* kamino happened before I-island in this timeline
* american-english spelling
"Die!"
"Dude, you can't say that every time I'm winning!" Eijirou laughs brightly, stretching his legs out across the sun-warmed floor. He grabs a handful of popcorn from the low table in front of the Bakugous' big television, where his friend's avatar had just been knocked out. "Ha, you wouldn't even be a challenge for Sero."
"I could beat Tape-Face with my eyes closed." Bakugou denies, swatting his hand to snatch some popcorn for himself.
"Yeah, but not at this game." Eijirou says cheerfully around his mouthful and gulps at the glare of red he receives.
"Shut your mouth."
With that advice (or order) he does.
Fuelling up with snacks for the next level, Bakugou irritably jabs the controller in an attempt to skip the cutscene. No matter how often Eijirou and Sero tried explaining the scene's purpose, the blonde still claimed them 'as useless as villain monologues'. His friend's limited experience with games shouldn't be a surprise - Eijirou had once witnessed his extreme schedule and could only stare in awe at the commitment of getting to the top.
Nothing could distract Bakugou from his goal... except struggling through a platform fighter, apparently. It doesn't seem like a super important pro-hero skill but then, what do I know?
"Finally." Bakugou mutters as the cutscene changes to an island themed stage.
A selection of hero avatars flash across the screen and Eijirou sighs, dwelling on the exclusive I-island trip where his classmates would surely meet all these heroes. When it was revealed the Sports Festival winner would be given an all-access ticket, he hadn't been upset - but then Jirou and Ochako secured tickets from Momo's kindness and Kaminari got work on I-island as a waiter.
All of a sudden, he was stranded from this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Hardly alone in that feeling, he tried to be a buffer between Mina and Sero's jealousy and Kaminari's oblivious enthusiasm in their groupchat. For the most part, those attending didn't respond to Kaminari's persistent questions - Jirou because she could sense the sore topic and Bakugou because, well, he had everyone muted. (Everyone besides Eijirou, but the redhead kept making a case that it wasn't the point of a group chat.)
"Do you think it'll be good weather like this when Mina has her meet up?" Eijirou laughs at Bakugou's suspicious glance. "I'm not trying to distract you, dude! I just think it's a nice thing to do for everyone not going to I-island y'know? Take our minds off missing out - woah!"
Eijirou rocks backward as Bakugou vaults to his feet and storms up the stairs without a word, flinching as a slam sends a tremble through the house.
"Uhh…" He stalls, unsure what had set his friend off. I must have missed something, it's been a while since he just left like that. Turning down the television volume, he passes time by practicing throwing popcorn into his jaws.
Eijirou loses his running score when a door clicks open, followed by rumbling footsteps that stop beside him. Bakugou's looming face sends a nervous pearl of sweat down his back and he instinctively checks the level of aggression, but there isn't any. Instead, his friend just holds tense in a mix of focus and anxiety. That's a new one.
"You good?" Eijirou asks, popping a kernel into his mouth.
"I-island." Bakugou grits out, leaving him completely lost for context. Did Kaminari ask one too many questions or something?
"What about it?"
Bakugou's jaw clenches, turning his head away as he stuffs his fists into his pockets. "Come with me."
It sounds so easy.
Of course he would follow Bakugou anywhere - even if it meant becoming a stowaway on a ship, or clinging to a plane launching into the sky. A ripple of excitement runs down his arms and he smashes his fists together, completely fired up. "Hell yeah!"
Then reality catches up and he droops. "That would be awesome, but I can't."
"Ha?" Bakugou's smile had been verging on victorious but now he looked as if he'd timed-out before winning the grandest prize. "Why the fuck not?"
"All the chances to get an invite have totally vanished." Eijirou rests his chin on his knees miserably. "The Sports Festival and other contests where they could be won have ended too-"
"Listen." Bakugou interrupts, much calmer as he speaks. "If all that's stopping you is a damn ticket, just come as my extra and then you won't need one." From his pocket, he draws out two tickets for I-island. One had barely been touched, but the other with a cheery plus-one! printed on had clearly been crumpled and tossed away at some point.
Between hearing Bakugou say 'my extra' and seeing the ticket, Eijirou has to bite his tongue so he doesn't blow this chance by saying something stupid.
The silence gets to Bakugou, his grip tightening on the tickets as his shoulders climb higher. "Out of all those idiots in the Sports Festival, you were the only one who put up a fight. Why the hell should they go and not you?"
