Harder. More.

Eijiro Kirishima, sweat pouring down his chiselled face, could feel his head pounding and his heart sinking, and yet still he ploughed on. Still he could feel the darkness prodding at the edge of his mind, still his heart felt weighed down and crushed. Try as he might to power through and focus himself elsewhere, he couldn't shake his feelings, and they were suffocating him.

I won't regret anything!

The blows rained down, hardened fists on black, the sound of metal clinking and groaning ringing in his ears as he pushed himself on, sharpened teeth gritted in anger and anguish.

Now or ever again!

He screwed his eyes shut as his arms hardened again, jagged edges emerging from his skin as he threw everything into his punches. On his knuckles he could feel the familiar leather of the bag in his room, but with his eyes closed all he could see was his arms outstretched and clenching around thin air, doing nothing as the hulking giant with a voice of a demon loomed over his classmates.

I'll do it. I'll become a hero. I'll protect people!

In his mind he saw the fear on the face of the citizens of Esuha City as he bore the brunt of the thief's Blade attack. He saw the muzzle flash of the gun, the bullet that hit Amajiki and disabled his powerful friend; he felt the ricochet of the bullet intended for him, just how close he could have been to knowing what it was like to be utterly powerless.

If I crack then I'll harden again!

In his mind he saw his own shattered arms, overcome by the staggering strength of Rappa's whirlwinding arms in an instant. He saw himself paralysed with fear and crumbling, unable to do anything as the brute of the Eight Bullets landed blow after blow on his mentor Fat Gum. Fat Gum, who bravely stood to shield him from harm.

Stay strong! Protect others!

In his mind he saw the girl they had been looking for, Eri, arms wrapped in bandages as a horrific reminder of what she had been put through on a daily basis until they had arrived to start their raid. He saw Eraser Head and Rock Lock, two fine Pro Heroes, being loaded into the back of an ambulance with a medic frantically tending to their knife wounds. He saw his bruised and broken mentor cradle Amajiki into a hug, saw Uraraka and Asui struggle to support each other.

He saw the marks on Midoriya, barely able to stand having been knocked out from the fight with Overhaul. He saw Lemillion, staggering in the arms of two police officers, ferocious concrete spikes still embedded in his legs where he had almost been torn apart. And he saw Sir Nighteye, the fearless genius who had united them all to lead the raid on the Shie Hassaikai, blood pouring from the wound in his torso where he had been impaled.

And he saw himself, cocooned in bandages on a stretcher, wheeled away from the carnage. The last time he had seen Sir Nighteye, before being told he had passed away in hospital...

Even if it means your life!

"AAAAAAAAAGH!"

In one moment, his Quirk spread across his entire body and one mighty, solid fist slammed into the centre of the bag with such force that it ripped from the chain securing it and slammed into the wall of his room.

"Unbreakable!" Eijiro yelled, a primal scream from the depths of his lungs, before collapsing to his knees. His Quirk was still raging, fragmented skin across his whole body and bloodshot eyes now harder than rock, but in a few moments of panting for air his skin slowly faded back to normal. He couldn't hold it anymore.

"Why?" he asked himself, slamming one hardened fist against the floorboards and closing his eyes. "Why don't I believe that any more?"

He lifted his head up towards the roof. "Why can't I stay strong?!"

"Um, I think we need to talk, Kiri."

He started at the sound of her voice from the doorway of his room. His oldest friend at U.A and a beacon of light in the worst times. He hadn't wanted her to see this- to see him collapsed on the floor of his room, his punching bag thrown into the wall, fists balled in agony. "M-Mina? When did you-?"

"I could hear ya from the end of the corridor, y'know," she said, nervously playing with one of her horns. "I don't need to be Jiro to know when you're screaming at the world."

"Oh, yeah, that," Eijiro said, laughing nervously and forcing a toothy grin. "Trying to push myself to go beyond and get back to my best kinda means a bit more motivation, right?"

"Right." She folded her arms and pursed her lips, staring seriously and intently at him. "You know I don't believe that for one second, right?"

For a moment he held the smile, jagged teeth gritted, but then his shoulders slumped and his head bowed. He couldn't lie to Mina Ashido, his oldest friend at U.A and the one person who knew where he had come from to get where he was now. She knew better and deserved better. "Yeah, I know..."

