#he’s seen me lose it so much over kiribaku | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

belladxne · 4 years ago

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i will see you where the shadow ends | chapter 5

[see notes for ao3 and ff links]

part of the put your faith in the light that you cannot see series AU: Breath of the Wild pairing: KiriBaku word count: 6,400

chapter 5: i will hold on hope, and i won’t let you choke on the noose around your neck

Eijiro wakes the next morning to Inko having laid out two simple white shirts and a pair of trousers for him—he can tell as soon as he runs his fingers over the shirts that unlike what he’s wearing now, they’re made of soft and comfortable material. It feels sturdier, too, but that may just be because anything’s bound to feel sturdier than clothes left to rot for a hundred years. Beside them are a padded doublet, clearly designed for warmth, and a pair of thick gloves.

He looks up to see Inko humming as she merrily gathers food for breakfast—eggs and rice. He’s relieved to see she looks none the worse for the wear after losing out on her bed for the night.

“Where did you get these?” he asks, curiously. It’s… not exactly like there are any merchants or tailors able to get up onto the plateau. Inko hums, distracted, before she glances up and seems to remember what he’s talking about, and a bright smile crosses her face.

“They’re old. They were all too big for me, so I took some time last night to tailor the shirts and trousers to something I thought might fit you better.”

“Oh,” he says, looking down at them. He’s focusing real hard on not having a repeat of yesterday—he’s so immensely thankful, but he’s gonna try not to get emotional about it. Well, too emotional about it. Well, okay, he’s already really emotional about it, but he can at least try to not get choked up. “I—thank, you, so much, I really don’t know how I can—”

“If I hear another word about repayment out of you,” she scolds teasingly, but Eijiro can tell she doesn’t have any sort of threat to actually finish the sentence. Still, he gets the message, laughing softly.

“Okay, okay,” he relents, “I just—I really do appreciate it.”

She knows, of course. He’s just glad he’s said it enough to make it clear.

After they finish the omurice Inko’s made, the two of them both get ready for the day. Eijiro’s got a few plans, but his main priority is finding somewhere private and getting this scratchy hell shirt off of himself.

As Inko’s tugging on her boots, she makes a face, more confused than bothered. She pulls the offending boot back off, turning it upside down and giving it a shake, and a familiar-looking seed comes clattering out onto the stone floor. Inko doesn’t pay it any mind, but Eijiro blinks.

“Is that a Korok seed?” he asks, thinking of the five he's collected so far. He hasn’t seen any seeds just loose before—they’ve all come directly from the hands of a tiny forest spirit, delighted to have been found in their odd little hiding spot.

“Hm?” Her tone is distracted, but when she follows his gaze realization crosses her face. “Oh, yes.”

“You see them?” He’d thought—the first Korok he’d met seemed so surprised when he’d seen him. Eijiro thought most people couldn’t…?

“Oh, no, not very often,” Inko replies as she pulls on her other boot and stands, straightening her clothes out. “I think they have more fun playing their games and causing mischief if they keep themselves hidden. But they do seem to like me an awful lot; they’re always leaving me funny little gifts. The seeds only started about a week ago. Why, would you like it?”

Huh. She talks so casually about it, like she has no idea how out of the ordinary it is. Of course, he thinks if he were a Korok, he’d probably think Inko was great, too, but still. It’s a little odd, but it doesn’t take much of his focus as they both carry on with their day. He’s in too much of a rush to find someplace to change to dwell on it.

The verdict when Eijiro does find a more secluded area and get into the new clothes is oh, thank the gods, this is so much better, holy shit. His pants actually reach his ankles. The plain, undyed shirts she’s given him are probably better suited to being undershirts, worn under a tunic or something, but they’re so much better than something itchy and falling apart at the seams.

He might burn the old one, honestly. Or he guesses he could keep it as a rag. Cutting it up could be cathartic.

With that out of the way, Inko had suggested he try fishing, and he at least wants to make sure he leaves her something to have for lunch before he spends all day hiking up cliffs and mountains and undertaking trials. He knows Inko has banned all talk of paying her back, but he figures this is the easiest and sneakiest way to make sure she gets something for her troubles.

He’s just a little proud of how crafty he feels, concocting this plan.

Eijiro finds himself aware of three different facts by the time he’s returning to Inko’s house with two freshly-caught Hyrule bass in hand, and he’s not sure how many of them should have already been obvious.

One—Koroks really are absolutely, ridiculously everywhere. He accidentally found one in the water while he was fishing, and there’s even one hiding out on top of Inko’s house. She must not have been wrong when she said they liked her. He’s genuinely not sure how it took him so long to start running into them yesterday, because it feels like he’s stumbling into one every other step now.

Two—the longer he spends around the plateau, the more he’s forced to realize… there’s something odd about Inko. Like, really odd.

For one, she’s everywhere. Almost every time he’s turned around on this plateau since yesterday, she’s been there. Every time he’s been anywhere near the campfire outside the Shrine of Resurrection, she’s been at the campfire. Every time he’s been anywhere near her house, she’s at her house. When he raised the tower, suddenly she was at the tower. When he did his first shrine trial, she was at the shrine. She pops out of nowhere sometimes, and more than once he’s thought she moved awfully quick for her age.

Then there’s the odd amount of information she knows—and that’s just including what she’s told him. She’d said she didn’t know much about Sheikah buildings, but she’d seemed to know that his slate had been what activated the tower—and then she’d pulled out all sorts of information on his slate, too. And fast travel! She’d also been able to tell him the shrine only started glowing at the same moment the tower had risen, but she’d come from the opposite direction of the shrine.

And there was the day before, too… she’d been so frazzled as soon as he was going to the shrine surrounded by the old machines, and just as much so afterwards. Like she’d known what he was going to run into—why else would she be so scared for him with that shrine, but not the other?

He thinks maybe he’s just being paranoid, like when he’d jumped to the conclusion that he’s dead, or been fully convinced he’d gotten possessed, but he can’t shake the feeling that there might just be more to Inko than she’s admitting. It’s not like it matters, though—he can’t mistrust her, even if it is true. She’s done too much to help for him to ever be able to believe she could be untrustworthy.

And three—his little scheme to repay Inko right under her nose was doomed from the start.

He was going to just leave her the fish and go forage something for himself that he won’t have to cook to take up the mountain, but the second he offers her the fish, she puts him to work. She’s not letting him go up the peaks at the southern end of the plateau unprepared, she informs him very adamantly, and so instead she takes the next hour and then some to walk him through the recipe and cooking processes of several more dishes.

She tells him all about how when spicy peppers are cooked right, they make the body run warmer—and makes sure he sees how she does it when she cooks them into a meat and seafood fry with the last of the fox meat from last night, and an abundance of seafood rice balls. She wraps them all carefully in parcels made of paper, to keep them until he needs to eat them.

He’s a little afraid his mouth won’t survive the dishes, with all those peppers cooked in, but she swears that between them and the warm doublet and gloves she’d given him, he’ll be comfortable for as long as he has to spend on the snow-covered cliffs. He’s grateful, but he’s also been foiled as she uses all of the food that he’d meant for her to help him.

He’s going to do something nice for her to make up for this all, he’s really going to. Eventually he’ll find an act of kindness she can’t counter!

As much as he wishes he’d been able to get away with his little plot, he’s barely five minutes up the path behind the Temple of Time before he’s so glad for the spicy dishes. The padded doublet she’d given him didn’t cover his arms, but he thought he’d been smart about accounting for that—as much at it had pained him, he’d put his first, awful, itchy shirt back on and then layered both of his new shirts over it.

Unfortunately, the layers only did so much, and he could feel the wind whipping through them and biting at his arms. But Inko had had his back—so he’d pulled out the meat and seafood fry, torn the paper back, and gone to town on the meal as he walked along the riverbank.

Yes, his mouth was absolutely on fire like he’d feared, and he might be crying, like, just a little bit, but he’s sweating within minutes. He’d be kept warm as long as he hurried and was smart about rationing the food, exactly as she’s promised. If that came at the expense of looking ridiculous as he walked along with his mouth wide open in hopes the frigid air would soothe his burning mouth, then so be it.

When he reaches the bridge he’d seen on the map, he has a problem. He hadn’t noticed that the bridge is collapsed—the supports are all still there, but most of the planks on his side of the river have fallen through. He spends just enough time despairing over the prospect of having to go all the way back to try and go around the river the other way to feel frustration welling up intensely, but then, of course, he remembers.

He can fucking do magic now. He had to walk past the giant, ruined metal doors of a collapsed gate just beside this bridge to even inspect the damage—after the hour and a half he’d spent puzzling out every potential creative usage of the magnesis rune in the shrine yesterday, he can’t believe it takes him as long as five minutes to think of laying the two massive doors over the gaps in the bridge.

It’s not the neatest job, or the most stable, but it gets him across safely enough. He does allow himself to be a little proud of his problem solving.

He’s all over the southern side of the plateau for the next few hours. The worst of his difficulties are over after the bridge, and the path to both shrines are mostly straightforward apart from a couple of surprise Koroks—seriously, even in the cold, high altitudes? They’re forest spirits, where’s the forest here?—and a handful of monster camps.

At Keh Namut Shrine, Eijiro spends over an hour figuring out all the applications of the cryonis rune—which allows him to make solid pillars of ice erupt out of any source of water. Even if his water source is shallow, barely ankle-deep, the pillars are always at least eight feet tall, and the great blocks of ice will even erupt sideways out of waterfalls. This… he thinks this one might be the most useful yet.

He can use it for a vantage point, for cover, to get to things out of his reach, to lift things out of the water, as stepping stones or bridges… and, if Inko’s idea to get him off the plateau doesn’t work, he might just be able to use it to hop down the waterfall that spills off the plateau, pillar by pillar.

He finally feels like he’s made tangible progress.

Owa Daim Shrine, across the plateau, isn’t so simple to reach. He’s left with only one spicy seafood rice ball by the time he’s painstakingly scaling down to where the shrine rests, halfway up the cliffside, but he’s relieved at least that the temperature becomes more bearable on its own the lower he goes. He can save the rice ball for the return trip and move quickly.

Inside the shrine, the pattern holds, and he’s gifted another rune: the stasis rune. The description the slate gives him of this rune takes longer for him to puzzle out than the others—it uses phrases like ‘storing kinetic energy’ and ‘stopping an object in time’, the first phrase confusing him for lack of surety at its meaning, the second confusing him for lack of ability to visualize its possibility.

Thankfully, the trial the shrine offers, just like the others, is nothing if not a perfect set of puzzles to allow him to figure it out. The rune has a wide range of uses—securing safe passageways from moving or unstable objects, halting oncoming projectiles and other dangers, and making temporarily immovable obstacles for others to traverse, to name the ones he grasps quickest.

The most important use, however, is the one where the stored energy comes into play—it takes him a little to work it out, but once he does, he’s able to send even the most giant of obstacles flying out of his path. And to use them as projectiles. Even large, heavy stones can be moved by something as insignificant as arrows shot from a distance, as long as he hits it with enough of them for the force to compound. It’s awesome, and it gives him the same giddy delight that the magnesis rune had.

When the last of the monks hidden away in the shrines on this plateau fades to nothing, Eijiro can’t really deny that this spirit thing they keep doing to him is really getting to him. He might not be possessed, sure, but the bizarre feeling that’s overtaken him after each ‘gift’ has only gotten stronger with each instance, and it’s not fading.

There’s—something, he’s not sure, an energy maybe, that feels like it’s thrumming under his skin and the sensation is so unsettling. It’s supposed to be the strength of their spirits, or whatever they’d said, but he doesn’t feel stronger, necessarily, just—just—just very noticeably affected!

He can feel whatever it is and it’s distracting. He’s not sure how it’s supposed to help him.

It’s late afternoon by the time Eijiro emerges from the entrance to the shrine, and he’s confronted with the obvious evidence that his most worrisome of theories is true. Inko is not a normal old woman; can’t be.

