirishima asked, looking at him with a spark of desperation in his eyes.
"Of course we fucking do."
Kirishima exhaled, and just as quickly as it had appeared, any panic left his face. "Get the civilians out of here," he said quickly, "and I'll distract this guy until the Pros get here." He didn't wait for Bakugo to respond before running off, his skin hardening in preparation.
Bakugo didn't try to argue, either, because it made sense. He was faster and had more freedom of movement, so he could get people away from the danger zone quickly, and Kirishima would be able to withstand the villain's hits, even with how powerful they seemed.
Still, he moved quickly, planning to help Kirishima as soon as the bystanders were safe. He started with the young man on the ground and the woman with him, but luckily everyone cooperated and accepted his help without complaint, so he was able to get people away without difficulty, trying to ignore the continuing sounds of destruction behind him. He was going back to grab a crying kid, the last one there, when he glanced back and realized that something was wrong.
Kirishima had entered his Unbreakable Form, but something was happening.
Kirishima had told him, weeks ago, about Overhaul and Eri and Fat Gum and Rappa, one night when nightmares had driven them both into the common room. He had described the way his hardened skin had started to crack and fall away under the force of Rappa's fists, the pain and the fear that had come with watching himself fall apart. Kirishima still shook when he talked about it, and now, Bakugo realized that it was happening again.
Kirishima had held his Unbreakable Form for too long, and the villain was still slamming his fists into him, undeterred, and Kirishima was crumbling.
Bakugo moved, faster than he thought possible, blasting the kid to the entrance of the alley with the others. "Go," he snarled, looking at all of them, hoping his urgency was clear. "Make sure the Pros are coming, just get out of here."
They all nodded, wide eyed, and Bakugo didn't even wait for them to move before he turned back to Kirishima and the villain.
The Pros had to be on their way, would probably be there any minute, but Bakugo suddenly realized that Kirishima might not have another minute. An unfamiliar fear started to grip his heart, and Bakugo was moving before he even realized it, launching himself into the air and right towards Kirishima and the villain.
"Bakugo, no!" Kirishima yelled, and Bakugo heard the same fear in Kirishima's voice that he felt in himself, but he heard pain, too, and it only spurred him forward.
He still didn't know how to talk to Kirishima. But this… this was something he could do.
With the momentum of his blast, Bakugo shoved Kirishima to the side, away from the villain who was rearing back for another hit, his fist glowing with the power of whatever his Quirk was. Kirishima stumbled to his feet, but he was slowed down by his injuries, and the villain was fast. Bakugo tried to blast out of the way, he did, but he wasn't quite fast enough, and the villain's fist sent him crashing into the pavement, his head cracking on the stone. Distantly, he heard Kirishima scream, and then…
Darkness.
Awareness came back slowly, and it was a while before Bakugo was able to open his eyes enough to realize that he was in a hospital. He was bandaged, around his head and his torso, it hurt if he breathed too deeply, and his head was pounding. In short, he felt like shit.
He blinked a few times, taking stock of his surroundings, and then his eyes widened as he saw Kirishima, slumped in a chair next to him, apparently asleep, with no visible injuries.
Right as Bakugo looked at him, though, Kirishima blinked his eyes open, jumping to his feet as soon as he saw Bakugo. "Dude!" he said, hands hovering by his side as if he didn't know what to do with them, "About time you woke up!"
"What… happened?" Bakugo asked, his throat scratchy with disuse.
Kirishima's shoulders slumped, and his gaze skittered away from Bakugo's face, the joy vanishing as quickly as it had come. "The pros showed up pretty quickly," he said, "but, uh, you got kind of messed up. Concussion, broken ribs, all that."
Well, that explained the pain and the bandages. "What about you?"
"What about me?!" Kirishima exclaimed, whipping back around to glare at Bakugo. "I had some cuts on my arms from the cracking, barely anything to worry about." He shook his head, clenching his fists at his side, and Bakugo thought for a moment that he was about to start crying. "You almost died, man. Why did you do what you did?"
