Kirishima continued on his way with a smile, mumbling "Ground beef" to himself every so often, almost as if to remind himself what he needed to get. The redhead wandered down the aisles, keeping his eyes glued above to read the large signs that hung above each one.
The store was so old that Bakugo had been to it countless times, from stopping by to simply grab a snack to getting whatever his mom had said to get, he knew the layout of the store well. At first said store was a mom-and-pop shop but after time it expanded and expanded and expanded to what it was now, one of the most popular grocery stores in the area. "They just had to rearrange everything?" He muttered to himself, scanning the shelves while standing akimbo.
After a short while of pretty much walking around in circles, Kirishima was becoming frustrated, not having a clue on where to go. This store was like a dang labyrinth.
"Could I help you find something?" A tall, male figure piped up, turning to the clearly lost redhead. He didn't appear to be all that busy, most likely surveying the store to fix the brunette was dressed in a blue apron and appeared to be in his early 20s with a name tag that read 'Ren'.
Kirishima swiftly looked over at the stranger, nodding with a polite smile "that would be really helpful! I'm looking for the meat aisle? i need ground beef" He quickly clarified
"Great! Hmm, well the meat section is in the way back of the store, past the bakery section that's in the middle. Though the thing is that the ground beef has been going like crazy as of late. If you'd like, I can take you to the back since our shelves are pretty much bare" he said with a big grin
"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother and you've already been really helpful. I could probably find something else on my own" he said, sounding a bit hesitant under the positivity in his voice. the redhead was probably being silly, they were in a public place after all and Bakugo probably wasn't all that far so he was perfectly safe. The major thing he was worried about was wasting time and making the blond wait, not wanting the other to be upset
"You're not a bother at all." Ren reassured, not wanting to lose the target so quickly. "Follow me, I'm not too busy so believe me, it's a pleasure to help" He chuckled as if it was some kind of inside joke. The brunet began to walk without a second glance.
"Oh, um, ok!" Kirishima responded with a polite smile, internally relieved for the help as he followed after the other. On the way there he curiously looked around the store, comparing it to the one by his house which wasn't all that different the more he looked around.
Soon enough they reached the back, or well, what Kirishima assumed to be the back because of the two traffic doors. Ren pushed open one of the large doors, holding it open for Kirishima with a grin. "After you" He smiled. The male seemed to watch the redhead's every step.
The blonde swiped a jar of pasta sauce off the shelf along with a box of Bucatini noodles, grabbing a few sprigs of fresh basil as he passed the vegetable section on the way to the self-checkout station. 'He better be almost done.' Bakugo thought while making his way to the designated meet up spot to wait for the other.
The redhead stepped through the doorway as he subconsciously pulled at and fiddled with the sleeve of his blazer, a nervous habit that he had yet to recognize that he did. Kirishima reminded himself that he was probably being silly, it was perfectly normal for him to be brought into the back of a store by a worker whomst he has never met...,right? he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off with the stranger no matter how much he attempted to convince himself that he was just being paranoid. "So um, how long have you been working here?" he asked, trying to keep the energy of the situation positive.
Ren seemed to notice that the redhead was uncomfortable so he picked up the pace, just wanting to get it over with. "I've been here for about a week. I'm new." Ren said, continuing to make his way to the back area of the room. "I probably won't be working here much longer actually." He added, slowly reaching into his back pocket.
The redhead continued walking, slowing his pace due to hesitation to follow the other deeper and deeper into the store "heh, why um, is that?" he eyed Ren's actions as alarm bells went off in his head. Kirishima took a breath, everything will be ok, everything will be fine. Maybe he's just grabbing something like a keycard, yea, that's it, maybe it's just a key or something
Ren stayed silent for a few moments, creating an eerie atmosphere before suddenly breaking out in hysterical laughter. "This just isn't the job for me." He looked at the other with a horrifying glint in his eyes, beginning to pull a knife out of his pocket as he crept close to the other, backing him into a corner with ease. Everything had been perfectly calculated. "Being a villain is so much better, don't you think?" Gooey liquid melted off the figure,causing him to look much like a villain that the redhead had met before. "How about I take you with me, and no one will get hurt...?" Toga offered, dragging the knife across Kirishima's neck, breaking the skin and letting the crimson liquid flow. She was dressed in a black bodysuit, one that could cleverly be hidden under her disguise.
