Kirirshima couldn't concentrate on anything else than Katsuki lying on the floor, surrounded by blood and gravel. He couldn't even hear anything except for the absence of explosions and his friends voice. Ejirou and the people surrounding him were just staring at the scene in front of them, unmoving and paralyzed with fear for the fallen teen.
At first Ejirou felt nothing but pure dread at seeing his friend go down followed by a deep need to be with him, to comfort him and just be there for him, but he knew he wasn't allowed to go over to his friend. He knew he couldn't leave the others and create a possible hazard but he just needed to be with Katsuki.
Before Kirishima knew what he was doing he started running over to his wounded friend as fast as he possibly could without letting too many people know about his next move. He also ignored the screams for him to stay, for him not to leave and he shook everyone off that tried to keep him away from his friend, the boy he loved since the day he first saw him.
Dodging Shigaraki and Dekus fight, the red head stumbled over to his best friend who was still lying on the ground, in a pool of his own blood, taking in wheezing breaths every now and again. Seeing Katsuki like this scared Kirishima so much he couldn't breath right for a moment before he saw Katsuki's eyes flutter open.
"Ejirou?" His voice was weaker than said boy ever heard it, scaring him as much as it relieved him.
"Katsuki, you're alive." The words came out more as a relieved sob than as a coherent sentence but Kirishima didn't care about that when he gripped Katsuki's hand in one of his own, while his other hand came to lie on his friends bloodied cheek. Katsuki looked at Ejirou with wide eyes, relief coursing through him at the smile on the red heads face.
"You shouldn't be here. They need you over there." Katsuki said after a few seconds of him just staring at Ejirou in disbelief. The red head blinked in surprise before his smile faltered slightly, "It's okay for me to be here, don't worry about that Kats.". With that he put another big smile on his face but everyone who knew him could tell it was forced, created to make the teen on the ground feel better. It worked, as Katsuki could only focus on Eijirous warm hand on his cheek, comforting him, letting him know he wasn't alone.
As tears ran down Eijirous face he started looking Katsuki over carefully, taking in all the wounds littering the blonde. The red head was almost certain the other boy wouldn't make it this time, his injuries were just too great and there was no one around that could help him fast enough. He was so caught up in these thoughts that he almost didn't realise that Katsuki was talking to him.
"...Eji?" His voice was nothing more than a broken whisper, almost inaudible due to the battle still going on around them but Ejirou heard him as if they were the only people in a quiet room.
The red head sniffed and looked into the red eyes of his friend, now duller than ever before. "Yeah?" His voice was almost as quiet as Katsuki's but he knew the blonde heard him, he always did.
"I need to- I need to tell you something." When he finished the sentence he wheezed, trying desperately to take in a breath before his body convulsed while he coughed. Ejirou hastily tried to help Katsuki sit up a little, to make it easier for him to breath, recoiling slightly when warm blood splattered on his face. Looking at his friend he saw a trail of fresh blood running down the corner of his mouth.
Tearing up even more he said, "Don't talk Kats. Please. Tell me later." The blonde shook his head a little, looking Ejirou in the eyes, both their eyes watery and afraid. Both knew Katsuki didn't have much longer, but only one of them had already accepted it.
With a raspy sigh the blonde started speaking again, "I want- No. I need to tell you now Eji please." Startled at the desperate tone in his friends voice Ejirou just nodded, still looking into the red eyes he began to love so long ago.
"I should have told you sooner but I was fucking scared." Katsuki scared? Why would he be scared to tell him something? "If I had known this would happen I would have told you before. Fuck this is harder than I expected." He was interrupted by another violent coughing fit. After a few seconds the coughing stopped again, leaving the teen breathless and weaker than before but he still continued to talk, not wanting to die before getting this out.
"I fucking love you." The words came out abrupt and stronger than the ones before, leaving Kirishima speechless once more. The seconds after the blondes confession dragged on until Kirishima broke down into violent sobbs, grabbing Katsuki's face in both of his hands before saying.
"You asshole." Katsuki's eyes widened at the curse word but before he could react the red head continued, "Why didn't you tell me sooner Katsuki. I loved you since the day I met you and now you're lying here. You can't do this to me."
Kirishima continued to sob into Katsuki's neck, while the blonde put a weak, blood covered hand on Kirishima's hair. A silent show of comfort, the only comfort he could give him right now.
When Ejirou felt the hand on his head he took a deep breath, trying to collect himself before he raised his head to be able to look into Katsuki's eyes once again. He saw silent tears run down the blondes cheek, mixing with the blood still running down his mouth, forming a trail down onto the pavement below him.
"I'm sorry." The words were spoken quietly with a hint of uncertainty to them but Ejirou knew exactly why he was apologising. "It's not your fault Katsuki." It's not his fault he was dying and it was not his fault Ejirou fell in love with him in the first place.
The two teens looked at each other for a little while longer before Kirishima looked at his hands on Katsuki's barely moving chest, still gripping the blondes hero costume tightly. A few moments went by like this before Kirishima spoke up again. "Can I- can I kiss you?" He knew that it was not the time but he couldn't wait any longer, not with Katsuki slowly dying right in front of him.
Kirishima waited a few seconds but no answer came. His hands tightened then and he started to shake a little while he mustered up the courage to look at Katsuki's face. It was completely still, his eyes unblinking and empty looking. The only thing moving was a lonely tear making it's way downwards and onto the ground.
More tears started running down Kirishima's face when he started shaking his friend, hoping to get a reaction that never came. He stopped his movements shortly after. When he did he looked at the blondes eyes again, the eyes that were once bright red and filled with determination, now dull and lifeless.
