Chapter IX
The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
For a moment, Bakugo stood in Kaminari's doorway, his arms folded over his chest. His crimson-colored eyes glinted in the dim lighting of Kaminari's dorm, squinted down to slits and glistening like shards of glass as if they could cut something at any moment.
Kaminari just stood there, golden eyes meeting Bakugo's own red ones. When he opened the door, he had appeared hunched over, like he was carrying the weight of something unseen on his shoulders, but as soon as he saw Bakugo, he straightened up, his posture becoming stiff and rigid. Something glinted in his eyes that Bakugo couldn't quite figure out, but whatever it was, it was gone just as soon as it had appeared.
As soon as he saw him, Bakugo instinctively tensed up. He had never considered himself really close to Kaminari, but for some reason, the dumbass had always thought he was close with him. Every time they ran into each other, he would always try to smile at him and punch him in the arm as if had known him forever, which annoyed Bakugo to an extent. The guy was too friendly with everyone, acting as if every person he ran into was someone he had known all his life, even if it was irritating as shit. Kirishima had told him it was because he was just nice that way, but Bakugo suspected it was just because Kaminari was too clueless to know where to draw the line.
And still, no matter what he did, everyone just seemed to naturally like him. It didn't matter how crazy and loud and he acted or how obvious he made his empty-headedness; he just seemed to have a natural pull of someone to be friends with. Bakugo didn't believe in charisma, but if it did exist he felt that Kaminari would have it. For some reason, that whole fact had just made him all the more annoying to deal with.
Recently though, Bakugo had grown much more tolerant of Kaminari's behavior. He wouldn't consider him a 'friend' by any means; more like nowadays he just didn't feel the need to blow him up every time he opened his mouth. He would let him punch him in the arm and call him "Kacchan" or "Bakubro" or whatever half-assed nickname he had for him at the time. Once, Sero had teased him about it, saying that he was "getting soft", which Bakugo had quickly put a stop to by threatening to "beat his ass" until Kirishima calmed him down.
Even if he did find him a little bit amusing, he wouldn't admit it to anyone, let alone himself. Still, when he saw Kaminari in the doorway, he instinctively prepared himself for a weirdly big smile or a punch to the arm, or to be called "Kacchan" or something. Anything other than the blank stare Kaminari had given him would have been fine. For a moment, he just stood there nervously, shoving his hands into the pockets of his blue hoodie, his mouth pulled down into a small frown.
It was almost like a slap to the face. He would never say he was worried or anything along those lines, even to himself, but for some reason seeing Kaminari acting so...not like himself made Bakugo feel things he would rather not feel. So instead, he deepened his glare, choosing to get angry and annoyed over Kaminari allowing himself to get so bent out of shape by something like this as opposed to...the other option.
Besides, he reminded himself why he was here. He wasn't completely sure what was going on, but every time he played the events of what had happened over the past week over again in his mind, there were just things that didn't seem to completely match up. It was like everything was a piece from a different puzzle, but someone had taken them and forced them to go together despite the obvious. Still, everyone just went with it, ignoring the fact that the picture it created made absolutely no sense or how there were all these other unused pieces lying scattered around.
The whole thing was too weird to ignore. Even after Kirishima's blow up, he was sure that Kaminari somehow played into this. He wasn't sure how yet, but he couldn't forget that creepy, cold smile he had seen at the hospital amidst all his tears, like some sort of a crack in a dam that had only just become visible at that moment.
He wasn't sure what he expected to gain by talking to him. He wasn't even sure what Kaminari's place in all of this was; all he hoped for was just some sort of insight, some chance to ask all the questions that had been building up in his mind. Or rather, it wasn't really talking. More like confronting. Ever since the hospital, there was something else about Kaminari that Bakugo noticed. Something he didn't trust. He didn't know what it was, but every time he thought about it that same cold feeling ran down his spine, like long ghostly fingers pricking him from behind. At this point, he wasn't sure what was true and wasn't true, so for now, this was what he knew. Sero fell out the window. He fell into a coma, with no signs of waking up. Everyone close to him was shaken. Kaminari was affected the most and was especially fragile right now. And unless (or until) one of those was proven to be false, that was all he had to go off of.
However, now he wasn't even sure if that last one was true. This was his chance to see if it was true or not.