She can’t be, because there she stands, on the wide ledge that houses Owa Daim Shrine, and there’s just no way a simple old woman could be here. There’s no possible explanation for it. She’d either have had to cross a wide chasm behind her house and then scale the cliffside up to reach him, or hiked the unforgiving eastern slopes of the plateau and then scaled the cliffside down. Neither is a reasonable task for a woman of her age.

So—so there it is, then. He knows now. There’s something odd about Inko, something she’s been keeping from him about her nature. He’s obviously not so surprised as he could be, but it’s still—it’s still—hard to process that the woman who’s helped him so much has been lying to him. All he can manage is a quiet, “Oh.”

“Hello, Eijiro,” she greets him, but her heart is clearly not entirely in it. There’s something in her tone—she obviously knows as well as he does that this marks the end of—of whatever simple and easy experience they’ve been having together so far. A change is coming whether she chooses to explain what she’s been hiding or not, and they both understand that.

“So, you’ve finally explored all the plateau’s shrines,” she notes, a gentle and rueful smile just barely touching at her features. Eijiro can only nod as he shuffles his feet, watching her with equal parts expectation and dread. “You worked hard to reach them all. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks,” he manages, tone barely audible.

Inko sighs. “That means it’s time, I think, to finally give you an explanation. I can’t keep shielding you from the worst of it forever, and I think you’ve more than earned the right to hear… well, everything.”

Eijiro doesn’t know how to respond, there’s too much going through his mind—he opens his mouth to say—to ask—something, anything to grant him some clarification, but the words get caught in his throat. He stands there with his mouth opened somewhat helplessly, but it seems Inko wasn’t intending to wait for a response.

“Meet me at the temple of time,” she requests gently. “I’ll be waiting for you there, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

“Why—” There’s so many questions he needs to ask that all start with that word, that they all tumble over each other before he can sort them out, but the most pressing of them is, of course, why can’t you explain it here? He wants to ask, but Inko smiles apologetically, and she—

—she just fades.

It startles him, when he suddenly realizes that he can see through her, just a little bit—and then just a little bit more, and then all at once he almost yelps as she starts to glow and eerie flames spring up around her. It’s not like watching the monks turn into motes of light that disperse up and away; she stays in one piece, but the light emanating off of her and the color of the flames hovering near to her are the same otherworldly blue-green glow.

Shaken, Eijiro stares blankly at the spot where she disappears for a few moments after she’s gone, before slowly he sinks down to sit on the surface of the shrine. It’s only a minute, that’s all he needs, but—but he closes his eyes and uses all of that minute to try and process, and work through as much of what he’s seen since awakening as he can.

The temple somehow seems more daunting when he emerges onto the path that leads from it, rubbing at his arms.

He takes a steadying breath, eyeing the decayed machines that dot the front of the structure around its entrance, and then shifts his gaze to the side of the building instead. On the side facing him, one of the massive, soaring windows that reach the entire height of the temple is empty—both of glass and the metal bars that make up the decoration and frame of the other windows.

The temple is huge, so with the window being one of the ones nearest to the back of the structure, it’s a good distance away from the closest machine. And Inko hadn’t said he had to come in the front door of the structure, so—he doesn’t feel any shame in beelining towards the window, hoisting himself up, and toppling with at least some amount of grace into the sweeping structure.

The space is incredibly open—not just due to the high, vaulted ceiling or the lack of walls in the giant structure, but because a massive hole has been ripped out of almost the entire front half of the opposite side of the building. He only barely notices that, though, because the feature that claims his attention—nearly all of it—

—is a stylized, towering winged statue of Bakusatsuo that dominates the space. It’s stationed to his right, against the back wall of the temple, and it must be fifteen feet tall, at least. And it’s glowing. Faint, iridescent light seems to be shining straight up from the bottom and Eijiro just… is drawn to it.

He hasn’t even looked around for Inko yet, but his feet carry him towards the figure without him really having to think about it. It’s a crude and simple likeness of the god in the way all the shrines to him across the country are, not proportioned in such a way as to actually resemble a real being, and the statue’s hands are spread out to its sides, palms up. The expression isn’t incredibly detailed, but Eijiro thinks most people would see it as calm, if not quite serene. But Eijiro—he swears its eyes follow him as he approaches, and he would swear the look carved into its face was almost tender.

He climbs the steps that lead up to the statue and instinctively drops to one knee before it, though he doesn’t bow his head in prayer. He keeps his eyes upturned to meet the figure’s gaze as the faint light at its feet seems to flare, almost like it’s reaching for him, and Eijiro swears he feels something like fondness radiating off of the statue, towards him.

You’ve done well, comes a faint whisper at the edge of his mind, and it—it sounds so much like the voice in Hyrule Castle. It’s so similar but—but it’s not quite the same, and Eijiro feels his jaw drop.

A warmth settles over him that somehow feels like the voice sounds, and that bizarre energy he’s felt humming under his skin finally dissipates. It’s not exactly like it goes away, more like it—like it finally settles, almost. It feels like the strange force that’s been lingering there finally seeps into him fully, and finally feels like it’s part of him. He realizes, when it finally happens, that he does feel stronger. Heartier, like Inko had said. Some of the aches and soreness that have built up in the past couple of days fade, just a little, as he stares at the statue in awe.

Go, and bring peace to Hyrule…

Like that, the glowing fades, and Eijiro almost feels like he imagined it all. That’s… he’s pretty sure Bakusatsuo just spoke to him. The god. The patron god of Hyrule. Beloved of the Three Goddesses and protector of the entire realm, and he’d spoken to Eijiro. With clear affection in his tone. It’s… unreal.

“Eijiro!” Inko’s voice hails him, startling him out of his moment of shock. He stands, the motion stiff with his distraction, and it takes him a few moments to locate her once he’s turned around. Of all the places to spot her, it turns out she’s peering down at him through the gaping hole in the partially collapsed roof.

“You’ll have to meet me up here, I’m afraid,” she calls down to him, before both her luminous figure and the tongues of blue-green fire that hover around her retreat out of his sight.

Eijiro stares at the spot he’d last seen her and he gives a shaky sigh. He doesn’t know what’s coming, but he wants to, very badly. So he’s going to find out.

There’s a ladder that runs the height of the building.

Even though it stands just beside the collapsed temple wall—on the far end from the machines, thankfully—it remains intact. Stable, even, though he figures out about a third of the way up that he needs to let his dragonscales overtake his hands if he doesn’t want to get splinters.

Inko is visible immediately from across the definitely unsound and precarious roof, waiting in the tower of the steeple at the front of the temple, still emitting that eerie light.

Balancing his way across the peak of the roof, he pulls himself up the rubble into the steeple to meet her, and despite having all this time to figure out where to begin, he’s—he’s still at a loss for words. Inko seems nearly as unsure how to start as he is—or simply reluctant. Either way, she heaves a mild sigh and attempts a sad smile.

“You’ve done so well since waking up, Kirishima Eijiro. I hope you know that,” she says, voice emphatic if a little quiet and somber. He startles at the full name—it’s—he hadn’t even given thought to whether Eijiro was his given or family name, let alone what the rest of his name might be. He’s had so much else on his mind. And this whole time—this whole time, Inko has known it? And not said anything?

“You don’t know me,” she continues with her eyes downcast. “At least—not very well, my son only brought you around a few times, and we never really spoke. But my name is Midoriya Inko. You should know, Eijiro—I know I’ve told you some, but the kingdom is not like it was when you entered your slumber. The Kingdom of Hyrule… it doesn’t exist anymore.”

Eijiro swallows, but he nods when her eyes flick up to gauge his reaction. The ruins everywhere—the monstrosity enshrouding the castle—the scarcity in meeting or even seeing other people—it all points to the same conclusion. He doesn’t remember much—anything, really. He can’t say if he’s ever been to any of the ruins that dot the landscape as far as the eye can see, can’t say if he ever knew anyone that lived in any of them—but he can say that he knows, knows deeply and inherently the wrongness of it all, to see or even think about.

The kingdom, or lack of it, isn’t how he’d remember if he could, and he knows that.

As Inko speaks, a transformation seems to come over her—she looks the same, and yet, there appears another version of her like a second image overlaid atop. Decades younger, maybe only forty or so.

“The Great Calamity was merciless when it swept out over the kingdom. There was nothing in its path that it didn’t devastate a century ago. I was one of the few who were lucky—the Sheikah village was remote and hard to reach, and well out of the Calamity’s focus. I lived a long, full life after it was said and done, but I couldn’t bring myself to move on, because… well, I’m getting ahead of myself.”

Inko heaves a sigh once more, and the look she gives Eijiro is apologetic. “There’s a lot I haven’t told you, but you have to understand. What you’ve been through—it was awful, Eijiro, and it would traumatize anyone. It would have been unfair and dangerous to overwhelm you with too much horrible news so soon after you woke, with your memory still fragile. I’m sorry.”

“I...” Eijiro manages, but his voice is weak. Overwhelmed is exactly the word for it, so he understands, but he only has more questions because of the time spent keeping things from him. He just wants to know already. “It’s… it’s okay.”

“Such a sweet boy,” she echoes the sentiment she’d told him last night quietly, before seeming to steel herself as she turns away to face the view of the castle through the steeple’s window. “But you’re ready, now, I think, to hear what happened one hundred years ago. All for One… that horrible monstrosity we can see from here—the stories said that long ago, that demon king was born into this kingdom, before he transformed into… into that.”

“I… I remember the legends, I think,” Eijiro tells her honestly. “That… that he’d barely been more than a fairy tale, a scary story people told, but—but didn’t really believe until… more recently.”

It’s so frustrating, what he does remember and where the blanks are instead. He remembers the tales, remembers that there’d been a shift from them being treated as fiction to being treated as an impending reality, but he doesn’t remember when or why.

Inko, for her part, nods, and seems to pick up on his frustration. “There was a prophecy,” she informs him, “Maybe twenty years or so before the Calamity came to pass. We knew it would be coming back, but the prophecy also promised a way to stop it, lying dormant beneath the ground. The Sheikah, the royal family—the entire kingdom came together, to try and find the aid the prophecy mentioned, and they were quick to find several ancient relics made by the hands of our distant ancestors.”

“The Divine Beasts,” Eijiro supplies, though his tone isn’t certain. But—but he knows this information, he thinks.

“Yes. Four giant machines, to be piloted by warriors,” she says, affirming the information that he thinks he has in his mind. “And, later, we discovered creations our research eventually taught us were called Guardians.”

The lifeless robots, decaying and overgrown with nature, which dot the plateau flash into his mind as his breath catches and his fists clench. As soon as she says the name, he’s sure of it.

“They were meant to be an army of mechanical soldiers, that fought autonomously to aid us. We realized—in the ancient legends we’d heard echoed so often, many of them told of these machines. That meant all of the legends—the prince with a sacred power, and his appointed knight who was chosen by the Sword that Seals the Darkness, who were the only ones who could truly seal All for One away with the aid of the relics we were discovering—all of it must be true.”

Yes, he knows those legends. Everyone knows those legends—there were far more of them than simply the ones centered around these ancient creations.

“One hundred years ago, there was a prince who would come to wield that power,” Inko continues, before she turns her head to meet Eijiro’s eyes, “and a skilled knight who fought at his side. The path laid before us was obvious, even without the prophecy. There were too many legends that echoed it all. So four Champions were chosen from across the kingdom to pilot the Divine Beasts, and together with the prince and his appointed knight, we were so sure we would be able to turn back All for One’s assault the moment it began. We had—we had all the pieces in place, after all.”

With that, Inko’s voice suddenly breaks. She turns away from Eijiro once more, with her hands pressed to her eyes. “We didn’t know—we couldn’t have—we never realized, All for One had spent all of those thousands of years plotting to—we never imagined it would appear from below Hyrule Castle itself, or take control of the Guardians and Divine Beasts. All that time spent restoring the machines to—to protect, and—”

Eijiro’s heart breaks with how devastated she sounds, and he stumbles forwards a few steps, reaching out a hand to—to—he doesn’t know, but he just wants to help. He wants to fix this, though he knows there’s no changing what’s already happened. He doesn’t remember any of this, but it hurts to hear, hurts to imagine.