This wasn't good.
"What the hell is taking him so long-" Bakugo muttered to himself, ringing up the last of his items due to him being too impatient to wait for the other. With a shopping bag in hand, he made his way towards the back of the store, reaching the meat aisle in no time but seeing no sign of the familiar redhead. "Where did that idiot go?" He slowly walked around, not really knowing where on earth the redhead went. Knowing Kirishima, he probably got distracted by something and walked off.
All of the color drained from the redhead's face in seconds, his legs felt like jelly as he managed to lock eyes with the yellow-eyed girl, almost struggling to breath as he went silent. A thousand thoughts ran throught his head, jeez how could have beem so stupid for trusting a sketchy stranger?! Bakugo is going to kill him for sure… Bakugo! That's it! Toga couldn't possibly know where he was. Kirishima swallowed a breath, noticing how dry his mouth felt. "No thanks" he said, sounding determined. The redhead quickly hardened his skin before shouting as loud as he could, taking the risk if Toga decided to hurt him. "BAKUGO! HELP!"
Toga giggled. "Aw, you think your friend is going to come save you?~" She teased, pressing her knife against his hardened skin. The shouting caught her off guard, how could they have been so stupid as to not notice he was here with someone?
The blonde froze in place, oh god- what has Kirishima gotten himself into now? Without any hesitation, he booked it, pushing open the traffic doors and looking around frantically, his eyes soon enough falling on the pair with Toga pushing Kirishima up against the wall at knife-point. This wasn't good. "What the hell did you do to him?" He fumed,, not having a clue on what to do?
"Just having a little fun~..." She replied, her eyes lingering on the redhead before looking over at the blond with a smile "Don't worry, he'll be safe with us"
When Kirishima saw Bakugo he wanted nothing more than to be next to him, to blink and the last 30 minutes to be merely a dream. How could he be so stupid? It was his fault he was in this mess so he needed to help figure out a way instead of being a wimp. The cut on the redhead's neck began to sting. How deep had she cut? she couldn't have cut all that deep because it didn't hurt that bad, maybe he was in shock? That would explain why he was freezing up like a scared opossum.
"If you move any closer I might just have to accidentally make another cut or two...I wonder how much blood I can get from him~" Toga hummed, wanting Bakugo to back off so she could get on with her task. This was supposed to be a quick and easy mission and the pomeranian looking kid always had to ruin things.
"Bakugo, im fine. i swear. Just do what she says and go call AllMight or , i'll be ok" Kirishima spoke, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice. He didnt want to risk something happening to Bakugo because of his own dumb actions.
Bakugo swallowed hard, trying his best not to show how frightened he actually was. "Are you crazy, you idiot? Do you really think I'm going to leave you here with this manic?!" He scoffed, getting ticked off by the other's idea.
"You're not going to get anything out of him!" He snarled at Toga, his blood boiling from the villain trying to hurt Kirishima. "If you want more blood, let him go and you'll be able to mess with me instead." He added, a rebellious smirk appearing on his face. The words flew out of his mouth in minutes, not even thinking over what he had said.
Was this kid really ready to throw himself in harm's way just to make sure his friend was safe? weirdo...Toga let out a huff, knowing full well that Bakugo was one to rush head first into things, she of course didn't know all that much about him but his temper wasn't exactly a secret. "You're no fun " she whined as the blond charged towards Toga.