Bakugo shrugged, as best as he could with the bandages and the pain in his chest, and turned his face away. He didn't know how to have this conversation, wasn't sure he wanted to have it at all, and he definitely didn't want to have it right now.
"Dammit, Bakugo," Kirishima snapped, catching Bakugo off guard, "I can't do this anymore. I know you're not good at talking about things, and that's fine, but you can't… you can't ignore this forever. I told you how I feel, and you just let me walk away, and I thought that was it, but now you're…" He paused, gesturing at their situation, the bandages wrapped around Bakugo's head and chest. "You need to talk to me, man."
And, suddenly, Bakugo did want to talk to him. But he didn't know how. He opened his mouth, wanting to try, but then he shut it again.
He couldn't do this.
Kirishima's face fell. "Yeah, okay," he said, shaking his head. "Sorry, Bakugo. I'm done."
He turned around, ready to walk out the door, and Bakugo's heart lurched. "Eijiro," he said, not giving himself a chance to think about the words, and Kirishima froze.
"You said," Bakugo started, the words coming out in a lurch, almost without his control, "back at the provisional license exam, that you jumped in front of me because you were scared. I didn't… I didn't know what you meant." He laughed, humorlessly. "It seemed fucking stupid to me, honestly."
In front of him, Kirishima's shoulders tensed, but he didn't turn around.
"I get it now," Bakugo said, quickly plowing ahead, ignoring every part of him that told him to stop, that this was stupid, that Kirishima wouldn't care anyway, that nobody would really care. "Today, I was… I was scared. Because it was you."
There was silence, for a moment, and Bakugo felt his heart pounding inside his chest.
"Don't," Kirishima finally said, his back still turned, and Bakugo blinked.
"Don't what?"
Kirishima exhaled, long and deep, his shoulders slumping. "Don't try to make me feel better."
Bakugo gaped at him, mouth open. "What?"
Kirishima glanced at him, not even bothering to turn fully around, and his expression was guarded, closed off. "You've made it pretty clear that you don't give a shit. About me, about us, about any of it." He sighed again, finally turning around. "Any time I've tried to show you how I feel, you either tell me off or just ignore me completely."
"I don't know how to do this," Bakugo hissed, feeling the anger start to rise up in his chest again, trying desperately to push it down. "I'm sorry that I suck at all this… feelings shit, but that's just how it is."
"You think I don't know that?" Kirishima responded, the blank facade he had put on cracking, just a bit. "I've known you for months, Bakugo, and you're my best friend. I know that it's not easy for you, but I also know… I know that you can try. But you haven't."
Bakugo exhaled, all the fight draining out of him, his head falling back on the pillow. "I know," he whispered.
Kirishima sighed too, taking a step forward, slowly sitting back down in the hard plastic chair beside him. "You have to try, Bakugo. You don't have to be perfect, that's not… that's not something I expect."
"Yelling is easier," Bakugo admitted, his eyes on the ceiling. "Sometimes it feels like that's all I can do. But I know that I shouldn't, so… so silence is the other option."
"You're not yelling now."
Bakugo lifted his head, surprised, and saw that Kirishima was smiling now. It was small, but it was there, and Bakugo felt a sudden lightness in his chest. "Yeah," he agreed, matching that smile with one of his own, "I guess I'm not."
Moving slowly, as if he expected Bakugo to stop him, Kirishima reached a hand over the hospital bed, resting it on top of Bakugo's, and then, after only a moment's hesitation, he held it. "I think we can make it work," he said, eyes on their joined hands.
Bakugo matched his gaze, feeling a warmth flow through him, starting at the point of contact and filling his whole body. "Yeah," he agreed, and then, "I'm guessing this isn't going to stop you from throwing yourself into danger though, is it?"
Kirishima laughed, and it sounded a little wet as he reached up with his free hand to swipe away unshed tears. "It's not going to stop you, either."
"No," Bakugo admitted, and then he let his smile stretch into a grin, with just the hint of sharp edges. "Now are you going to come down here and kiss me or what?"
Another laugh, bright and joyful, and then Kirishima leaned forward and did exactly that.