"I know you when you're determined and when you're pushing yourself. There's a fire in your eyes when you smile, which is kinda inspiring to everyone else, when you're really going beyond. That smile of yours didn't make it to your eyes, Kiri." Her gaze softened, taking in the clenched fists and heavy breathing. "You're hurting, aren't ya? And I don't mean physically, even if you're still wearing your bandages on your legs."

"Mina..." He swallowed, head still bowed, unable to find the words as quickly as he usually could. There was no use trying to hide it, or joke his way around it; to her he was transparent. "I... I can't take it."

"This is about what happened on Work Studies right? The Shie Hassaikai Raid?"

"Yeah..." He looked up at Mina, fists clenching and unclenching. "I nearly lost. I nearly died and so did the others. I-"

"You took on two thugs, including a guy who was a king at underground fighting and who had only ever lost to Overhaul, the literally overpowered bad guy you all took down. You and Fat Gum beat people like that, and helped everyone save that little girl. I'm so proud of you."

He gulped at her words, trying to steady himself, but he was still shaking. "Mina, I froze. Fat Gum nearly died because of me locking up. For a minute I-"

"You were back at Mustafu?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh Kiri..." Mina looked at him and laid one pink hand on his trembling right shoulder. "You've come so far since then."

"I couldn't... One punch cracked me and left me watching Fat Gum get pummelled. By the time I stepped in he was nearly gone-"

All he felt was her wrap her arms around him, crouched down on her knees and bringing him in for a hug. Such a simple gesture and yet one that completely silenced him as he felt her hands rub down his hardened back, his skin softening to her touch.

"You don't have to pretend you're okay when you've been through so much, Kiri," she said gently, gripping onto him tightly. "I'm so proud of what you did, but I can't even imagine how tough it was. Of course that's gonna hurt you, and you don't have to pretend otherwise."

His eyes widened at just how easily she saw through him. "... I was so scared, Mina. I could have died-"

"And I'm so glad you didn't." She squeezed him again, chin resting on his shoulder. "But given all that I think you can allow yourself some time to recover. You've grown so far since Mustafu or you'd never have done half of what you were able to do, but even so, it's normal to be hurt by what happened and to need time to get past it."

He could feel the tears coming. "You're not disappointed? That I can't get past it right away?"

"As great as I think you are, you're such a dummy sometimes, Kiri. I'd be more worried if you were completely unscathed, because then you'd be a psycho." She paused, and her voice sounded so soft, so unlike her teasing norm. "Your emotions always ate you up, and you try to shut that down and say ya can grow past them. You did it at Mustafu, and you do it here. I know you feel you have so much to prove to so many people, but please don't let that eat you alive again by bottling it up when you aren't coping well."

She released him from the hold she had him in with the hug, and held onto his shoulders firmly to look at him, her yellow eyes meeting trembling red. "I told you to let me know when you got over your old gloomy self, because you can't bear it all on you. But there's something important you never got, and that I need to remind you of. It's okay to not be okay."

"Mina..."

"If you're not okay, I'm here for ya, Kiri," she said, squeezing his left shoulder. "Being manly isn't about pushing it down and letting it eat ya alive. Being manly is about having the guts to know when you aren't alright, to accept it, and to let others help you move forward."

She paused, and smiled gently at him; no toothy, mocking grin like her usual ones directed at him whenever he talked about manliness, but something born of kindness. "Let me help you, Mister Unbreakable."

That was the opening of the floodgates. That was the moment Eijiro let go of everything pressing him down, holding him like a vice. All the fear he had felt during the Shie Hassaikai Raid which he'd tried so hard to bury deep since, all the anger at seeing the devastation wreaked upon his friends and mentors, all the sadness at the pain and loss came pouring out.

Those words he had needed to hear since he came back to U.A, broken on the inside and lost within his own mind, were a godsend. With a wail, he buried his head into Mina's shoulder, wrapping his own arms around his friend and sobbing into her shoulder. All he needed was to know she was there, to feel her rubbing his back as the tears at Nighteye's loss and how close he himself had come to death come out.

He didn't know how long he'd been there, cradled in her arms on the floor of his room, crying his eyes out. All he knew is that when his tears stopped, when he resurfaced and met her gaze again, her own yellow eyes were pushing back a gentle tear of their own. "Mina-"

"You know, you have one of the biggest hearts I know, Eijiro," she said, interrupting him as she wiped away her own tear. "You always have had, and I think everyone admires you for how much you care about people. It makes you sensitive, and it makes you hurt more, and you shouldn't see that as a weakness."