With a trembling hand Kirishima reached out and carefully closed Katsuki's eyes, making him look peaceful, almost serene, like he did every time he fell asleep with Kirishima nearby. Still shaking the red head then placed a soft kiss on the blondes still warm lips, imagining a future that could have been if he hadn't been so scared of rejection.
After that he put his head on Katsuki's chest before he started sobbing at the obvious absence of a heart beat, not caring that he might be in the way of the things going on around them. He had no idea how long he was sitting there like this, just sobbing into the blood soaked costume of the boy he loved, before he heard a scratchy voice call out to him from above.
"See how great the heros are? Letting one of their students, a child, die for nothing. Such a wasteful and useless death." He recognised the voice as belonging to Shigaraki who was still fighting against Deku while Kirishima was sitting on the ground, mourning the person he loved.
Hearing him call Katsuki's death useless and wasteful didn't sit right with him at all. It made it seem like Katsuki was nothing more than a pawn trying to stop Shigaraki even tho he was way more than that. He was Kirishima's best friend, he was one of the smartest people in class and he would have been an amazing hero- he was an amazing hero.
The teen could feel himself getting a little mad at that but he knew he wouldn't be of much help against the threat Shigaraki posed so he decided to stay at Bakugou's side, keeping him company until the fight was over, until they finally won.
Kirishima knew Shigaraki was trying to make Deku mad, to make him lose control, when he continued talking. "If he had at least joined me when we asked then he wouldn't have died like this. Pathetic really."
The noises of crackling made it obvious that his taunting made Deku mad but not only Deku. The red head could feel his skin harden more and more with every vile word the villain spoke, every insult he hurled at Kirishima's dead love lying on the ground, tainted red and lifeless.
"He really should have joined us you know. He would have made the perfect villain-"
Before Kirishima knew what he was doing he felt warmth on his fully hardened and sharp hand followed by a surprised grunt and a small but hollow chuckle.
His eyes widened a little when he realised that he had acted without thinking for the second time that day, they widened even more when he realized what he had done. He hit Shigaraki square in the face, causing the Villain to bleed a little. Subtly he looked around and saw multiple people staring at him with shocked eyes. He himself was aghast but when he saw Shigaraki opening his mouth again, probably to speak ill of Katsuki again, he punched him once more.
Kirishima couldn't let him talk badly about his friend again, he wouldn't have it. Bakugou was the best person, the best hero, Kirishima had the pleasure of meeting and he wouldn't let some villain talk to him like this, not even if he couldn't hear it.
The next minutes, maybe only seconds, went by in a blurr of hurled insults and blood splattering onto Kirishima's face. The red head only stopped hitting the villain when Shigaraki and Deku changed tactics and began fighting in the air once more, leaving the red head behind in a cloud of dust.
Only after Kirishima released his quirk could he feel the pain this senseless fight had brought him. His stomach was burning with an intensity he had never felt before, he could feel blood running down his face and he was sure every part of his bpdy was bruised but he didn't care. The only thing he cared about was that he helped, even if it was too little and much too late.
With a heavy sigh the teen started stumbling back towards Katsuki who was still lying exactly where he had left him, cold and unmoving. The only thing different than before is that the prior warm and wet blood was now dry and caked onto the blondes usually soft skin.
With a watery smile Kirishima took Katsuki's hand back in his own, caressing it a little before he spoke, with tears running down his face, "I should be the one lying here you know." He sniffed wetly before continuing, "I couldn't do anything against Shigaraki. You could have hurt him, you could have helped us win and I probably didn't faze him at all. I was stupid thinking I could win against him or even hurt him, really."
More tears started streaming down his face after that, clouding his vision and burning in the cracks of his raw skin. Now that he was sitting next to his best friend the bone deep exhaustion he felt started to set in, making his body feel heavy and his mind go slightly foggy.
Sluggishly he reached out and gripped Katsuki's shoulder before he let himself rest on the dead teens unmoving chest. He continued to cry silently while the battle around him continued, startling him with sudden loud noises every now and then.
Rubble landed next to him and dust made it's way into his airways, making him cough violently but the teen didn't let go of his best friend for even a second.
Not even when half a building fell down right behind them did he move. More and more time passed and the teen grew more tired as the time went on but he refused to fall asleep until the battle was done. He had to know how it ended, if they won, if his best friends life was lost in vain.
An hour later, maybe longer he wasn't sure, the air around him finally stilled and the sounds of crackling stopped. It was silent then, for almost more than a few seconds, before loud yelling was heard from everywhere.
The heros cheered for a short and sweet moment before they quieted down once again, remembering the lives they lost while fighting this seemingly endless battle. It was then that Kirishima moved his head upwards slightly before whispering, "We did it Kats. We fucking won."
The red head knew Katsuki would have loved to hear him swear like that, always yelling about how he corrupted the sunshine boy from their squad. The read head smiled a little at the thought before moving his head back into it's former position.
The smile slipped of his face shortly after it appeared, he was just too exhausted to keep it up. Taking a short look around from the position he was in he could see Deku kneeling next to an unresponsive Shigaraki and Aizawa walking towards him with careful but quick steps.
Thankful that it really was over the teen finally allowed himself to close his eyes and to relax himself, knowing it was okay for him to fall asleep now. He had done his part after all, even if it didn't really help them gain the upper hand as much as he would have hoped.
It didn't take long before his breathing started to even out and his heart rate to slow down but before his mind started to drift off for the last time he heard the raspy, wobbly voice of his teacher say, "You did good Kid. You both did good." He could swear he heard Aizawa swallow down a sob at the end but he was to exhausted to think about that right now. He just let himself drift off to sleep, for the last time in his short life.
The next thing he felt was a comforting hand in his hair before he heard a familiarly rough voice say, "Hey Eij." He kept his eyes closed tho, relishing in the knowledge that even in death he wouldn't be apart from the boy that had his heart.