Eijirou buries his flushed face into his knees and makes a strangled sound of embarrassment. With anyone else, he could dodge the outright compliment but Bakugou had a way of blasting encouragement straight to his heart.
"Do you have to be so manly all the time?" He mumbles as he takes the crumpled ticket and smoothes over the characters in wonder. (He got it from the trash! Mina scolds him internally, but the ticket wasn't there anymore, so Eijirou would consider it sentimental.)
Afraid to trip over his tongue, Eijirou smiles gratefully up at Bakugou whose tension eases into relief. "Don't lose it." He warns lightly, taking his place by Eijirou's side again as their proximity buzzes with a familiar static.
Since Kamino, there has been a charge between them.
It crept in between their unsaid sentiments and lingered through their interactions. The timing and intensity remain mysterious to Eijirou, who'd first felt it when he'd passed Bakugou his unbearably spicy snack from the vending machine. Their hands brushed and a charge sparked through the air, so real that Eijirou had yelled at a confused Kaminari to cut it out.
It hadn't hurt at all - more a skittering across his skin and a stuttering heart.
Eijirou has never manned up enough to ask Bakugou if he knows what the charge is, or if he even notices it. I'd be really stupid for asking if it turns out he doesn't feel it too, but … he has to. He rests his head back on the couch and pouts. At least, I hope he does.
"What?" Bakugou prompts and elbows his side when he doesn't respond.
Trying to think through the static, Eijirou comes across a problem much easier to address. "No way will my mom let me go on this trip - she'll probably think I somehow stole this ticket."
"It's not like she ripped it up." Bakugou's tone turns intense with focus, just how he gets when planning a mission. "How can you convince her?"
"Well, she'd want to meet you first, but-"
"Then I'll meet her, done!" Bakugou's directness crashes down like a wave on Eijirou's whispering doubts that he'd never live up to his friend's standards. So manly.
However, if Bakugou was to meet his family then there's an important detail to clarify. "-but you have to be decent. I don't mind how you are man, but you can't be exploding around my mom."
It stings to remember Aiko quietly retreating when he and his older sister, Emiko, would get too heated - when their sharp, snarled faces were too reminiscent of their father's to withstand.
"Oi, I can be fucking decent!" Bakugou shouts in insult and Eijirou sips his drink, letting the silence after his friend's outburst reveal his reason for caution. "Whatever. If I get a table at some yakitori-ya, will she show?"
A laugh bubbles out before he can stop it. "Kirishimas will do anything for free food!"
"Knew it." Bakugou smirks, tapping his phone for a bit before tossing it aside. "Alright, booked. I'll send you the time and place."
Eijirou fumbles with his drink, trying not to spill it in shock. "Hold on! I haven't even checked when she has a day off!"
"It's always Wednesdays."
"Huh? How could you know that?"
"You told me." Bakugou says slowly.
Gears turn frantically in Eijirou's memories and when one tiny grimy gear turns, he bursts out, "I told you that months ago!?"
"Yeah, and I remembered!" Bakugou yells back, hands popping in irritation. Consideration creeps into his red eyes as he slows the sparks to a stop. "Is shouting bad for you too?"
Stuck on how his friend could possibly remember that far back, the question makes something soft like cotton curl around his heart. "You're fine." He assures readily. "I know what scary anger looks like, but that's never been you. Intense, sure, and I mean you're louder than a warning siren-" Eijirou laughs at Bakugou's glare and reddening ears. "-but I'd say something if it ever got scary."
Bakugou flicks his controller's buttons with a shrug of half-hearted acknowledgment. The volume of the game increases, the fighting avatars shout catchphrases and grunt in pain. A game-over tune rings out and Eijirou realizes he hadn't picked up his own controller - he hadn't even looked at the screen.
"You're shit at this game." Bakugou comments.
The sun catches on strands of his blonde hair, lighting his profile handsomely without his usual scowl and Eijirou sinks into the warmth of his presence. There was something about their friendship that he just couldn't get enough of - it made him want to draw out their time together like an endless game-over tune.
"Mhm … bit distracted." Eijirou hums.
Noticing his critically low score, he remains a calm exterior as he picks up his controller for the next round. Then, he unleashes a furious combination of cheat moves that KO the opposing fighter, fast enough that Sero across town senses trouble for his champion title.
Clearing his throat into the stunned silence, he folds his arms behind his head and leans back on the couch. "Oh! I kind of won that round, huh?"
Bakugou's eye twitches which sends Eijirou into an explosion of delighted laughter, closely followed by actual explosions. The room fills with popping palms and furious promises of certain death, floating out through the windows and over the concerned neighborhood.