"You mean that?"

"Yeah, no doubt about it! You arranged the group to rescue Bakugo, you chased down a villain who hurt Amajiki, and I heard you jumped in front of Mr Aizawa to try to protect him." She prodded him with a pink finger. "That's gutsy, mister. That shows your big heart off."

"I try-"

"Yeah ya do, and we all see it! But when you're rushing in and in the middle of it all, you're bound to see shit that affects you. You're bound to have moments where you're frightened, times when your life is on the line and when you're scared what happens to other. You're not gonna get out of it all the time without a scratch, and when you don't..." She smiled at him, and Eijiro felt a weight lift off his shoulders. "I'm always gonna be here to help ya."

He sniffed, wiping away his tears, knowing that in his heart he was coming to terms with it. "... I owe you. I'm not gonna be okay for a little bit, and I'm probably gonna cry a lot more this week, but you've helped me realise that if I need to do that, I should. I'll be a man and realise I can admit when I'm not okay."

"Good boy. If you need to cry, come lean on my shoulder and do it. If you need to watch sad movies and eat ice cream, I'll steal some from Toru and come give ya a hug. Don't ever forget I'm here for ya, you got it?"

He smiled, weaker than his usual grin, but it was genuine. "Since when were you good at being serious and caring for people? All you ever do is smile at people and make fun of them."

She held her hand over her mouth sarcastically, as if wounded by his joke. "Eijiro Kirishima, how horrible! It's only, like, seventy percent of what I do."

He laughed for the first time, and shook his head, before looking into those bright yellow eyes again. "Thank you... I didn't know how much I needed this."

"Hey, don't sweat it." She punched his shoulder lightly as if teasing him, but he could see the care in her eyes. "It's what I'm here for. And anyway, I ain't the only one who will remind you you're pretty awesome when you need to. I asked someone else who's concerned to come remind you of that to."

"Huh? What do you-"

"You can come in now!"

"Hey, Weird Hair."

Eijiro jumped upright in an instant at the gruff voice, as the newcomer slouched into his room. There was only one person that could be, and given the reception that the 'crybaby' Midoriya usually got from him, he was just a little bit panicked. "B-Bakugo?! You brought Bakugo here now?!"

"You do know his hair isn't that different from yours, right Bak-"

"YOU SHUT IT DEMON GIRL, I'M HERE FOR HIM, NOT YOU!"

Eijiro sweatdropped, scratching the back of his head nervously. "You do know he's not that great with the whole emotional stuff right, Mina?"

"Yeah, but neither are you, Shark Week, so looks like I was needed here huh?"

Both Mina and Eijiro started for a second at the blunt reply from Katsuki, before Mina nervously laughed, stood besides Eijiro and nudging him in the side. "He's kinda right about you there, Kiri."

"Yeah, I guess he is," Eijiro said, smiling sheepishly. "Did you make him wait outside?"

"Yeah, he heard the screaming too and came out when I got here. I thought he might wanna help put ya right too, but I wanted to step in first and talk some sense."

"For once, she's better than me at something," Katsuki said with a tut.

"Sorry you had to see me like this bro," Eijiro said, turning to Katsuki. "Turns out I'm not as strong as I thought after-"

"You're strong anyway," Katsuki interrupted, bluntly, sullenly. "Doesn't mean you can't get upset."

"Eh?"

Katsuki looked straight at him, with a ferocity to his glare rivalling the fury Eijiro saw whenever his friend went up against Midoriya. "You are strong. You think I give a shit about if you need to cry every now and then because a mission got too fucked up? It's worse if you let it eat you up pretending you're alright, idiot."

He reached across and clamped a hand down on Eijiro's shoulder, the one Mina wasn't currently leaning on. "You're my front horse and a fucking bulldozer, but you're good to people. That means you're bound to get hurt, so don't try and shy away from it when you need to confront it. It's not... manly."

"Woah..." Eijiro had never seen that side to his best friend before. "Bakubro, you're actually describing stuff as manly now. I never thought I'd hear you say that."

"Tch." Katsuki looked away, but Eijiro wasn't fooled; there was a ghost of a smirk there. "Just don't hold back on anything, Kirishima. Your hero work, your feelings, nothing. That's your job as front horse, remember? No retreat."