“The Champions were killed, so many in the castle, in nearly every town nearby—and the appointed knight nearly lost his life in protection of the prince. He almost didn’t survive his wounds, he was in no shape to continue the fight. If the prince hadn’t survived, and returned to the castle with—with another chosen of Farore—if they hadn’t gone to fight the beast, alone, there would have been no hope for those who survived.”

Taking a shuddering breath, Inko chokes off the beginning of a sob, and Eijiro stumbles the last few steps forward to place a hand on her shoulder. It’s little comfort after everything, but she sags with the gesture.

“Eijiro, that other chosen of Farore… he’s my baby, my Izuku, and he’s risking his life to help Prince Katsuki hold All for One off. And the courageous knight, the one who kept Prince Katsuki safe until the very end, so that he could make it there at all…. Oh, Eijiro, honey, it was you. You were so brave, you did—you did so well, but even you couldn’t endure such an onslaught.”

Despite the tears still flowing freely down her face—and, shit, he realizes now that his own cheeks are wet, though he doesn’t remember any of this—she lays her hand over his on her shoulder, and the gesture somehow feels comforting even though he was the one trying to comfort her.

“You were carried here, to the Shrine of Resurrection, and spent one hundred years healing. I couldn’t rest with my Izuku still trapped in the castle, and I couldn’t bear to think of you awakening here alone, with no one to turn to, so my spirit settled here naturally when I died. I’ve been looking after you as best I can. And… and the voice you’ve been hearing, guiding you since you woke, that’s Prince Katsuki himself.”

Eijiro’s eyes pull from her face, and he finds himself looking out towards the castle with a feeling of desperation. Katsuki. That’s the name he can put to the voice. Katsuki, fighting with Izuku. Katsuki, who asked for his help.

“He’s still there, with my baby, fighting to restrain the Calamity, and—oh, Eijiro, honey, you’re so young to ask this of you, all three of you boys, you’re all so young—but they won’t be able to hold out for much longer before they’re going to need you. You’re—you’re the only one who can help them stop the Calamity from consuming all life left in the land. It’s so unfair to ask this of you, I—I can hardly bear to, but please save my son. Please bring my Izuku home, and destroy All for One before it can destroy anything else.”

Clearing his throat and swallowing roughly, Eijiro manages, “I will. I’ll—I’ll do it.”

This only makes Inko cry harder. “You shouldn’t have to. I’m so sorry.” She turns and embraces him suddenly, and the feeling now that she’s revealed her nature as a spirit is odd. Somehow warm and cold at the same time, but it doesn’t matter—he wraps his arms around her tightly. When she speaks again, her voice is muffled against the doublet she’d given him.

“You can’t go to the castle yet. Even Prince Katsuki wouldn’t expect that of you. There are things you still need to know, and—and All for One still has control of the Divine Beasts, and all of the Guardians. Please, please promise me you won’t make straight for the castle.”

“But...” Eijiro’s voice is still wobbly, and his hands are still too occupied to try wiping at his eyes. “I have to help them. Where else...”

Inko pulls back as he trails off, and she does her best to draw to her full height and look stern through a faceful of openly flowing tears. “You won’t be helping them or anyone else by charging off towards certain death before you’re fully recovered from your slumber. You should make for Kakariko Village, down the eastern road that cuts between the Dueling Peaks. The young man who leads the Sheikah, Aizawa, was an advisor to the Prince, and he’ll be able to give you counsel on the best steps for you to take. You’ll want to speak to him.”

Eijiro’s brow furrows, and he casts a look at the castle. Katsuki needs him, had asked him to hurry. “How long do I have? Before they run out of time in the castle? Do you know?”

“Long enough,” Inko says firmly, though the effect is somewhat undermined by the sniffle that follows. “Prince Katsuki would expect you to be smart about this, and he would know that will take time. Meet with Aizawa.”

Every fiber of his being wants to charge off, but… as painful as it is to promise, he tears his gaze from the castle to meet Inko’s eyes, and nods numbly. “Okay. I will.”

Relief floods Inko’s features. “Thank you. And you—you’ll need these.” She turns, then, to grab something he hadn’t noticed before; a pack that’s considerably less aged than his current one, with lots of different compartments. Flapping one such compartment open, she withdraws what she’d been seeming to work on the night before, and holds it out to him.

What he’d mistaken for a blanket, he now sees could never have been one—it’s too small, and the fabric is more like canvas, though it’s not quite as stiff. Still, he can tell that air won’t flow through the fabric easily, and even water would have a hard time soaking the material. He takes it from her, noting two wooden handles that run the length of its sides. “What’s…?”

“It’s a paraglider,” she informs him, managing a small smile. “It will support your weight and let you glide down from the plateau. And this bag is enchanted by Koroks. It belonged to my son, but he didn’t think… he didn’t think he would need it, to go to the castle. Each of its compartments can hold much more than it should, and it will be nearly weightless.”

He looks up from the gifts to meet her eyes once more, and the tear tracks on both their cheeks are still wet as he breathes, “Thank you. For everything.”

Inko’s smile grows, and she begins to fade once more as she presses the bag into his hands. “The best way to thank me is by staying safe. Take care, Eijiro. I’m so proud of you.”

Fifteen minutes later sees Eijiro standing at the very eastern edge of the plateau. The sun is setting, and the wise thing to do would be to rest for the night and set out in the morning, so he isn’t traveling in the dark.

Eijiro can’t wait. Impatience hums in his veins, making him twitchy and full of restless energy. Katsuki needs him, Inko’s son needs him, and he needs to be doing something. He won’t be able to stand the wait. So Eijiro takes a deep breath, new bag strapped to his back and paraglider clutched tightly in his hands.

And he leaps.

#kiribaku #bakushima #krbk #bkshm #kirishima eijirou #bakugou katsuki #kirishima eijiro #bakugo katsuki #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #fanfiction #fanfic #fic

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kaiunkaiku · 5 years ago

Note

Could you do some Todoroki sickfic (emeto if you can) where he just kind of pushes through and tries not to let anyone know because he’s only ever been treated like he’s weak and useless when sick. And when the other students in the dorms find out they fuss over him and he doesn’t know how to take being taken care of like that. Also I just found your blog tonight and I love it!

I have discovered that writing Todoroki is exhausting and writing Midoriya is plain weird and doesn’t feel right, but I enjoyed writing this nonetheless. Emeto isn’t really my niche and I find writing it hella difficult, so here’s an attempt.

This is like vaguely 2nd/3rd year, Tododeku and Kiribaku are established, and even though it’s not mentioned Mineta has been kicked out. Content warnings include referenced canonical child abuse, emeto, implied panic attack, and vague discussion of trauma left by mentioned child abuse

Now on Ao3!

Enjoy!

He wakes up feeling… off. That’s the only way he can really put it – he’s not in pain, his head isn’t swirling with unpleasant thoughts, he’s not reeling from a nightmare, he doesn’t feel ill. Just off.

So he tries his best to shake it off.

By the time lunch rolls around, there’s a persistent hum in his head. It’s distracting, and leaves him just a touch woozy, but he’s worked through much, much worse. It’s no big deal. He’s lagging maybe half a second behind everybody else today, but no one has commented on it, or asked about it, so he assumes he’s doing a good enough job at hiding it.

By the time Kirishima ropes him into a video game tournament, Shouto feels like he’s going to puke. There’s a churning pit in his stomach that makes him regret eating lunch, makes him regret eating breakfast, makes him regret last night’s dinner. Definitely makes him regret waking up.

It’s a well-known fact that video games are the one thing he’s genuinely terrible at, and no amount of Kirishima trying to teach him has improved his skills, so no one questions it when he surrenders his controller to Shinsou after three consecutive losses.

The room gets loud as Jirou gives her controller to Kaminari, like it always does as soon as someone gets the insane idea to pit couples against each other. Shouto retreats to the far corner of the big couch, decides to tough it out for a game or two. Leaving immediately would look suspicious, and someone might notice, so he sits quietly with his knees pulled to his chest and hopes no one will look at him twice.

Bakugou is staring at him from the other end of the couch.

It’s fine, Shouto tells himself even as a cold wave of anxiety washes through him. Bakugou continues to stare, face completely blank, and Shouto knows this is the one person in the class who genuinely does not care, but there’s something unnerving about his eyes. Maybe it's just the hollow bruises under them – Shouto knows for a fact Bakugou didn't sleep last night, because he woke up to explosions sometime around three in the morning, and Kirishima has been hovering worriedly all day – but the blankness of his expression seems very deliberately arranged. Observant. Shouto swallows thickly and tries to find something else to look at.

The motion on the screen makes his nausea worse. The shouting of his classmates makes his headache worse. He can’t concentrate on his phone. Bakugou keeps staring at him.

Shouto finally excuses himself quietly when he’s fairly sure he’s about to start smoking soon, because he can feel his control of his powers slipping. It's fine. He can let that happen once nobody can see him.

They can't see him weak. They can’t. He knows it’s irrational, because these are his friends and they care about him and he cares about them, but the thought of it sends him into a spiral straight down to such a dark place he throws it away before he can do more than scratch its surface. So he escapes into the stairs, not wanting to stand in the elevator, he can’t be still right now, and tries to look as casual as he possibly can.

He doesn’t even make it to the second floor before he hears his name from behind him. His heart jumps to his throat and his stomach drops, and it takes him a second to sort out that it’s his last name and not his first, and there’s no threat, no anger, no fire in the voice. He can’t help but freeze on his tracks anyway.

“Hey, man, you okay?” Shouto comes face to face with wide red eyes as he turns around; feels he can’t breathe with the rush of relief when it’s not piercing turquoise that greets him. Some of it must show on his face, because Kirishima takes a step back immediately and raises his hands up, concern clear in his expression. Bakugou is standing a few paces behind him, leaning on the wall and staring at his phone. “Because you don’t look like you are.”

Shouto feels sick. He doesn’t want to be here, he wants to be in his room, alone, so that nobody can see him like this, so that he can take the time he needs to pull himself together. He swallows and takes a breath.

“I’m fine,” he manages. He thinks his voice is steady.

“You sure?” Kirishima looks suspicious. Shouto knows he means well, really, he does, he does, but he just… God, he can’t do this. Even thinking about admitting weakness, let alone showing it, sends alarm bells in his head ringing, makes him see the floor of his home through tears, has his father’s voice in his head yelling at him for being useless, and his scar burns all over again, scalding water running down his face and the tears in his mother’s eyes–

His breathing is picking up pace. He’s gonna start crying. He’s gonna be sick. He’s gonna have a panic attack. His body is hot and cold on the wrong sides. He’s gonna– he can’t– he doesn’t– he can’t–

“Todoroki, shit, Todoroki, hey, come on, sit down, okay?” Something touches his arms, but it doesn’t feel like human touch so it doesn’t make everything worse. By the time he realizes it’s Kirishima’s hands with his quirk activated Shouto has already catalogued the touch as non-threatening, so he lets Kirishima guide him to sit down and push his head between his knees.

It takes him too long to notice that there’s steam coming off his skin.

“That’s it, man, just listen to me and breathe. You want me to get Midoriya?”

That sends a new wave of conflicting feelings through him – yes, he wants Izuku, yes, please, Izuku is good, would be great right now, but Izuku would just worry and fuss and worry and Shouto doesn’t want to make Izuku worry, doesn’t want to bother him, and besides, isn’t Izuku out training with Uraraka? Or was it Tokoyami? Why can’t he remember? Uraraka and Tokoyami are two totally different people who hang out with totally different groups and have totally different quirks and Shouto can’t remember which one of them his goddamn boyfriend is training with– did Izuku even say? He can’t remember that either.

“N-no,” he forces out. Realizes he’s been gritting his teeth. “He’s, he’s training, don’t bother him, it’s–”

“Okay, no,” Kirishima interrupts him. “I asked if you want him here. It’s about you. You’re the one that’s not okay, yeah? So do you want him here?”

It… makes sense, what Kirishima is saying. But it doesn’t. It does; he feels terrible and he would like to have his boyfriend here, and it’s what other people do, too, even in their class. It doesn’t; things like this can’t be about him, he can’t want or need things, how horribly selfish would that be of him.