He didn't want to use up his quirk just yet. He just had to buy the other some time. The villain might counterattack, wouldn't she? This really isn't someone he should be messing around with, but that didn't stop his overconfident attitude from stopping
The yellow eyed girl pulled away from Kirishima and flung a knife at Bakugo, one that was hidden in her pocket. Neither of the boys were in need of use at this point so there wasn't any point in trying to risk taking one. it was clear that one would fight for the other until they were dead so it would be difficult doing anything now. The plan hadn't quite failed but this was a mess up. Toga retracted the knife that was holding Kirishima hostage away before making a dash for it; she already collected enough information and blood from citizens for the mission to be worthwhile.
Bakugos confidence, that was so high, always tended to cause him to bluff just a bit. His bluffing blinded him from the knife flying towards him. Toga's aim tends to be perfect, but the knife just managed to slice through both his shirt and his binder strap.
As soon as Toga stepped away, Kirishima let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. With his freedom granted the redhead quickly sped over to Bakugo as fast as possible with a hand covering his wound, wanting everything that had just happened to disappear with a blink.
When Bakugo realized that his binder was damaged it felt like he had been hit in the chest with the pure, unbridled feeling of discomfort. He hated the feeling that came with not having his binder on (or on correctly) while around others,especially someone he knew. "You-" He paused mid sentence, not wanting to chase after Toga while thinking he looked like a complete idiot. He had a choice to make. Run after Toga while feeling like a complete buffoon or make sure Kirishima, his injured friend, the boy who had a smile that could rival the happiest golden retriever, was looked back at Kirishima, and walked over to him to grab his wrist. Truthfully, Bakugo felt like punching the redhead for making such a stupid mistake by trusting a complete stranger, something that he knew was one of his few weaknesses, something that he knew was going to put him at risk in the future. Instead, he pulled the other into a hug, still aware of the broken binder he was wearing. "Let's go get you cleaned up." He mumbled, mad at himself since he wasn't able to chase after the villain.
Kirishima clung onto the other as if he was about to lose him, not even noticing the broken binder. "i'm sorry, i'm so sorry" The redhead choked out, barely above a whisper. The shark-toothed male knew he was probably overreacting so he was quick to get himself together and pull back. He didn't want to seem like a baby or risk getting any blood on the other even if he still wanted to hug or something to satisfy his urge to be in contact with Bakugo. Intimacy was the word. A word that he wasn't able to place at this moment.
After a beat of lingering silence, a moment of fading shock for them to process what had happened, Kirishima asked "What about the beef for the spagheti?", sounding a bit worried, caring more about if they were still going to be able to eat together then how bad he was bleeding. His watermelon-red eyes flicked around, checking to make sure Bakugo was ok, noticing how his shirt was cut and that there was something under the others clothing but figuring it was an undershirt of sorts and not thinking a thing about it
"Forget it, there's probably some at home anyways." He said, awkwardly adjusting his shirt. "You're more important than that, though." He looked the redhead dead in the eyes, wanting to make sure the other understood he meant it. The blonde picked up the shopping bags that he had been quick to drop when ready to run after the villain, grabbing it all in one arm before taking Kirishima's hand with the other. "Let's just get out of here. I already paid for everything." He said, giving the redhead a little shoulder bump that earned a light smile from the redhead, seeing the other smile was a relief.
Kirishima's heart swelled in an instant, it meant a lot to hear that he was important to the other. He had no idea how to explain how much the blond meant to him but he knew that he would figure out how. "I can carry some of the stuff if you want," he offered as they began to walk, hand in hand. He didn't want to let go for even a second.
"It's fine, I can handle it." Bakugo instinctively checked the spot where Toga had sliced him, wanting to make sure the other was okay. "You shouldn't carry, or do anything until we make sure you're fine. you're lucky she didn't cut you that much ." He added, opening the door for the redhead.
Kirishima simply nodded, he was going to disagree and say that it was probably fine for him to carry a bag but he decided against it, not wanting to make a bigger deal out of something so simple even if he just wanted to be helpful, so he instead kept a hand over his wound as Bakugo led him to the bathroom, hoping that they wouldn't attract any weird glances with him bleeding and all. "shouldn't we tell the heros or at least that we saw Toga?" he suddenly asked while the pair finally reached the bathroom which was thankfully empty.