"You. We need to talk," Bakugo said gruffly, looking down at Kaminari.
Giving a small sigh, Kaminari rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger as he leaned against the doorframe. He didn't have bags under his eyes like Kirishima, but for some reason, he still seemed tired. "Kirishima's not in here. I think I heard him in his room or something—"
"I know where he is," Bakugo grumbled, stepping farther inside. "I came to talk to you, dumbass. What the hell do you think 'we need to talk' means?"
"O-Oh!" Kaminari stuttered, blinking in surprise as his brain slowly worked to register what Bakugo had said. Bakugo released a small grunt of annoyance; sometimes Kaminari was so slow it was almost painful to deal with.
Without waiting for an invitation, Bakugo slipped past Kaminari into his dorm, cringing at the look of it. He had only bothered to go to his dorm five or six times, and during all their time in the dorms, Kaminari had never once thought to fix his room so it didn't look like everything came straight out of the bad section of Craigslist. Huffing, he made the conscious decision to stand rather than sit down as Kaminari closed the door behind him, delving the two in complete silence.
Wordlessly, Kaminari crossed the room over to his bed, setting himself down on the leopard-print striped covers. Without meeting Bakugo's eyes, the young student seated himself in the far corner of his bed by the headboard, sitting on his legs and wrapping his arms around his stomach as if he were protecting himself. It was almost pathetic to watch, like observing an injured kitten on the side of the road. Completely vulnerable, looking small and helpless, where one look at it would make anybody want to run over and give it a hug.
Bakugo, however, knew very well by now that he wasn't anybody. And for some reason, when he looked at him he didn't feel sympathetic or anything like that. Only angry.
"Stop that," he growled, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Startled, Kaminari's head shot up, his golden eyes wide. "Huh? Stop what?"
"That," Bakugo repeated, nodding his head forward at Kaminari, his arms in his too-big hoodie sleeves still wrapped around himself. "What you're doing right now. It's pathetic. Show some damn dignity, will you?" At first, when the Sero Incident had happened, Bakugo might not have been so harsh, maybe even felt a little bad for him. But with everything that had happened recently, he was fed up with padding around him. However, he still had to compensate for the possibility that maybe Kaminari was upset about Sero, which was why he couldn't go too overboard.
As soon as the words slipped past his lips, Kaminari looked up at Bakugo, as if making sure he had heard him right. When he was certain Bakugo had meant what he said, he seemed to crumple a little bit, as if someone had just chipped off another section of him.
"Oh..." he muttered, looking down at the floor. For a second, he hugged himself a little tighter so that he looked even smaller than he already did as his face fell, his bottom lip quivering a little bit. If it was possible to look even more pitiful, he had definitely achieved it.
He looked so upset, so broken, that for a moment Bakugo wondered if this was a good idea. He wasn't typically one to second-guess himself, but the hurt on Kaminari's face was so real, so miserable, that for a moment he felt a small pinprick of a doubt at the back of his mind. It was tiny, but it was there, just barely breaking the surface. Still, he pushed the thought out of his mind, glowering. He still wasn't sure what was going on with Kaminari, or if these feelings were as extreme as he was making them out to be. He wasn't about to go soft now; Kaminari would just have to toughen the fuck up.
His gaze unwavering, Bakugo crossed his arms over his chest as Kaminari sat there for a minute longer. For a second, he thought he saw him glance up at him, as if seeing if he were still watching him, but Bakugo couldn't be sure.
"Right. Um...sorry about that," Kaminari muttered, adjusting himself so that he sat up straighter and his arms were resting at his sides. His face still looked sullen, but Bakugo figured there wasn't much he could do about that. "I don't mean to be like...pathetic or anything like that." Kaminari went on with a shrug.
"Then stop acting so fucking helpless, dammit. I came here to talk to you, not listen to you bitch about everything."
Kaminari's entire body tensed up as if Bakugo had physically struck him. He looked like he wanted to bolt, but Bakugo blocked the entrance to the door, making it impossible to get out without getting past him. And that wasn't happening any time soon. He wasn't letting him leave until he got some answers. He didn't care if Kaminari broke down sobbing; unless he got a little bit of insight as to what was going on, he wasn't going anywhere. Whatever was going on here, Kaminari knew something about it. And Bakugo wasn't leaving until he managed to squeeze those answers out of him.