In the end, he nods. He has to force the motion, to force himself to allow it. He’s still got his head between his knees, but he swears he can almost feel the way Kirishima grins at his response despite not looking.

“You gonna be okay if I step into the hallway for just a sec?” Kirishima asks. He hasn’t stopped touching Shouto’s arms, and the touch is somewhat grounding. He still has to put conscious effort into breathing, and he’s just a tad afraid he’s going to lose the focus he needs to keep it up if Kirishima lets go and leaves him alone with Bakugou.

There’s a steady tapping sound, almost background noise but not quite; a persistent, consistent tapping, volume just enough to be clearly audible even without concentrating. Just a bit louder than a clock. Not as sharp. Shouto is not entirely sure how long it’s been there.

Without even meaning to, he starts counting it. Pacing his breath to it. It’s easy; almost natural. Maybe he’ll stay on track even if Kirishima steps off for a moment.

Tap, tap, tap, tap. Breathe in four, hold four, breathe out four. Every exhale feels like he’s going to throw up, but it’s almost a background thought. He makes an affirming noise to tell Kirishima that he probably won’t spiral down if he lets go, so Kirishima pats his shoulder and tells him that he’s okay.

He’s not okay, but he also doesn’t start panicking again. He risks a look around him to see Kirishima take two steps up and disappear into the second floor hallway, and notices something that damn near messes up his newly-found breathing rhythm all over again.

Bakugou is still standing several stairs below, leaning on the wall. He’s typing something on his phone, and he doesn’t look quite as murderous as he usually does – tired, still, but his frown is considerably less deep than usual. He’s probably texting Camie, then, since it’s likely not Kirishima.

But the thing that really catches Shouto off-guard is the fact that he’s steadily tapping his right foot on the stair he’s standing on.

The rhythm sounds very purposeful.

Shouto is not going to chase that thought.

He keeps breathing.

XxX

Izuku is going to apologize to Uraraka later. He doesn’t make it a habit to just ditch his friends, really, but Kirishima sounded worried over the phone and he has barely seen Shouto all day, so he takes off running the moment he hangs up, leaves most of his stuff behind along with Uraraka as he puts his quirk to work.

He dashes straight through the common room and into the staircase, and almost collides with Kacchan, who graces him with a glare and turns his attention back to his phone. Normally, Izuku would say something to him, even just a greeting, or an attempt at placating his temper, but before he can say anything he spots Shouto sitting a few stairs higher. Kirishima is sitting next to him, close but not touching.

“Shouto.” The name escapes from his lips in a whisper before he can even think it. Shouto’s head snaps up, and Izuku has to restrain himself from launching at him with One for All activated; Shouto’s face is pale, almost white, and the fleeting look of terror that flashes in his eyes before recognition makes something clench in Izuku’s chest. Shouto’s breathing is labored; controlled.

Kirishima moves away as Izuku hurries forward, knees hitting the stairs so he can get his hands to Shouto’s face. Faintly he registers Kacchan moving past them to join Kirishima, and the two continue their way up the stairs. He’ll thank Kirishima later.

“Hey,” he begins, thumb coming to trace the edge of Shouto’s scar. Shouto shivers. “Talk to me, what’s going on? Kirishima sounded worried so I came as fast as I could, I need to apologize to Uraraka about that later, it was kind of rude of me to leave her there like that but you’re not okay, are you? She’ll understand, she’ll probably bring my stuff back too, I should probably text her, though, just to let her know, I probably won’t be going back anyway…”

“You’re rambling,” Shouto says, voice faint but a hint of a smile playing on his lips. Izuku snaps his mouth shut and feels heat on his cheeks. Then Shouto shivers again, and Izuku manages to see him swallow thickly before he ducks his head back down. He frowns.

“Sorry,” Izuku offers. “But really, what’s going on? You don’t look good.” Shouto doesn’t feel good, either – his skin is clammy, and just by touching him Izuku can tell he’s not in full control of his quirk. There’s steam coming through his now-damp clothes.

Until now, Shouto has been somewhat curled into himself, hunched over and hugging himself. Now, though, his grip on his biceps tightens and and he curls up some more, like he’s trying to make himself smaller. It pains Izuku, how Shouto always seems to try and make himself disappear when he’s feeling bad.

One day, once he’s graduated and established himself as a reputable and reliable hero, he’s going to punch Endeavor as hard as he can, and then he’s going to bring flowers to Shouto’s mom.

“I’m not him,” Izuku reminds gently, still tracing the scar. “Nobody here is. It’s okay.” It breaks his heart to even have to say the words, but Shouto takes a shuddering breath and lets it out slowly, so at least it’s a useful reminder. Shouto tends to forget, sometimes. And sometimes Izuku tends to forget that it’s all too easy for Shouto to follow that train of thought. So they’re kind of even, however that balance works.

“I don’t feel good,” Shouto finally whispers. He sounds almost scared. Izuku is about to start prodding further, ready for a guessing game, when he sees that same swallow-shiver combination he saw earlier.

“You’re sick?”

A shrug. A still moment. A hesitant nod.

“Okay.”

It takes some convincing, and some coaxing, and some help, but Izuku manages to get Shouto up and into the hallway. His room is closer, as opposed to Shouto’s which is located in the fifth floor, so Shouto agrees to relocate there.

By the time they make it into the room, Shouto is shaking, and also swallowing repeatedly. He hasn’t stopped hugging himself and he’s still hunched over. Izuku keeps a steadying hand on his back, but he doubts it does much.

He leads Shouto straight into the bathroom with little resistance. Shouto sits down against a wall next to the toilet, draws his knees to his chest and rests his head on them. His breathing is picking up again, and Izuku doesn’t know whether it’s anxiety or nausea or both.

Minutes tick by as Izuku draws patterns on Shouto’s arm and shoulder and rubs his neck, and Shouto’s swallowing becomes convulsive and he keeps shaking. One particularly harsh shudder runs through him and causes a patch of frost to spread on the wall. His breathing is becoming shallow.

Izuku doesn’t know how much time has passed when something finally happens. One moment they’re leaning on the wall and the next, Shouto is scrambling to get the toilet lid open. A sick-sounding belch makes Izuku wince, and is immediately followed by a retch. Shouto clutches the rim with white knuckles, and Izuku moves to hold him.

Shouto shivers against him and heaves, but brings nothing up. Izuku wraps his arms around him for support, both emotional and physical, and gently shushes him at the probably involuntary whimper that follows. Presses a kiss to his shoulder.

“Just let it happen,” Izuku mutters. “You’re okay, just let it out.” It’s like being in a sauna, holding Shouto like this when he’s not in full control of his quirk, but Izuku brushes it aside – it doesn’t matter how uncomfortable it is. Shouto is definitely far more uncomfortable.

Shouto shakes his head and squeezes his eyes shut, but the following attempt at a deeper breath is interrupted by a gag. Izuku resists the urge to sigh, and instead continues muttering reassurances as he rubs Shouto’s back. Keeping him grounded in the present is important; vital, almost, Izuku would say. He’s witnessed too many times how things like this – feeling bad, vulnerable, not in control – tend to throw Shouto right back to his childhood.

He’s not profusely apologizing and promising he’ll do better next time, so what Izuku is doing must be working.

It takes a couple more minutes of heaving and retching before Shouto brings up anything, but when he finally does, it’s like he can’t stop. Izuku very deliberately does not look, instead focusing on trying to calm Shouto down. He runs his fingers through Shouto’s hair, down his spine, and eventually brings one hand to rub his stomach. Shouto whimpers at the contact but doesn’t reject it.

Izuku loses track of time. Shouto keeps dry-heaving for a good while after it’s clear there’s nothing in him to throw up anymore, and he’s shaking like a leaf. Izuku can’t tell whether he’s feverish or not; one of the few drawbacks of his quirk – even medical professionals have hard time with that, since Shouto’s temperatures tend to go haywire when he’s not in full control, which is almost every time he’s not feeling well.

When even the dry-heaving eventually tapers off, Shouto slumps lifelessly against Izuku. His eyes slide shut and his breath slowly evens out, and the shaking dies down. An occasional shiver still runs through him, as if as a reminder, but otherwise every sign of what just happened melts into exhaustion.

They sit on the floor until Izuku decides a cold, hard bathroom floor is no place for anything. Shouto is not asleep, not quite, but he’s well on his way there, so Izuku nudges him alert from his exhausted not-quite-slumber gently.

“Shouto, hey,” he almost-whispers, smiling a little as Shouto’s eyelashes flutter against his skin. “How are you feeling? Any better?”

Shouto makes a sleepy noise that could mean literally anything, and it sounds absolutely adorable; there’s just not much Izuku can do with that. Shouto’s eyes open more, left one somewhat droopy, and he maneuvers himself so that his face is against Izuku’s shoulder. “I’m tired,” he replies. It’s not really what Izuku was looking for, as far as responses go, but it’s something.

“Then how about a bed? Some sleep?”

Shouto makes another sleepy noise, though this one sounds distinctly approving. He makes no attempt to move, however. Izuku lets him be for a moment.

“That means we have to get up, Shouto,” he tells him.

It takes some effort, but not as much as Izuku feared or suspected it would. He could technically just lift Shouto up – he’s strong enough to carry him and has done so in the past – but he doubts the swift change in position and altitude would be of any benefit. So he helps Shouto up from the floor slowly, makes sure he doesn’t go suddenly white again now that some color has returned to his face, and carefully walks them out of the bathroom. He gets Shouto a soft, oversized shirt to change into (it’s probably Shouto’s own shirt that’s been left in Izuku’s room at some point, actually). Manages to convince him to drink some water.

Shouto seems to fall asleep the moment Izuku lets him do so, looking completely drained. Izuku likes the sight of him surrounded the All Might themed bedsheets – it looks right, like he should be right there. Like he belongs in Izuku’s bed.

Izuku texts Uraraka and Kirishima, and picks up a book.

#my writing #emeto #tododeku #sickfic #fanfiction #whump fic #bnha #cosycrow #askbox

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thewritingstar · 5 years ago

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Happy Birthday!!

HOLD THE PHONE. TODAY IS @icyhotheartwritings BIRTHDAY AND I CAN NOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE HER!!!!!!! WE ARE BESTIES AND THIS IS FOR YOU SO I HOPE YOU HAVE AN AMAZING BIRTHDAY LOVE BECAUSE YOU DESERVE THE WORLD.

No joke but you’re one of my fav people that I talk to every day and im so happy that i got the chance to be your friend!!

Pairing: Kiribaku (because duh)

---

Bakugou could count the amount of people he has ever had a crush on with one hand. And well one finger. At first he found it annoying. How was he suppose to get anything done when the image of a certain someone kept appearing? Maybe it was just that he was constantly around him? That was it. It had to be.

But slowly he found his mind going back to him over and over. Any time he heard a joke or saw the smallest bit of red, even if it was just a flower or spilt pasta sauce by his mother, he appeared. Focusing was hard because how could you when you wanted to know how those teeth felt against your lips after a hardcore workout and he was so close you could just reach out-

Nope. He couldn’t.

Being the number one hero was the only goal he had. That was all he saw in his future. The medal of honor around his chest, adoring fans and Deku crying, either from joy or tears of rivalry, which ever came first. But not love. Not a family or a person to come home to after a long mission that wreaked his soul.

Number one was just that. One and done. Alone. And he was okay with that.

“When did you know mom was the one?” Bakugou said out of the blue during lunch with his father.

His dad stopped the food before it reached his lips and his eyes widened as his son opened up. It wasn’t rare since they had that bond but a smile popped onto his face as he realized that his explosive son probably had a crush.

“Well to be honest, it took awhile.” He stated. “It wasn’t until the fifth time she asked me out that I realized that she was the one.”

“Wait. Mom asked you out?”

“Yeah. I was focused on my career during college and didn’t really date but I loved being around her. We were great friends and then slowly I realized that I had mistaken our friendship for love.”

His son fell silent before returning to his food. “So you’re saying that you were best friends then decided to date? What if it ruined what you had?”