"Right..." Eijiro smiled, and looked up at Katsuki with some of his usual fire back in his eyes. "Thanks for coming, bro. It means a lot."

"Hey, she asked, I came," came the blunt reply. "But as I'm here, this came for you too."

"This?" Eijiro realised that Katsuki's arm was outstretched towards him, holding an envelope. "For me?"

"It came when you were away for the raid," Mina explained, as Eijiro took the envelope and read the envelope, addressed to 'Red Riot'. "Bakugo brought it to me, Sero and Todoroki when he read it and couldn't work out who it was for. None of us read it, but funnily enough it was easy to work out who it was for."

"Because of my hero name on the envelope?"

"Uh-huh. You got it!"

"So wait a sec, it wasn't addressed to you and you still opened it?" Eijiro asked Bakugo, who was looking away at the punching bag, still on the floor. "Why, bro?"

"You remember the Sports Festival? And how he didn't remember any of our Quirks or names for the Cavalry Battle?" Mina jerked her thumb at him, rolling her eyes in a big exaggerated manner. "He still doesn't know our hero names."

"YOU SHUT IT RACCOON EYES!"

"Or my actual name, apparently."

"I'M WARNING YOU-"

"Hey hey, easy Bakubro," Eijiro said, the one hand not clutching the letter held out to gesture at his friend and calm him down. "I'm not mad, just maybe stick to your own stuff in future okay? Anything addressed to Blasty McSplode and it's yours."

"THAT'S NOT MY HERO NAME YOU SPIKY-HAIRED FUCK!"

Mina's giggling at Katsuki's outburst put a smile on his face again; even in the hardest of times, no matter what pain he felt, it was clear he could rely on his friends to help him through. "So what does it... no way-"

"Ooh, who's it from?" Mina asked, peering over his shoulder, before her wide eyes widened even further. "It's from the mayor of Esuha City?!"

Eijiro's red eyes widened as he read. "He's thanking me for what I did on my Work Study... it's signed by all the people from the alleyway. He's-"

"He's giving you a KEY TO THE CITY?!" Mina squealed, her hand clutching his shoulder and shaking him. "Kiri look how grateful they are to you! They're inviting you back as a proper Pro Hero when you graduate! That's amazing-"

"Yeah, no sweat," Eijiro said, a tear coming to his eye again. "I can't believe it..."

"That's the good you can do, you see?"

Katsuki's blunt interruption stopped Eijiro in his tracks. "Was that a compliment from you?"

"Don't make me regret saying it, okay?" Katsuki's fists clenched as he whirled to face Eijiro. "These people wrote to you because you stood strong and saved them. You put yourself in front of a bastard with blades and you were their shield. YOU'RE A FUCKING HERO, WEIRD HAIR!"

He grabbed the punching bag from the floor and wrenched it back up onto the pole in an instant. "You can get upset and hurt, and you're gonna get even more hurt in future the more you do. Be afraid, and be hurt, and don't ever hold back. Because when you get yourself over it, you get back out there. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOU CAN DO, IDIOT. AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!"

"Bakubro-" Eijiro was in awe.

Katsuki whirled to face Mina. "You good with him from here?"

"Course I am," she replied, clenching a fist. "Thanks for coming, Bakugo."

"Heh." Bakugo slouched over to the door, then paused, looking back at a teary-eyed Eijiro with the slightest smirk. "Whatever you need, take it. I'll see you when I'm done with this shitty exam."

"You got it." He raised a thumbs up to his departing friend's back. "Thanks bro..."

"See, he's really a softie at heart, I tell ya."

Eijiro turned to look at Mina in disbelief. "Be honest, did that go the way you were expecting?"

"It went the way I was hoping-"

"Expecting?"

"I never know what to expect with him, c'mon! I just knew he had your letter and he looked like he wanted to help. I'm just relieved."

Eijiro laughed at her honesty. "I really do owe both of you. I'm still not feeling great but that's okay, and I can get through this. I just might need to ask you for a little help at times, that's all."

She smiled at him and pinched his cheeks, making him groan. "Happy to help ya, Kiri. Although I do know something we can do that'll help you cheer up and will mean you can pay me back."