"Sit." The blond patted the counter that was lined with sinks, going to collect a few paper towels and wadding them up, running them under warm water after having placed the grocery bags down by the sink. Bakugo wasn't exactly a master at tending to wounds but he knew that they couldn't just walk out of the store with the redhead had taken a lot of the blood that she had drawn from the other so (to his relief) there wasn't much overall damage.
Kirishima nodded, obediently climbing up on the counter as his legs swung back and forth, he watched the other as he waited for a response. He knew that Bakugo was thinking over his response and not ignoring him, something that someone could assume if you didn't know the blond that well.
"It's most likely not important that we saw her. She was probably just messing with us. Villains like playing tricks on heroes just for the fun of it so it shouldn't be a problem." He said, doubting his words just a bit while cleaning up the others' cut, causing Kirishima to hiss in pain. "sorry-" Bakugo mumbled, putting his hand in the redhead's non-bloody one so that he could squeeze it when needed. If they told someone then that would mean whoever they told would know about the pair skipping school, he didn't want to get Kirishima in trouble so hopefully this was simply a 'wrong place,wrong time' type thing.
"Ok" the redhead said while squeezing the other's hand lightly, the gesture caused him to smile. It was something so simple yet it showed just how attentive and sweet the other was under the surface. The lingering pain caused him to squirm uncomfortably as the paper towel turned from brown to maroon but Bakugos patience helped. The monosyllable was an automatic reply, it sounded like he didn't exactly believe what Bakugo had said yet he didn't want the topic to turn into an argument. It didn't feel right not to tell anyone but what could they do? Maybe they could send in an anonymous tip to the police.
"The cut doesn't look that deep but there are bandages at home if you want one. It looks fine for now." He moved on to wipe the other's blood smeared hand off, knowing full well that Kirishima could have washed the dried substance off in the sink by himself. The silence was comforting. Neither of the boys were in any rush to break the trance that they were in. After a while of him taking his time, Bakugo pulled away to toss the paper towels in the trash, checking the time on his phone. Dang, it was already half an hour past one. Scooping up the grocery bags, he glanced over at the redhead who was hopping off the counter with a smile, quick to return to his side.
Without even needing to ask, Kirishima slipped his hand into the others as they made their way out of the bathroom and to the entrance of the store. Once they were back in public the redhead stuck noticeably closer to the blond, not even worrying about the fact that they were holding hands.
The blonde felt a smile pulling at his lips, admittedly he loved it when the two were so close together. He couldn't describe the feeling, it just made his brain all fuzzy and he couldn't think straight. He gently pulled the redhead along as they passed the register agrea, the feeling of wanting to be close was mutual. "That was an annoying delay." He groaned, already sounding really exhausted from the day. "This is the one time I wish I had a teleporting quirk." He admitted before adding in a muffled tone, "And a healing quirk. For you, I mean."
Kirishima kinda liked being pulled along, it was nice for the other to take the reins every so often. The redhead felt pretty tired too but he was able to stay awake and energized with Bakugo by his side, looking forward to spending more time with him. He couldn't help but smile from the others' words as they exited the store. "Maybe when we get to your house we could eat dinner and watch tv on the couch?" He suggested, falling asleep with Bakugo close was a thought that made him smile.
The blonde nodded, really liking the idea. "I'd love tha-'' He froze for a moment, clearing his throat before correcting himself. "Yeah, whatever you want, shitty hair-'' He said, not realizing that the two were brushing shoulders now. "What about a movie? I bet you couldn't handle a horror one." He laughed softly, knowing the redhead tended to get frightened during scary movies. It was pretty funny actually. Kirishima would never back down from hero work but scary movies would get him, especially supernatural movies.