Masaru thought back to all the friends his son had. He never brought up the topic of dating or crushes and this seemed very out of the ordinary for him. The only person he could think of was Kirishima. He was the only person who had visited their house on multiple occasions without the others following behind. Bakugou had even referred to him as his best friend.

He hid his smile as he thought of the times when his wife and him first started dating.

“Well that the thing. I was scared to dip my toes in the water. I was scared that I would lose my best friend and that no matter how hard we tried, we could never turn back.” he took a bite. “however the thought of not discovering what it could be was worse. And I’m glad I did because now i have my best friend and a bratty son.” He smirked.

Bakugou smiled too before getting up. “Thanks dad.”

“Any time.”

Bakugou walked to his room contemplating what his dad had said.

Down in the kitchen his dad picked up the phone. “Honey you are not going to believe this.”

---

Summer was almost over. Class 2A or well now 3A was about to start their new school year in less than a week. It had been crazy as everyone was traveling and hanging out with their friends and of course Kirishima made sure that him and his best bro spent time together.

They were currently hiking on a trail that Bakugou loved to go to. The other times the whole squad joined but after the chat with his dad, the blond needed to get something off his chest. But as they kept walking further out leaving the world behind, he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to take it.

“And then Denki chased a rat into a trash can.” Kiri laughed as they paused at the edge of a cliff. He turned and noticed that Bakugou had been quiet the entire story, not even a sly remark or calling someone dumb was said and he noticed that he had spaced out. “Hey bro, you okay?”

Bakugou was lost in his mind again. “Yeah.”

But he knew his friend better than that. Kirishima shrugged and sat down, letting his feet dangle over the edge. The sun was almost ready to set and he felt his palms get weird and clammy but he ignored it. Thats what he had been doing for two years.

Bakugou followed in suit and their shoulders were slightly touching, which made his heart beat faster and it was almost painful.

“Cant believe we are gonna graduate this year.” Kirishima said in disbelief. “Its crazy how in less than a year, we will be moving on and becoming heroes in no time.”

“Yeah.”

Kiri barked out a laugh as he tapped his shoulder against his. “You’ll be number one in no time, im sure of it.”

“And what about you?” Bakugou asked without facing him. “Where will you be?”

“Hopefully fighting alongside with you.”

And that’s all it took. Bakugou sighed before taking a deep breath.

“Have you ever considered life along side hero work?”

The red head furrowed his eyebrows. “Like dating?”

“Like dating” He repeated.

“Didn’t know the great Katsuki Bakugou had any thoughts about that stuff.” He faced him and although his tone was playful, Bakugou didn’t miss the sadness that followed. “I’ve always wondered.” Kirishima said honestly.

I was scared that I would lose my best friend and that no matter how hard we tried, we could never turn back.

Their eyes met and they were only inches apart. If one of them leaned their noses would brush together.

“Have you?” He asked as he leaned slightly. “I thought being a hero was all you wanted.”

the thought of not discovering what it could be was worse

Their noses touched. He could practically feel the others breathing pause and when he thought about being a hero again, all he could see was the two of them together.

“I thought so too.” and he closed the gap as he kissed his best friend slowly.

The tension that had been building up for two years had dissipated. Every unanswered question that was running through their heads had been answered through that kiss. It was slow and hesitant and Bakugou was scared to know if they he had just dug his grave.

“Wow.” Kirishima breathed as they pulled away.

Their foreheads rested together as Kirishima intertwined their fingers and Bakugou let him.

You would think that all the sass and arrogance that followed the blond would be right here in this moment. That he would be on cloud nine because he had the balls to do something so terrifying but rewarding at the same time.

But he was breathless and calm. It was an ocean of uncertainty and everything he had every thought about had flown out the window. He was a nervous wreak and Kirishima could see that.

“Hey.” Kiri whispered. “Its okay to be shy and take it slow. im just happy that we finally got our shit together.”

A small smile lifted his spirits as the red head kissed his cheek.

“Im happy too.”

“Then thats all that matters.”

They sat and watched the sunset before setting up their tent. Bakugou felt like he could breath and his focus became better as he knew that he was meant to always have his best friend, now boyfriend on his mind.

They laid their sleeping bags right next to each other and Kirishima locked their fingers together before kissing his knuckles. “So when do i get to tell people that I’m dating the future number one hero.” He winked and he smiled as the blush crept on the blonds face.

Bakugou rolled his eyes before leaning over and kissing him softly. Something that he found out he really liked to do. “Fuck it you can tell them that I’m dating the manliest hero anyone has ever seen.”

“And here I thought you forgot the cussing and turned soft.”

“Me soft? Never.”

“Not even for me?” Kiri jokingly batted his eyelashes.

“Maybe.”

They spent the rest of the night chatting like usual, the only difference was their hands were clutched together, promising to never let go.

---

Bakugou could count the amount of people he ever fell in love with on one hand, with one finger. And as the years would pass by and their hero ranks would climb. the golden band sitting on his ring finger would state the truth.

----

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ICY!!! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR BIRTHDAY FIC (THAT YOU TOLD ME YOU DIDN’T NEED BUT GOT ANYWAYS!!!!

#kiribaku #kiribaku fanfic #kiribaku drabble #eijiro kirishima #katsuki bakugou #bakugou x kirishima #HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!#friend fic #thewritingstar

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hwkhs · 4 years ago

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BNHA students in Pokémon

summary: Some BNHA students and their Pokemon team and status if they were in that world. (part one, i want to make a mini series out of this so it’s heavily self-indulgent)

warnings: none

style & genre: bulleted; au

notes: a self-indulgent thing for me b/c this au has to happen. Thank you for reading. also i am in the midst of writers block but the last requests will be out soon!

most of the bullets will be in relation to the main character izuku because why not

*teams inspired by this because i had trouble figuring out who would fit with who and honestly bakugo’s team looks like him aHA

Main Traveling Group:

Midoriya Izuku

Starting Aventure: bulbasaur, aipom

Completed Team: venusaur, lucario, ambipom, floatzel, butterfree, garchomp

I was gonna say he gives off main character vibes then I remembered he was actually a main character already good job ness

but yes izuku here is on his way to become a pokemon champion!

i’m thinking he’d be pretty well-rounded with his team but his starter is definitely a grass type

his pokemon are so concerned whenever they go check out some cave or ancient ruin

izuku’s like “let’s explore!”

and his pokemon look at each other and then at him like “but please don’t try to move and jump on stuff alone pLeAsE bE cAREFUL”

they have venusaur keep him in vines sometimes

literally everyone loves him (all the gym leaders, all the recovery girls, etc.)

he manages to have todoroki and shinsou as travel buddies like how

they’re all like “i didn’t start training to make friends” and boom they’re a close knit group

very very ambitious and headstrong in his goals

he did get noticed by the champion after all *cough* all might *cough*

Todoroki Shouto

Starting Adventure: eevee, eevee, milotic

Completed Team: glaceon, flareon, ninetails, alolan ninetails, milotic, volcarona

he’s izuku’s first travelling companion

his father wanted him to become the strongest trainer to carry on his family tradition but he just wanted to see the rest of the world, considering he’s been couped up training for most of his life

he was sent off on his own trainer journey and was unknowledgeable about a lot of real world things

when he met izuku, he was cold towards him but warmed up after seeing how dedicated and kind the other was to pokemon and people alike

“it’s your destiny, todoroki!” ahaha get it

like i said, everyone loves izuku even shouto

todo is cold to strangers but is kind to them after becoming friends

trainers like battling with him because he’s offers their pokemon the eXPENSIVE full restores after battle

and their pokemon swoon over how nice and pretty he is while he tends to their wounds

speaking of pokemon, his are hot and cold as expected

sometimes they clash but he’s always there to be the mediator

he’s unfamiliar with “common” things because he grew up in a closed off environment

likes travelling around, experiencing new things and meeting new people along the way

Shinsou Hitoshi

Starting Adventure: gengar, purrloin

Team: gengar, liepard, espeon, skitty, weaville, crobat, meinshao

the people around him, mainly his classmates, were afraid of him because of the pokemon he attracts

he also had gengar since he was young, the pokemon being a gift from his parents

every time he tries to make friends they run off because his pokemon’s looks make the other ppl scared

that’s why he now rejects anyone trying to get close to him because the last time it happened they just used him

he couldn’t reject izuku though aha so yeah he’s part of the group now

he is a pretty laidback trainer and is more focused on techniques rather than pure strength

mentor aizawa

took shinsou under his wing when he was young and shinsou always calls him for guidance or just for a chat

has a weakness for cat-like pokemon

the main reason he actually joined izuku’s group is because the green haired male saved a skitty

she’s is the newest addition to his team and he loves her aww

he’s the voice of reason for the group but sometimes he just holds back when he wants something interesting to start especially when bakugo challenges izuku or todoroki to a battle

Challengers & Rivals:

Bakugou Katsuki

Starting Adventure: cyndaquil

Completed Team: typhlosion, electrode, magmortor, arcanine, houndoom, primeape

all pokemon stories have rivals okay bakugou is pERFECT for this

he and izuku met when they were little and because he was more into battling and training, he got annoyed when izuku was recognized by the champion

all his pokemon are as fiery as he is aHA

they love training and can keep up with their trainer’s outbursts and all that we love supportive teammates

he scares every single person he goes up against EXCEPT for izuku & co.

todoroki 's unbothered, shinsou calls bluff on his intimidation, and izuku sees him as a role model as well as rival

gets really annoyed with the trio because he just can’t fULLY beat them

the win ratios are pretty even but this boy wants to win all of his battles with a large power gap because that’s how he rolls

he LOVES using power and intimidation when battling and it’s actually pretty cool to watch his matches

they always have some type of flare to them and never get boring

overall, he’s a strong and resilient trainer who worked hard to get to the top

Kirishima Ejirou

Position: Fighting-Type Gym Leader

Team: blaziken, infernape, hariyama, machamp, medicham, hitmonchan

i’ll just make all their ages ambiguious k thanks

i feel like he’d be a really good gym leader

he’s so uplifting and motivational, it doesn’t affect the self-esteem of anyone who loses to him because he’s there complimenting their strengths and giving them pointers on what they and their team can work better on

man i wish he was in game now he’d be my favorite

he kind of reminds me of island kahuna hala in a way

trains with bakugo a lot because, though the blond won’t admit it, he actually likes training with him kiribaku

when he meets the main group, they all lost their first battle with him because this guy just knows

he’s so in-tune with his pokemon, all that strength and in their bond is so strong

after giving them their fair share of praise and advice, their second battles were won and they received their fighting badges :)

Kaminari Denki

Position: that pikachu guy Electric-Type Gym Leader

Team: pikachu (ik ik but it fits ok), girafig, ampharos, plusle, minun

so hype much wow very exciting

every single battle he does is so flashy with all these effects and whatnot but it fits his aesthetic

think nimbasa city and the runway elesa has before she battles someone

that’s all him

now, his team isn’t really built on defense but they do have a lot of special power, mostly seen in their use of thunderbolt they all know how to use thunderbolt what the heck denki

at one point in his life he thought about owning a farm where pikachu could hang out

he just really likes pikachus and everywhere there’s one they follow him because he looks like them

he’s kind of more bark than bite and might accidentally electrocute himself during battle

concerned izuku when he walked right into a thunderbolt

todoroki was about to ask if he wanted a full restore before the boy realized that it was only for pokemon

he’s in it for the fun of the battle and doesn’t really care if he loses or not unless the trainers are all talk much like he is but ily denki

Iida Tenya

Positon: that trainer they meet on a mountain i’m sorry iida

Team: skamory, straptor, bisharp, gallade

he reminds me of all the trainers that stand there and are like “LeT’s BaTtLe” when you walk in their line of vision

much love iida but that’s who you remind me of haha

he’s the guy that goes by the rules ofc and is a v good sport after losing a battle

when he encounters the main group, he’s training with his pokemon

they were building up and reinforcing their speed and he saw this as a perfect opportunity to learn by battle new people

lost to all three of them

but as mentioned he’s a good sport and the four of them set up camp for the night on the mountain and talk about strtegies and the like

when they part ways he’s telling them that he’ll see them and battle them again

guy wasn’t kidding they fought him like fifteen times total during their journey

i chose his pokemon based on how they look in comparison to him and laughed when i realized there was gallade

because you know gallade’s arms are like blades it reminds me of how iida does that hand thing

it was funnier in my head

Uraraka Ochaco

Position: works at the Pokemon Center, training buddies with the main travelling group

Team: gardevoir, togekiss, musharna, clefairy, jigglypuff

she works at the pokemon center for recovery girl

pink is all i see and it fits her aesthetic really

that rhymed

anyways she is super super sweet and loves working at the center, all the people who come in enjoy seeing her

she actually sees the main trio a lot b/c they and their pokemon do a lot of stuff and end up injured

izuku went to the pokemon center five times in a day and his pokemon weren’t even hurt it was jUST hIM

after that she insisted on coming with them to get some experience outside of the building as well as make sure that they mostly izuku and their pokemon would be alright

half of her pokemon are mature and very, what’s the word, elegant (gardevoir and musharna) and the others are playful yet competitive (togekiss, jigglypuff, & clefairy)

her pokemon know the moves that have to do with teleportation and flying/floating and they enjoy using it even when their trainer is gets motion sickness easily

overall, she joins the group when she can/sees them and they are gratefull to hang out with her

-- more characters to be added soon! --

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kaistarus · 5 years ago

Text

Clickbait(YouTuberAU)--Chapter 5

Pairings: Kiribaku, Tododeku

Words: 4,437

Summary: A lot of great things came with being a big name YouTuber, but along with those perks were some serious drawbacks. One of the biggest being your lack of personal privacy.