"Look, I'm sorry Bakugo. I'm really sorry. It's just...stuff's been really weird lately, with all that...you know..." Kaminari said, sounding as if he was trying to defend himself, but his voice trailed off when it started to crack, and he looked down again, refusing to meet Bakugo's eyes as his hands curled into fists at his sides.
Bakugo's glare deepened, taking a few steps towards Kaminari's bed. "Yeah, I know, dumbass. That's why I need to talk to you, so shut up and listen, will you?"
Kaminari glanced up again, now fiddling with the ends of his hoodie strings. Just the mention of it, his entire body froze. When he looked up, Bakugo saw that his pupils had constricted, and his chest rose and fell quickly as if his breathing a lot faster. "A-About Sero?" He stuttered, a slight edge to his voice as if he was already getting nervous.
No, the fucking emperor of Japan, Bakugo thought, tempted to say it, but managed to hold his tongue. Kaminari was obviously starting to get upset, and if Bakugo wanted to get any information out of him, he couldn't let him have a full-blown meltdown before he got anything. He had to at least try and make an effort to keep him calm.
"Yeah, about Sero, alright?" He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall. Instantly, Kaminari's breath quickened as his pupils constricted a little bit more.
"Hey, don't lose your shit," Bakugo growled, trying to prevent a meltdown. "I've just been thinking about it, and there's a lot of stuff that hasn't made sense to me."
"L-Like what?" Kaminari mumbled, fiddling with his hoodie strings again.
"Like why weren't you answering Kirishima's texts that night?" Bakugo finally asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. It was a simple question, phrased and said like an innocent inquiry, something to be curious of. Yet as he said it, his eyes narrowed together, glinting dangerously as he gazed at Kaminari with a fiery intensity.
His question obviously caught Kaminari off guard. Alarmed, he suddenly looked up to face Bakugo, his hands frozen with his hoodie strings still locked in his grasp. "What?" He asked as if he wasn't sure he understood what Bakugo had said.
"I mean, it just seems kind of weird to me," Bakugo went on as casually as he could, now straightening himself up and taking another step closer to Kaminari's bed. Outside, a cloud passed over the sun, and for a moment, the room was delved in shadow. Bakugo's crimson-colored eyes glinted in the new shade, and for just a split second, he thought he saw Kaminari's golden eyes flash. Bakugo narrowed his eyes.
"Was something bothering you or something? 'Cause according to Racoon Eyes you just went straight to your room after that study session," he went on, looking Kaminari straight in the face.
Kaminari swallowed, his voice cracking. "What, so I'm just expected to go and hang out with you guys 24/7? Maybe I just didn't feel like it," he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
Bakugo's glare deepened. He expected Kaminari to look away, refuse to meet Bakugo's gaze. Possible because he was upset talking about this and wanted to avoid it at all costs, or maybe because he didn't want to admit something. If he was lying about something, a red flag would definitely be not being able to meet his eyes.
But to his surprise, Kaminari met Bakugo's gaze head-on, his stare unwavering and intense. Much more intense than Bakugo had expected. For once, he was caught a little off guard but recovered just as quickly. His expression hardened and he crossed his arms over his chest again.
"Yeah, maybe you didn't feel like it. But I'm just saying, you usually come to hang out with Kirishima and Sero and shit," he went on. Suddenly, Bakugo's voice volume dropped, now speaking much quieter. For some reason, that just made it all the more menacing.
"So why didn't you? What exactly were you doing?"
The question lingered in the air for a moment longer, hanging above their heads like a boulder dangling precariously on a thread. There were a thousand more things catching in Bakugo's throat that he wanted to say, but for the moment he managed to stay quiet, letting the silence fill the space.
Kaminari blinked at Bakugo as if he were just barely comprehending what he was saying, or why he was saying it. But this time there was something else there. Something Bakugo wouldn't have noticed unless he looked closely, but he did. This time, talking to Kaminari, it wasn't like talking to a brick wall. It was like there was a storm brewing just below the surface, glistening in the back of his eyes. It was small, but it was there, just below the surface, something dark. Almost like a venomous snake, holding back it's dripping talons, despite being ready to strike at any moment.