Not concerned for the commonplace screaming, but for the cheerful laughter scattered between it.
Kamino
"We're landing!" Midoriya warns, his shout whisked away by the rushing winds as they all brace for impact. Bakugou's explosions burst into the sky to slow their sharp descent - but their trajectory dives them directly towards a busy road at a breathtaking velocity.
Clipping the top of speeding cars, they're suddenly too close to the ground to let off another explosion. Bracing isn't enough - the impact jolts through their legs as they painfully land on the road. Headlights swerve wildly around them and a flash of metal scrapes Eijirou's shoulder as he narrowly hardens in time to avoid losing half his face.
"Get to the street!" Iida orders, helping Midoriya who had fallen awkwardly.
Eijirou still has his hand in Bakugou's.
Sharply tugging them to safety, he gets them out of the rush of traffic trying frantically to flee Kamino Ward. As they tumble onto the street, Eijirou can't stop pulling closer until he has Bakugou in his arms. Both their bodies heave to catch their breath - the success of the rescue having resulted from pure luck and risk, left them shaking with adrenaline.
"You're safe." Eijirou pants, finding it hard to speak steadily with his jumpy pulse. He tightens his arms around Bakugou's shoulders as the relief overwhelms him. "You're safe. You got out of there, you're okay…" Once started, the stream of comforting words keeps coming as he holds his friend close.
Bakugou's hands twitch behind Eijirou's back as they burst defensively with nitroglycerin. A phrase must break through his shock because, with a rapid exhale, he clenches Eijirou's jacket tightly. Tension snips away like the strings of a puppet and Bakugou hides his head into Eijirou's chest - whose heart skips at the potent cloud of fear around his friend.
None of this should have happened, least of all to Bakugou.
"It's alright now …" He assures, running his palms across Bakugou's back as it shudders. Keeping up the much needed comfort, he senses the awareness coming back to his friend. Soon he would cut off the terror and bury it deep, letting it rot as anger takes its place. Eijirou only has a sliver of time left.
"Two seconds, just, listen for two seconds." Caught about to tear away, Bakugou hesitates and Eijirou takes the chance to hug him close, saying forcefully, "Bakugou, you escaped. We're here and there are lots of heroes that can help now. You're going to be okay."
Bakugou lifts his head and it breaks Eijirou's heart to see he didn't quite believe that yet. Past the panic in his red eyes, a realization seems to cut through his fear. "You're here." Bakugou murmurs like a comfort before his defensive walls slam back into place and he shoves away with a snarl.
Expecting that eventual reaction made it easier to just sigh in relief, watching the blonde storm towards Iida with demands for a plan to sink his teeth into.
"How is your shoulder?" Midoriya asks with a gentle touch to his forearm and it suddenly strikes Eijirou that none of this would have happened without the young hero's plan. Without his quick thinking, tonight may have ended in devastation and full of gratitude, he tugs Midoriya into a hug too.
"Ah, it's a relief to have Kacchan back, isn't it? A little thankless, but-" Midoriya rambles as he gingerly pats Eijirou's back, tactfully avoiding where the cut on his shoulder starts to radiate pain.
Dusting off Midoriya's jacket as he pulls away, he has to agree. "Bakugou might tell us all to go die, but that doesn't matter - if he's saying it at all, then he's safe."
Midoriya appears thoughtful. "You're a good friend to him."
"So are you." Eijirou speaks honestly - despite how tragic the childhood friends' relationship had become, the undivided loyalty of Midoriya was admirable. "Thank you, man. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if you didn't save the night."
"Best not to think about." Midoriya nods although his mind seems elsewhere as he joins Iida, where he trades locations with Todoroki over the phone.
As they work through the crowds to regroup, Bakugou quietly catches his wrist and attention. "Just how many idiots got involved in this plan?"
Eijirou knows he wants to ask, how many people did I put in danger? Slipping their fingers together in another stolen second of comfort, he answers what Bakugou needs to hear more. "I don't know about idiots, but five of your friends came to help tonight." He squeezes Bakugou's hand, hoping that the meaning sinks in. "And your other friends are going to be stoked to see that you're safe."
Bakugou's grip tightens painfully before dropping as if the touch had become scalding. Hunching forwards, he tersely picks apart the villain fight by viciously talking down on the weakness of their quirks and how desperate they'd all seemed.
This was Bakugou beginning to process days of highly stressful captivity and Eijirou would remain sturdily by his side, ready to give anything - even just for a second or two.