Due to just one video, Kirishima's least well-kept secret has become a viral sensation overnight, and now he has to deal with the repercussions from both the YouTube community and the public. Hopefully, those he's dragging down with him won't mind...

Notes: Welcome to how many Buzzfeed Unsolved references can I fit into one chapter lol. Had a lot of fun with this, so I hope you all like it!!

Read the full thing here

Kirishima laid haphazardly across the leather sofa, upper body sunk perfectly into the cushion now melded for his form. He shoveled a mouthful of Americanized-Chinese take-out that had been ordered once too often that week and numbed his mind with another Disney princess movie. As Rapunzel cupped Eugene’s cheek, singing through tears to bring her new love back from the dead he brushed his thumb longingly against his cell phone. If only he had someone who would cut their hair and sing to him if he were dying.

“Are you just going lay there and mope all day?

Kirishima groaned, pausing the movie with his phone. “I’m not moping. I’m relaxing.”

“You’ve been on that couch for the past three days,” Sero said. He kicked one of many take-out boxes surrounding Kirishima. “In those same clothes.”

Kirishima pulled his childhood Crimson Riot blanket above his head. It had been a full week since he and Bakugou exchanged numbers, and the only thing he received from him was a thumbs-up emoji when Kirishima texted him about their video hitting number one trending. An emoji like that basically meant ‘fuck off’ in text lingo. Kirishima hadn’t known what he did wrong, but he could take a hint.

“Do you think you could be… overreacting?” Sero asked.

Kirishima pulled the blanket down far enough to glare at Sero. “I would never overreact about this.”

“Clearly.”

Kirishima didn’t care what Sero thought. He would rather lay here in the mingled smell of Chinese leftovers and armpit stench than face reality.

His cocoon of warmth was ripped away as Sero pulled the fleece blanket off. Kirishima sat up and reached after the covers, but Sero had been too fast.

“What the hell, dude,” Kirishima said, giving up and lying back down.

“Mina told me I needed to get you up today, and I fear her more on a good day than you on your worst.”

That was fair, but it didn’t mean Kirishima liked it. He turned to face away from Sero and burrow further into the cushion’s warmth, not suspecting Sero to grip his legs and drag him off the sofa. “Bro, what the fuck!” Kirishima said, kicking at Sero’s hands and gripping the armrest for dear life.

Sero won. Kirishima flopped belly first onto plush carpet, feet atop Sero’s lap who’d fallen over the moment Kirishima lost his holding on the side of the couch. Before Kirishima could berate Sero for ruining his depressive episode the couch cushions started to vibrate. He realized his phone fell between the cracks during their tussle.

Kirishima figured Mina was calling to check on him and he had a thing or two to say to her. He dug between the cracks, annoyance allowing him to ignore a large number of crumbs his fingertips were brushing and whipped his phone to his ear.

“Mina if you don’t start minding your own—"

“Kirishima!” Midoriya’s voice threw Kirishima off guard. He pulled the phone away and nearly dropped the device when ‘Bakugou Katsuki’ flashed in all caps. “I’m so glad you picked up.”

“Yeah,” Kirishima said confused. Midoriya was panting heavily, and it sounded like the phone was being jostled around. “Are you okay, dude? Why do you have Bakugou’s—"

“Everything’s fine! Hey, we’re filming today, and I was wondering if you wanted to come to hang out?” Midoriya asked. Kirishima strained to hear what he thought was yelling in the background.

“We, like, Mysteries Unsolved?”

“Yeah! You and I still haven’t talked. I need to get to know the guy that Kacchan—oof.”

There were muffled arguments after Kirishima assumed the phone had been dropped. He called out to Midoriya a few times, growing concerned when he heard a high-pitched squeal.

“Shitty Hair?” A husky voice filtered to his ear. Kirishima’s mouth went dry and he gripped the phone tighter.

“Uh, that’s me?”

“What did that fucker say?” Bakugou asked. “He’s a damn liar. You can’t trust him.”

Kirishima looked up at Sero who had started eating the rest of the General Tso he’d gotten for lunch. Kirishima kicked him onto his side.

“He said you were filming today and that I should come over.”

“Oh.” The line went quiet for a little too long and Kirishima had to check they were still connected. “That’s fine. You should do that.”

“Are you sure? I don’t have—”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay.” Suddenly the fact that he’d been wearing the same clothes for three days became more apparent. “I just gotta get ready and then I’ll head over.”

They said their goodbyes and Kirishima fell back onto his back with a sigh. Sero crawled to hover over him with a mocking look and Kirishima eyed him suspiciously. “What?”

“I would never overreact.” He said, voice pitched higher and face scrunched, shaking his head and clearly mocking him. Kirishima shoved him onto his side again and rolled into a squatting position to boost himself up. He had to wash off his depression stank.

~*~*~*~

Kirishima realized, standing in front of Bakugou’s red-bricked apartment complex, that it was a lot less intimidating than he remembered. Maybe because he didn’t have the feel of impending doom rolling around in his stomach this time.

“Alright,” Sero said, leaning across the passenger seat. “Text me if you need anything.”

“Yes, mom,” Kirishima said while rolling his eyes.

“And be safe. Those are basically strangers up there.”

“Okay, mom.”

“And make sure you use protection. I can’t take care of any more children.”

“Sero. Leave.”

Sero laughed and drove off, leaving Kirishima to grumble his way down the stone path lined with daisies and white-painted benches with hearts cut into the backs. Kirishima paused to watch a small bird drink from a layered fountain—had he seriously been freaking out over this place? He reached the glass vestibule that buzzed the moment he texted Bakugou he’d arrived. Unlike the last time he came to the complex Kirishima navigated the dimly lit halls much easier, only getting lost once. He blamed it on the random flyer informing tenants not to leave their dog’s droppings in the hallway.

He found the silver plaque reading 420 rather quickly and after a self-pep talk knocked strongly on the wooden door. He bounced on the balls of his feet, and when the door pulled open the guy with half his hair dyed from the party was staring blankly back at him. Kirishima remembered Uraraka saying he was Bakugou’s roommate and their editor, how did he forget he’d be here.

“Shitty Hair.” Todoroki—he thinks that’s what Uraraka called him—said. Kirishima waited for more, but after an uncomfortably long time staring at each other, he realized that was it.

“Can I come in, please?”

Todoroki’s eyes narrowed and he found himself shrinking under the gaze. He thought once things had been figured out between him and Bakugou this Todoroki guy wouldn’t hate him anymore, but it looks like he’d been wrong.

“Is that Kirishima?” Midoriya came bounding up from behind Todoroki. “What are you doing in the hall? Come on, we’re almost done setting up!”

Kirishima slid past Todoroki with as much space as possible. The apartment looked massive compared to how it’d felt crammed with all those people the night of the party. The furniture that Kaminari had fallen off was now pushed against the walls to make room for the set that Kirishima had seen in so many of their YouTube videos. An old wooden table and chairs became the focus and a backdrop was being set up behind them. Taped to the backdrop were wanted posters, maps with red string and post-its, and various black and white photos of vehicles, people, and crime scenes. Kirishima felt an uncontrollable smile start to form.

“I always pictured you having a studio or something.”

“It looks more complicated than it is.” Midoriya shrugged. “It’s already intact in Todoroki’s room. We just move it out here.”

“You keep the table in your room?” Kirishima asked turning to Todoroki.

“It’s our dining set.”

Kirishima eyed the old, cracked table and the two uncomfortable chairs. He couldn’t imagine having to sit on those for anything other than a short film session.

“Kacchan is in Todoroki’s room grabbing the last of the camera equipment,” Midoriya said. “If you wanted to go help him.” Kirishima did. He nodded to Midoriya and wandered down the only hallway that could lead to other rooms. He had no clue which door led to Todoroki’s room, but after hearing several curses he had a pretty good idea.

He nudged the ajar door open with his foot and found Bakugou headfirst in a closet.

“Fucking half-and-half bastard. I told him to leave them out, but nobody ever fucking listens to me. I swear to fucking god I’m going to lose my mind.” Bakugou muttered to himself while throwing clothing items and books behind him.

“Would you like help?”

Bakugou pulled out of the closet too quickly, causing a few crashes to be heard inside. “Hey.” He said breathlessly. Kirishima figured from digging around in the closet so long.

“Hi.”

“I’ve almost got it. Just hold on.” Bakugou said before diving back into whatever chaos Todoroki maintained in there.

Kirishima took small steps around the room that was about as plain as the owner itself. The walls were blank, the bedspread was grey, and even his computer desk was barren. The only thing that stood out was the two pictures hung above his bedframe with scotch tape. The first was him, Midoriya, and Bakugou holding their one-millionth subscriber plaque, and the second was two young boys in jerseys covered in dirt, the blonde boy had a cocky grin with his arm slung around a pale-haired boy who smiled shyly.

“You can carry these.” Bakugou offered Kirishima two heavy leather bags filled with equipment only Sero could name. He followed Kirishima’s gaze to the pictures on Todoroki’s wall and scoffed. “I told the hag not to give him that.”

“Is that you?”

“Yeah, but it’s a stupid picture.” Bakugou nudged Kirishima forward with his own case. “I don’t know why he likes it so much.”

Kirishima followed Bakugou out of the room to help him unpack the equipment while Midoriya and Todoroki completed the backdrop.

“Kacchan, I’m going to start recording the voiceover,” Midoriya said, walking toward the hall with Todoroki trailing after.

“Fucking do whatever I don’t care.”

“Voiceover?” Kirishima asked.

“Yeah, the dramatic explaining bull shit. Half-and-half cuts it in with us fucking around. It sounds cleaner that way.”

Kirishima nodded. That made sense. He guessed he never thought about it that intensely while just casually watching. “So, what’s the topic today?”

Bakugou shrugged. “The dynamic works better if I don’t know.” He said, struggling with a tripod. Kirishima sat cross-legged and watched helpfully. “I set up all the outings and Deku does this bull shit.”

Kirishima’s jaw dropped, “but I thought you hated being a ghost hunter.”

“I’m not a fucking ghost hunter.” Bakugou paused, staring blankly ahead. “Am I a ghost hunter?”

“I mean by definition...” Kirishima shrugged. “Sorry, dude.”

“I don’t want to be a fucking ghost hunter. This is bull shit!”

Todoroki poked his head out from the end of the hallway. “Izuku would like me to pass on, ‘Kacchan shut the fuck up. You’re ruining my recording’.”

“Tell him to suck a fat one.”

“I will not.” Todoroki left and Bakugou stuck his tongue out childishly.