Kirishima noticed what the other stopped himself from saying and it made him smile a bright, toothy smile that was reserved for the one and only Bakugo. It was one that never ceased to make the blond smile as well. Kiri was glad that the other reciprocated his eagerness to spend time together, even if it was as simple as sitting on the couch and most likely falling asleep in a matter of minutes. "Psh, I bet I could handle whatever scary movie you pick better than you could, "the redhead said, knowing darn well that all of the past experiences he's had with watching horror movies with others were stacked against him and that he would most likely end up covering his eyes with a nearby pillow or blanket if given the chance. Though, his fear of knife wielding and flesh eating maniacs didn't stop him from challenging Bakugo, even if he wasn't exactly aiming to go through with what he said.
"Uh-huh, sure." The wine-red eyed male said, knowing that the other was bluffing just to appear like a good opponent. "There's no way you're gonna handle it better than me." Bakugo's overconfident side quickly came back once again.
"Just wait and see Bakubro" Kirishima said, still messing around. The redhead had always been fond of the others' confidence and ability to quickly become competitive, it was endearing. (even if he didn't exactly know what endearing fully meant.)
After a beat of silence, the blonde's phone went off, signaling that he'd gotten a text message. "Must be the old hag." He huffed, pulling out his phone to check. He mentally fist-pumped, though it really showed on the outside as he read it. "Looks like they're going out tonight so we'll be alone." He said, happy to know that his parents wouldn't be around to annoy them. Underneath how he acted, he did like them but a break is always nice every once in a while.
"So that means we can stay up for as long as we want?" the redhead asked with a cheesy smile, he was a little bummed that he wouldn't get to meet the others parents but nonetheless ecstatic due to the others mood boost. the fact that it would be just the two alone didn't bother him at all. He gasped suddenly, his face brightening in seconds "can we build a fort to watch tv in?" he asked, practically bouncing from excitement, quickly forgetting anything other then wanting to build a fort with the blond
Bakugo rolled his eyes playfully, enjoying the other's excitement. "Yes to both of your questions." He said, and couldn't help but laugh from the other's enthusiastic mood. "You really act like a 6-year-old sometimes, you know that?" He added, smiling like a complete dork. "I love it." The blonde, at this point, wasn't watching what he was saying, due to the fact he was so fixated on the other's bright and fun behavior. It made him feel fuzzy inside, like nothing else in the world mattered.
"I know," Kirishima said as he beamed a smile, overwhelmingly happy from both the other's smile and words. The redhead had no idea how to explain how he felt in the moment but he knew that he felt really happy,it was like he had butterflies in his stomach. It was as if the whole world stopped and it was just them goofing social constructs, no judgment from strangers, no villains and no worry. Just the pair freely doing whatever they wanted. "I've never seen you smile like that before.." He mentioned, feeling confident enough to say something even if it meant regretting it later "i like seeing you smile like that. i like it a lot so i think i'll act like this more often if it means i can see it again" he said, meaning the words wholeheartedly
The blonde's expression froze, embarrassed by how he'd let himself show like that. "Shut up." He shot back, glaring at the redhead yet the softness in his eyes stayed. Did he really just slip up like that? Bakugo was mad at himself for letting himself do that, he didn't want to give Kirishima any hints in the blonde liking him; not like he hadn't already but he wasnt going to throw away their friendship for some dumb feelings. "Don't you dare even think about acting like that- That's not fair-" Bakugo added, his glare melting into something more of an expression similar to a frustrated child who didn't get what they had wanted.
Kirishima's smile faltered for a moment, thinking that he had said something wrong before soon realizing that it was ok and that Bakugo wasn't actually mad at him. "Well then if that's not fair then..- it's not fair when you act all confident and competitive" he said, crossing his arms as if that was final, a smile returning to his face, clearly enjoying the moment.
"You're just mad that I'm going to win." The blond shot back with a smirk, bringing back the former conversation and rubbing in the fact he was going to withstand the movie better than the redhead as a way to regain some cockyness, something that he knew the redhead adored.
"No way, I'm definitely going to win." Kirishima said, sticking his tongue out at the other. Today was going to be a memorable one, he was sure of it.