However, just as soon as it appeared, it was gone again. Or rather, buried again, so that Bakugo couldn't see it, and Kaminari's face went back to being a ring of stress and sadness as if it hadn't happened at all. A twinge of unease pricked at Bakugo, something he never liked to admit, but he couldn't really deny that it was there either. It was like witnessing something that wasn't supposed to happen, something that wasn't natural, yet still existed.
Something was wrong here. Something was very, very wrong.
Still, Kaminari drew his legs close to his chest as if he hadn't done anything, seemingly too distraught to care if Bakugo thought it was pathetic or not. "Look, Bakugo...that night was really crazy. A lot of it just kind of seems like a blur. I don't really remember most of it, and I...I'm not really sure I want to..." On last part Kaminari sort of choked on his words a little bit, then just stopped and placed his head on his knees.
However, at this point, Bakugo was fed up with this game of playing cat-and-mouse. This whole time he had been scrambling for answers, and now he was being met with a dead end. Just because Kaminari "didn't want to talk about it" or some half-assed reason, Bakugo was being left with an unsolved puzzle because of one little thing. Besides, after thinking about some of the odd changes with Kaminari recently, that just made him even angrier with the result right now.
Letting his anger boil up inside of him, Bakugo balled his hands into fists at his sides. "The hell kind of vague-ass answer is that?" He growled through clenched teeth, using every last bit of his restraint not to pounce on Kaminari. "You do remember, just fucking try harder."
"Bakugo, I-I just can't—" Kaminari stuttered, tears now threatening to spill on his cheeks as his breath quickened, which only made Bakugo even angrier. Everything about this was wrong. Kaminari's blow-ups were too extreme. His reasons for all this shit was vague as fuck. And now, whatever was going on, he was going to let it slip away again just because of this one little thing.
Throwing all reason to the wind, Bakugo allowed explosions to crackle and pop in his hands, crossing the room over to Kaminari and grabbing his hoodie by the collar with a single hand. He was fed up with all of this. "DAMMIT, ASSHOLE!" He roared, infuriated, letting his explosions boom in his other hand. "JUST FUCKING COOPERATE WITH ME AND QUIT WHATEVER FUCKED-UP CHARADE YOU'RE PULLING IN THIS DAMN THING SO THIS HELLHOLE CAN BE DONE AND OVER WITH AND WE CAN ACTUALLY GET SOME SHIT DONE!"
Tears now spilling over his cheeks, Kaminari looked up at Bakugo, his breathing quick and sharp. "Bakugo, just...just LEAVE ME ALONE!" He cried, which only made Bakugo even angrier. Furious, Bakugo took his other hand and balled it into a fist, raised above Kaminari's face. He didn't care what he did at this point. He was so pissed off, so damn fed up with everything, that right now he only let his rage blind him.
However, just as he was about to punch Kaminari right in his nose, something happened. He had been so focused on Kaminari, on his frustration and anger, that he didn't notice. It almost happened in slow motion. As his fist was making its way for Kaminari, the student raised his hand, his face for a moment, just a moment, going cold. At the same time, he was making a move to start punching Kaminari, he raised his hand, almost in slow motion. His index and middle finger were up, something crackling on his fingertips, bright and yellow, burning with heat. He watched as it slowly made a move for the side of his head.
And then, just before they did, something in Kaminari's face shifted. It was small, minute, but it was just enough for Bakugo to notice.
And just at the last moment, before it made contact with his head, it was directed towards his wrist instead.
"GAH! What the FUCK?!" Bakugo exclaimed, leaping backward as he grabbed his wrist, now burning and stinging with heat. Kaminari, however, had already buried his head in curled up knees, hugging his knees close to his chest away from Bakugo.
"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?" A voice suddenly boomed, and it was at that moment that a single thought went through Bakugo's mind: shit.
Whipping around, Bakugo saw the familiar rectangular shape of class rep Iida standing in the doorway, his glasses glinting as his chest heaved in anger. Rubbing his wrist, Bakugo wished it didn't hurt so much so that he could punch Iida in the jaw. He never liked how seriously he took his duties as class rep, especially when it interfered in his stuff like this when he was so close.