“Izuku?” Kirishima asked.

“Yep,” Bakugou motioned for Kirishima to hand him one of the items lying beside him. “You give someone a place to stay and they betray you by sleeping with the enemy.”

“That didn’t sound overdramatic at all.”

“I’m not overdramatic.” He muttered under his breath. Kirishima leaned back on his palms and glanced back to where Todoroki had disappeared.

Midoriya’s head poked out from the hall. “Kirishima there’s a fun ransom note in this case and I was wondering if you wanted to do the voiceover for it?”

“Fun ransom note?” Bakugou shook his head.

“Me?”

“Normally Todoroki would, but since you’re here I figured it’d be fun to switch things up.”

Kirishima scrambled up and bounded down to the room opposite Todoroki’s. Bakugou’s room had a lot more to take in than Todoroki’s had. The amount of superhero merchandise—All Might specifically—that Bakugou had was impressive even to Kirishima. He had posters hung all over, actions figures and Funko Pops on bookshelves—most unopened, comic books resting on his nightstand, and an All Might blanket strewn across his black comforter. In between the superhero posters were a few pop-punk bands from the early 2000s that he was sure Sero would appreciate.

Kirishima’s eyes landed on a silver laptop on Bakugou’s bed that had a few YouTuber’s logo stickers on them. He noticed one was worn and nearly peeling off the surface, and it took him a moment to recognize it as his own logo. It was Kirishima’s first attempt at merch from nearly four years ago. He’d changed his design completely since then since hardly anyone had bought those. Bakugou had said he only knew so much about the Vlog Squad because Midoriya watched their videos in college. If that was true why would he have—

“Alright, here are the sections we need,” Midoriya said, handing him a paper with several highlighted sentences.

“Do I have to read it all dramatic?” Kirishima asked, skimming the words. He took a seat in front of their expensive-looking microphone while Todoroki clicked various buttons on the screen before him. This was all completely out of his basic editing toolbox.

“Just read them like you want to kidnap and murder a little girl,” Todoroki said somehow disinterested.

“Shoto.” Midoriya smacked his arm lightly. He muttered under his breath, leaning back and gesturing to the mic in front of Kirishima. He stared at it blankly.

“Don’t worry too much,” Bakugou said, leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms. “Whatever you do will be fine.”

“If not, I’ll just rerecord it when you leave.”

Midoriya smacked Todoroki again. Bakugou gave Kirishima a millisecond half-smile and that was all the encouragement he needed to begin. The ‘fun’ ransom note turned out to be extremely depressing, and unfortunately, Kirishima ended up having to read it several times before getting a good take. He fumbled over a few larger words, but Midoriya was incredibly forgiving. After all the unnecessary compliments he received Kirishima left confident that he’d performed decent enough for a working edit.

“Alright, time to get this bitch over with,” Bakugou said, kicking off the doorframe.

“That’s the spirit Kacchan.”

Excitement fluttered through Kirishima’s stomach as Bakugou and Midoriya took their seats. He sat atop their kitchen counter a few meters behind the film equipment so any noise he made wouldn’t get picked up by audio. Todoroki made a few final adjustments to Bakugou’s set up, ignoring his insulted rants, and counted off to signal the start of filming. Once the camera was on he moved back beside Kirishima, and it was clear by his cold demeanor that he had little intention of humoring him with a conversation.

Like all videos, Midoriya began with explaining that week’s topic while Bakugou half-listened, twirling a red pen between his fingers. They would be covering the unsolved murder of a young girl, a case that their patron had been actively requesting. Midoriya barely got three minutes in before Bakugou interjected.

“Are those business folders going to be a regular thing now?”

“I was planning on it,” Midoriya said. “Why? Does it bother you that I look professional now?”

“No. It pisses me off because I know a bunch of ghost bull shit is going to end up in there.” Bakugou said, leaning back in his chair.

“Well, it’s not bull shit, so sorry but—”

“Wait,” Bakugou turned serious and put his hands up. “Did you hear that?”

Midoriya shook his head and Bakugou pointed his pen downwards. “It was my chair squeaking. Did you think it was a ghost? I’m just making sure you know the difference.”

Kirishima snorted. Bakugou and Midoriya both turned to him, Bakugou’s expression elated and Midoriya’s crestfallen.

“Kirishima,” Midoriya said whining.

“I’m sorry.”

“This is great.” Bakugou crossed his arms behind his head for support as he leaned back. “We should have a live audience more often.”

“This audience is biased, and you know it,” Midoriya muttered under his breath.

Bakugou rolled his eyes and waved for Midoriya to start up again. They continued with the episode and Kirishima tried his best to force down laughter whenever Bakugou made a snide remark. It hadn’t helped that Bakugou would make direct eye contact with him after every incident.

Todoroki started mumbling beside him.

“What?” Kirishima figured there was no harm in trying with Todoroki.

Todoroki side-eyed him. “Bakugou’s showing off. This is going to be annoying to edit.”

Kirishima didn’t know what that meant. As far as he could tell Bakugou was acting like normal.

“Are you taking notes?” Midoriya asked. Bakugou had his head down over his small yellow notepad and Midoriya strained to see what it said. “When have you ever taken notes that doesn’t—Deku is a fucking idiot. That’s…that’s real funny. Are you proud of yourself?”

Bakugou wiggled his eyebrows cockily at the camera and made brief eye-contact with Kirishima again. He supposed Bakugou was acting a little goofier than usual, but Kirishima wouldn’t consider that showing off.

Todoroki groaned dramatically beside him, so he clearly disagreed. Bakugou listened to Midoriya explain the first two suspects and suddenly he slapped his hand over Midoriya’s mouth. Midoriya peeled Bakugou’s hand off and looked at him like he’d gone insane.

“What’s happen—”

“Deku, I’ve connected the fucking dots.”

Midoriya looked a cross between amused and angry. Kirishima had his hands covering his mouth and was keeping his laughter down by sheer willpower alone. He wouldn’t allow himself to ruin what he knew would become a historical moment.

“Kacchan, there is nothing for you to connect yet.”

“I’ve connected them,” Bakugou said. He went on to rattle off a theory connecting the first two suspects to the murder. Kirishima and Todoroki both glanced at each other confused by what was happening before them. Bakugou spoke with such confidence it was hard not to believe he’d just solved the case. Midoriya read through the paper in his hand, looking between it and Bakugou before throwing it behind his back exasperatedly.

“Yeah, that’s… that’s the second theory.”

Bakugou raised his hand for a high-five and Midoriya eyed it wearily. Bakugou didn’t even bother waiting before he high-fived himself.

There were only several minutes of recording left as Midoriya wrapped of the final theory, which was always the most ridiculous and would send Bakugou in a tizzy. He ranted for remaining time as Midoriya laughed, but once Bakugou calmed Midoriya ended their ride with his classic phrase, ‘for now the mystery remains unsolved’. Kirishima grinned giddily as the words left Midoriya’s mouth.

“Those guys were assholes,” Bakugou said, stretching his arms as he stood from his chair.

“I mean they’re all murder suspects,” Deku said, propping his feet onto the wooden table. “Do you think that’s ever been someone’s last words to a murderer? You’re a fucking asshole?”

“Those would be my last words.”

Midoriya laughed getting up to help Todoroki look over the past forty minutes of footage. Bakugou walked straight up to Kirishima who was swinging his legs on the edge of the granite countertop.

“So, was it everything you dreamed it’d be?” Bakugou asked.

“That was amazing,” Kirishima hopped off the counter, accidentally landing a little too close to Bakugou. “You guys were so cool.”

Bakugou flushed with color and looked away from Kirishima’s sunshine smile. “It wasn’t anything special…”

“That’s uncharacteristically humble of you Kacchan,” Midoriya said, a teasing lilt to his voice. Bakugou flipped him the bird.

“Can we eat now? I am hungry.” Todoroki said placing the camera back onto the tripod.

“You’re getting food with us, right?” Midoriya asked Kirishima.

“I didn’t know you were getting food.”

“We always have a celebration meal after we record an episode. Kacchan was supposed to invite you.”

“Nobody fucking told me to—”

“Do I have to do everything,” Midoriya muttered under his breath. He grabbed Todoroki’s hand and led him toward the front door. “Shoto is going to help me take something to my car. We’ll be right back.”

“But we aren’t carrying anything,” Todoroki said. Midoriya didn’t respond and Todoroki shrugged helplessly to Bakugou as he let himself be dragged out his apartment. Bakugou and Kirishima were left staring at the door confused.

“That was…”

“Tactless.” Bakugou offered.

“I was going to say interesting, but yours works.”

“Obviously you’re invited to get food with us,” Bakugou said, avoiding eye contact by staring down at his plain black socks.

Kirishima nodded. “I figured.”

The moment Bakugou did look up Kirishima’s mind was erased of anything he’d planned to say. All he could think about was how intensely attractive his eyes were, how privileged he felt to be in that situation, and how he wished his heart would slow the fuck down because there’s no way Bakugou couldn’t hear it beating.

“I’m glad you were able to show up,” Bakugou admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah, uh, I’m glad I got to see you again.” Kirishima didn’t miss the way Bakugou’s eyes briefly widened before he looked away.

“Sorry I never really texted you. We went to the middle of nowhere for four days, so I didn’t have cell service.”

“Middle of nowhere?” Kirishima asked.

“Yeah. We were hunting… bigfoot.”

Kirishima bit his lip to hold back another smile. Only he would find a guy who could use hunting bigfoot as a legitimate excuse for not texting him back. “It’s fine. I mean, it’s not like I was depressed eating to Disney movies for three days straight or something.”

Bakugou eyed him suspiciously and Kirishima immediately started backpedaling.

“Besides, we aren’t dating or anything, so you don’t owe me any explanations,” Kirishima said, hoping he could deescalate the suspicion.

“Right. No. Yeah. We’re not… that.”

Kirishima realized he may have de-escalated too much when an ounce of hurt flickered across Bakugou’s face. That was bad. He needed to fix that. Kirishima racked his brain for ideas, but he could only come up with stupid plans. Kirishima noticed Bakugou’s face scrunch up like he was about to overthink something, and he took a deep breath. It was time to do something stupid.

“Not that I would hate if we were…” Kirishima said. “Dating or something.”

Bakugou’s cheeks tinted red and Kirishima hoped that was a good sign.

“Right,” Bakugou nodded. “That wouldn’t completely suck.”

Kirishima didn’t bother holding back the smile that broke out. “Well then maybe we should—"

“We’re back!” The front door swung open and Midoriya strutted into the living room. "Shoto and I were thinking about tacos if that works for you… two…”

Kirishima hadn’t noticed how close they were until Bakugou backed up an exaggerative distance. Kirishima didn’t anger easily, but at that moment if looks could kill Midoriya would’ve dropped on the spot.

“We’ll just wait in the hall,” Midoriya said, quickly pushing a confused Todoroki back out the door.

Bakugou had both his hands on his face and he looked at Kirishima through spread fingers. Kirishima gave him a half-grin and shrugged.

“Can we talk later?” Bakugou asked. “If Deku walks in one more time he’ll be the star of our next video.”

Kirishima felt his face burn. “Yeah. Later works.”

Bakugou nodded. “I have to… get shoes and stuff.”

He left Kirishima alone in the living room. Kirishima smacked his cheeks so the blush would be gone by the time he went into the hall. He had his hand on the brass doorknob when he spotted a whiteboard hanging beside the door.

It was a calendar whiteboard, the type you usually find in college apartments. It was color-coded based on each boy for chores, appointments, meal prep, rent, and bill payments, and other random reminders—Bakugou had one about picking Todoroki up from his dentist appointment. At the bottom left there were stick figures of Todoroki and Bakugou that looked to be drawn by the opposite. Kirishima had never seen something so wholesome and organized in his life. He knew that if his house tried to implement this it would go to shit in less than 12 hours.

The right side was more chaotic and had been invaded by Uraraka and Midoriya. Various things like fuck Deku, altered with a yes please beneath it; Uraraka is awesome, rewritten as Uraraka is stupid; Kacchan smells, a sloppy GOOD scribbled underneath; and Todoroki is a boss ass bitch, which was left alone. This was more like what anything at his home would resemble.