"Oh crap. What are you-"

"Don't worry, silly! There's an ice cream cart outside the front gates, let's go get some." She linked her arm into his and started dragging him towards the door, and inside his head Eijiro marvelled at how his friend could be so caring and such a bubbly force of nature at the same time. "You can buy me sorbet! Ooh, or a chocolate sundae-"

"Fine, but next time we're stealing ice cream from Hagakure! You're an expensive friend."

She giggled. "Worth every penny, mister. Now come on! Ice cream!"

He rolled his eyes as they walked together, as she dragged him down the stairs of their dorm and out in pursuit of ice cream. She could read him like a book, and in the current time there was nothing he needed more. Sure, this might take him more than a couple of days to get back to his useful fearless self, to encouraging his classmates without it being forced, but with her help he could get there. And she was right, after all- it was okay for him to not be okay...

His train of thought was interrupted as they left through the front door, hearing a sniffle on his left. In an instant his head snapped left and he saw it, Izuku Midoriya sat crying his eyes out on the concrete outside the dorm, with the normally-aloof Tenya Iida sat on his left draping an arm over his shoulders as if to comfort him. "I-I'm sorry, I-Iida..."

Eijiro paused, noticing the tears still streaming down Midoriya's cheeks, but noticing even more that the green-haired boy's eyes widened on seeing him. He knew his own eyes were red and sore from crying, and Midoriya could probably tell. "... Wait, Mina."

"Huh?" Mina caught on too and stopped. "Oh, Midori, Iida, hey there-"

"H-Hey guys..." Midoriya's normally ever-present smile was gone, and Iida was squeezing his shoulder as if to comfort him, in that really awkward but well-meaning Iida way.

Eijiro saw the meaning of this in an instance, and looking to Mina he saw a brief, near-imperceptible nod from her. This was pain he shared; war wounds of the mind. "You too, huh?"

Midoriya met his eyes and nodded without a word. "..."

Eijiro smiled weakly, and closed his eyes. "I know that feeling, Midoriya. You're not alone, and it's okay. I'm feeling it too. This ain't easy, is it?"

"Say, Midori, Iida," Mina said, looking between the redhead and the green-haired boys as Midoriya started to tear up even more at Eijiro's words, "do you want to come with us to get some ice cream? It may help your mood to eat something?"

"Sounds like an excellent idea, Ashido," Iida said without hesitation, but Eijiro heard none of his usual bluster; just the edge of concern about his own best friend. "I'll pay for myself and Midoriya."

"Aww, but Kiri was gonna pay for-"

"Don't even finish that." As Mina chuckled to herself, Eijiro reached out a hand to Midoriya with a gentle smile. "We can talk on the way back, alright?"

"Y-Yeah. Please." Midoriya reached out with one scarred hand and took Eijiro's hand, pulling himself upright. "L-Let's go."

No more words were needed as the four classmates made their way to the edge of campus, as Eijiro slung his left arm over Midoriya's back in much the same way as Iida and bowed his head. Her arm still linked through Eijiro's right arm, Mina looked up to meet Iida's gaze from Midoriya's left with a gentle smile, and mouthed a thank you. Two friends, looking out for their pained and tired classmates, doing their best to let them know they were there.

It would take both of them a while to heal, Eijiro knew that. They'd seen so much in the way of devastation, and Mina had opened his eyes to the truth that it was okay to show how it had affected him. He would need her help, and in turn he would do his best to help Midoriya, as both of them took on their demons and their pain going forward.

No more hiding from the pain. No more pretending to be unscathed. Whatever happened in future, however hard things got, he would own the hardship and rise above it with the help of his friends, to become the best hero and the best man he could be.

He might not be there yet. But in time, in body and spirit, he'd become truly unbreakable.

(***)

A/N: And that's a wrap, folks.

If you watched the Red Riot episode and didn't fall in love with Kirishima even a little bit more, I have no clue what you were doing. One of the finest episodes of the anime so far, and one of the finest performances from a VA too- in the dub, Justin Cook gave me literal chills.

This guy is my favourite of Class 1A, if not my favourite character, and I wanted to write something to honour that. Something that messes with his insecurities and gets him driving forward. And hey, bonus Bakugo content is always a hoot. I might write more of him in future, but something for Jiro and some villain shenanigans (Toga, Twice, Compress perhaps) is on my radar before then.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. As always, any reviews or favourites or PMs make this author's day; just don't flame, please, that's all I ever ask.

Ya boy, out.