"FUCK OFF, FOUR EYES! IT'S NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!" Bakugo shouted, more explosions crackling in the palms of his hands. Kaminari only whimpered, hugging his knees closer and burying his head deeper.
Throughout the hallway, people slowly started to take notice of what was going on. From around the corner, Bakugo saw Jirou poke her head through, now wearing a different shirt than the one she had spilled her drink on in the kitchen. "What's going on?" She muttered, walking around to Kaminari's room, and it was then that Bakugo saw Hagakure following close behind her.
When she finally poked her head around the corner, Jirou suddenly sucked in a breath, quickly bringing her hand to her mouth in shock. Hagakure poked her head in soon after and immediately gasped. "Oh my gosh..." she muttered.
Bakugo could tell it was obvious what had happened, from all the yelling and Kaminari now in a fetal position, with himself looking furious and explosions booming in his hands. Whatever happened, he knew exactly what they saw.
"What the hell...the hell did you do?!" She exclaimed, suddenly racing into the room. Quickly, she kneeled beside Kaminari's bed, but Kaminari didn't look up, only hugged himself tighter, his breathing fast and shaky. Scowling, Jirou looked up and glared at Bakugo, her eyes crackling with anger.
"BAKUGO, YOUR BEHAVIOR RECENTLY HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY VULGAR!" Iida exclaimed, chopping the air with his hand for extra emphasis. By now, Ojiro had poked his head around the corner and was watching with a look of disbelief. "NOT ONLY HAVE YOU DAMAGED U.A. PROPERTY BUT NOW YOU ARE HARASSING YOUR FELLOW CLASSMATES! THIS BEHAVIOR IS COMPLETELY UNCALLED FOR!" Iida went on.
"UNCALLED FOR?" Bakugo exclaimed, his voice rising. "I HAD EVERY DAMN REASON TO BE HERE! And this asshole fucking SHOCKED me, in case you haven't noticed!" An image of Kaminari's face suddenly going gray for a moment, suddenly free of anything for a just a second, a split second, made Bakugo shudder. His fingers had been going for his head, but at the last moment, Kaminari had diverted it to his wrist. Why?
Because he heard them coming, Bakugo thought, mentally kicking himself for not paying closer attention.
"Well, no shit he electrocuted you! It's no wonder why!" Jirou interrupted, now hovering over a trembling Kaminari. Bakugo hadn't listened to Jirou very many times, but he knew that she wasn't one to curse very often. He wondered how mad she actually was.
Chest heaving, Bakugo looked around. Everyone here was pretty much convinced of what they saw. He didn't have a chance of winning an argument right now before more people showed up, and right now he was fed up with trying to reason with people. Besides, Kaminari's room was right above Kirishima's. No doubt he had heard something and would be up here in a split second. After their argument, something told Bakugo that he wouldn't exactly be very happy.
Growling, Bakugo looked around one more time, then stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Outta my way, four-eyes," he muttered, shouldering past Iida as he made his way for the elevator. He ignored Iida's protesting shouts that followed, or anyone else, for that matter. He didn't have to explain himself to them. They were already sold on what happened. No matter what he said wasn't going to change that.
Huffing, Bakugo let the elevator doors close, riding up to the fourth floor in complete silence. When the elevator finally locked into place, the doors opened to reveal Kirishima standing on the other side, already heading out of the hall.
Huffing, Bakugo only brushed past him, but Kirishima obviously noticed him. Eyebrows furrowing together, he watched Bakugo's urgency to get to his room, his head down, eyes flashing with anger. "Bakugo, were you just up there? What's going on?" He asked, but Bakugo didn't say anything, only brushed past him to his room.
Suddenly, something seemed to click in Kirishima's head. Looking at Bakugo, his gaze hardened, suddenly getting wary. "Bakugo...what did you do this time..."
Scowling, Bakugo opened the door to his dorm, cutting off whatever Kirishima was about to say next. "BAKUGO—" And then the door slammed.
As he heard Kirishima's now pounding footsteps slowly fade as he entered the elevator, Bakugo finally released a breath when he was sure that he was alone. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a small object—rectangular and flat, able to fit in the entirety of his hand. Something he had managed to swipe on the way out, when no one was looking.
Kaminari's cell phone. No matter what it took, he was going to get some answers, whether Kaminari liked it or not.