“I got it because half-and-half needed to learn how to be a functioning adult,” Bakugou said, sneaking up behind him. “Nobody takes my shit seriously.”

“Can I write on it?” Kirishima asked, already reaching for the red dry-erase marker. He found a clean spot in the bottom right and wrote ‘Kirishima was here’ with a shark-toothed smiley face.

Bakugou stared intensely at the spot then nodded. “Let’s go.”

The moment they entered the hall Midoriya apologized which started an argument between him and Bakugou. Kirishima tried seeking help in Todoroki as the two trailed behind them, but it appeared Todoroki still wanted nothing to do with him. Kirishima hoped he’d be able to fix whatever was going on because Todoroki seemed like a big part of Bakugou’s life. Mina always told Kirishima that befriending people was his hidden superpower, so he would just have to hope that he’d be able to ware Todoroki down. Kirishima wanted to be a part of Bakugou’s life, and that meant getting along with the people who were in it.

Bakugou aggressively punched the down button for the elevator while informing Midoriya his poor taste in movies made his every opinion irrelevant. When the doors slid open Todoroki shoulder checked him while walking past and Bakugou paused his fight with Midoriya as if thrown off by Todoroki’s actions. Kirishima guessed it really was just something about him then wasn’t it. The two appeared to be having some sort of telepathic conversation now and Kirishima just leaned against the cool metal of the elevator’s wall.

Don’t get him wrong. Kirishima was thrilled to be hanging out with everyone but…

He hoped later wouldn’t be too far away.

#kiribaku #clickbait #youtuber au #bakugou katsuki #kirishima eijirou #bakugou x kirishima #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha au

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loveart248 · 6 years ago

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KIRIBAKU SHIP DEVELOPMENT

I love many BNHA ships but Kiribaku holds a special place in my heart since it has so much positive canon material and I am always a sucker for the "Best friends who fall in love" trope since I enjoy slow burn with character growth. However, even taking the romantic possibility out of the equation, I just love that their relationship is so well developed in the story with subtle changes in their behavior all throughout as they go from 1. strangers who don't think much of each other to 2. reluctant allies who need to work together to complete certain tasks to 3. sort of friends with Kirishima pushing for a friendship to 4. best friends with an equal balance of respect and appreciation for each other. Below I tried to break down their relationship as it develops throughout the manga so...

WARNING: This is a long post and MAY contain spoilers for non-manga readers and anyone who has not seen the BNHA movie (not by much though).

Back at the beginning of the series, Kirishima used to think that Bakugou was a terrible person just like the rest of class 1-a, especially due to how he would treat Izuku. He was all like "That Bakugou is crazy and fights dirty" while Bakugou didn't even care about his existence yet. The only thing on Bakugou's mind at the time was beating Izuku and proving his superiority over everyone else. Thus, Bakugou was definitely not looking for friends as the only people he was used to having around him were "followers" as shown during his middle school times.

Then during the USJ arc, they automatically started working together to fight the villains as they were right next to each other during the initial attack. This right away showed how synchronized they were as a team due to their personalities and compatible quirks. So from the get go, they just seemed to flow well together.

Afterwards, they were sent off in the portal together giving them more time to fight villains side by side alone to get a feel of each others' personalities. During that time, you can slowly see Kirishima change his perspective of Bakugou from "This guy is crazy" to "Huh. This guy may not be that bad. He seems pretty cool right now".

This scene may seem minute but it is the moment that ignites Kirishima's interest in getting to know more about Bakugou. Kirishima basically starts to become more interested in Bakugou as a person as he starts to recognize his positive qualities despite his original assessment of Bakugou's personality.

Kirishima can't help but start to find Bakugou "manly" even after he tells off the other classes at the beginning of the Sports Festival arc. Even despite Kaminari's warning of "Don't let him play you" lol And this is just great because it shows that Kirishima was still somewhat hesitant about liking Bakugou as a person but was willing to give him a chance.

Kirishima begins to want to hang out with Bakugou and get on his good side as shown by the interactions above and some of the interactions at the beginning of the Sports Festival. Bakugou still doesn't think much of him but he let's him be for the most part. You also start to see Kirishima more impressed with Bakugou than before.

As the Sports Festival progresses, Kirishima finally gets his opportunity to prove his skill in Bakugou's eyes while also appealing to Bakugou's desire to win against Izuku. This moment shows an understanding of Bakugou's personality as he knows how to get Bakugou to agree with him despite Bakugou not thinking too much of him yet. It also shows a shift in Kirishima's preference of Izuku since now he would much prefer to be in Bakugou's team as he didn't even try to get in Izuku's team and barely tried to get into Todoroki's team based on his commentary.

THAT moment is when their friendship is truly born as Bakugou starts to acknowledge him and call him "Kirishima" afterwards as a sign of respect. During the match, you can see their dynamics in action with Kirishima trying to calm down Bakugou as Bakugou starts to lose his cool with opposing teams lol So basically the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

The two are eventually paired off against each other and Bakugou wins but he STILL respects him as an opponent. He even comments on how difficult it is to get past Kirishima's defenses which is why he basically lets him reach his quirk limit to win. The fight is short but pretty funny because you can see them kind of teasing each other all throughout like good friends.

After the Sports Festival, the two are often seen around each other hanging out with Kirishima definitely feeling more comfortable around Bakugou to the point that he easily jokes around him and teases him. Slowly, through Kirishima's influence as he basically gets along with everyone in class 1-a, you can see more of the other students also feel more comfortable around Bakugou, especially the ones who were on his team at the Sports Festival.

Characters like Kaminari, Sero, Mina, etc. Sero is one that automatically attaches himself to Bakugou's group soon after the Sports Festival as he is shown comfortably teasing Bakugou for his haircut with Kirishima.

By the time the Summer Training Camp Arc happens, the audience already has some understanding of their friendship but it's still not in full display yet. It's more subtle and in the background than anything. During the summer camp though, you can finally see how much Bakugou means to Kirishima as a friend and as a fellow student after the villain attack that results in his kidnapping.

He feels guilty that he couldn't help his friend so he tries to convince the others to help him save Bakugou despite that being illegal. He only manages to convince a select few, two of which were already there when Bakugou was kidnapped and felt responsible too (Todoroki and Izuku) but the fact that he felt that much about it shows how much he cares.

In part, knowing Kirishima's character and motivations, you can tell that he wants to save Bakugou to prove to himself that he can be a true hero but you can also tell that saving Bakugou means more to him than that since Bakugou is not just "some guy" but his close friend.

During the entire rescue arc, Kirishima is all about doing his best to save Bakugou alongside the others to the point that he buys expensive night camera lenses to spy on the warehouse and chooses the disguises for the others (which were pretty funny disguises that make you wonder why Kirishima has such terrible fashion sense but can choose decent outfits for others XD).

Later on, Bakugou pays him back the money for the camera as a form of thanks for saving him. If BNHA Smash is anything to go by, Bakugou apparently did ALL kinds of odd jobs to get that money as quickly as possible (i.e. Nude modeling, dress like a bumble bee, bake cakes, etc.) 🤣

During the rescue arc, the most Kiribaku moment ever occurs in which Izuku comes up with the "Rescue Bakugou Without Confronting Villains" plan that ends up working ONLY because of how Bakugou views Kirishima as a friend and equal by that point. This is an important moment of development from Bakugou's side as it shows that he holds Kirishima in high regard and does not feel like Kirishima saving him is him looking down on Bakugou's own skill. This is significant since THIS specific detail is one of the factors that causes Bakugou to react in anger towards characters like Izuku and Todoroki most of the time: his belief that they are looking down on him and consider him inferior. So him accepting Kirishima's hand basically confirmed that their relationship is mutual as they both consider the other a friend without fear of judgment.

After this arc, there are countless other subtle moments throughout the series that show how close they are such as:

1. Bakugou tutoring him and going on study dates (a lot of that in the light novels). Also, the fact that Kirishima clearly wanted Bakugou to tutor him from the beginning since he never seeked out Momo like the others when he saw his grade.

2. The BNHA movie moments (assuming they are canon) which happened before the summer arc and add MORE development and insight into their relationship (i.e. Bakugou inviting Kirishima to i-Expo, sharing a room, Kirishima buying them suits, etc.)

3. Kirishima constantly complimenting Bakugou but also making sure he's not too rude to others (Literally them every panel in the manga nowadays lol)

4. Kirishima apparently helping Bakugou move all his stuff to his dorm and then...

5. Kirishima knowing that Bakugou went to sleep at 8 pm when showing off rooms hinting that they were hanging out prior to that

6. Bakugou's motivational speech to Kirishima that motivated him to push himself harder to create the "unbreakable" form/also basically a compliment from Bakugou to Kirishima.

7. Kirishima implying that he and Bakugou spar together sometimes (i.e. Bakugou asking to test his technique on him and Kirishima being fine with that while the others are scared lol)

And don't get me started on all the BNHA SMASH moments! Seriously, those are not canon at all but there are many. And Kirishima is extra affectionate in those 🤣 He has the power to make Bakugou do pretty much anything there.

To conclude this long post, whether as brotp or otp, the Kiribaku relationship development is undeniable. Just like the character growth they both experienced due to each other. Now, just because they help each other grow does not mean they are the only ones there for each other. Kirishima is not the ONLY one that understands Bakugou in the story nor is he his only friend or person he respects since Bakugou has many other people he respects and calls by name (i.e. All Might, Aizawa, Uraraka, etc.). Likewise, Bakugou is not the ONLY person Kirishima admires or considers a close friend (i.e. He has Kaminari, TetsuTetsu, etc.).

However, they clearly mean a lot to each other and help each other develop where they need to. Kirishima helps Bakugou open up to others more and Bakugou helps Kirishima believe in himself and his ability to be a hero. And that is enough for them. 😁

#kirishima eijirou #kirishima eijiro #red riot #bakugou katsuki #bakugo katsuki #kiribaku #bakushima #poprocks #bakukiri #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha kirishima #mha kirishima #bnha bakugou #mha bakugou #ship meta #ship development

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sunnysideofsaturn · 5 years ago

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2019, oh how you’ve destroyed me.

basically i’ve seen a ton of posts like this, especially by one of my best interweb pals (lookin at you, C @hey-im-pan ) and it’s inspired me to make one of my own! i journal a LOT but it’ll be interesting to try and sum everything up in little synopsis.

*side note: i struggle with anxiety, depression, insomnia, and ocd, so those and their effects may be mentioned. be cautious. This also doesn’t include a lot of the more personal instances, so don’t take it as an accurate representation of what it is like living with these issues*

January:

Honestly, not much happened. I went on a college visit trip with a few of my friends to my dream school, which was stressful but informative, and my anxiety attacks were far and in-between. Sleep schedule was wack (has been since 7th grade), but i was functioning. Dysphoria (i’m nonbinary, but hadn’t really even come out to myself then) was pretty high this month in particular for some reason, so i finally started trying to convince my mom to let me cut my hair off. (I had like 2.5 feet it was a mess)

February:

Finally came out to one of my close friends as pan, kinda accidentally but she was chill with it :) My grandma had a weeklong sickness that scared the shit out of me, but she got better for the time being. I was constantly pushing myself academically and physically at practice, but my grades were taking a bit of a nosedive because i didn’t have the capacity to deal with everything, but i bottled it up because i hate feeling weak. I continued to explore my sexuality, and started to research the gender spectrum.

March:

School and Crew (rowing sport) were the only things on my mind at all times. I started having more anxiety attacks again, and decided it was time to talk to my doctor about going back on meds after 3 years off them. IB was kicking my ass, but i’m so grateful for all of my teammates for giving me an escape on the water. Started to accept I was non-binary.

April:

A month full of good vibes i really needed. Got my drivers license on 4/20. I hiked my grades up with the help of extra credit, held a “wedding” in a Dillard’s try-on section, and spent a few days of spring break at the beach with two friends. I finally cut my hair off!! That feeling was literally incredible and i try to get a haircut every other month to actually keep up with it now. Saw endgame, died inside, and competed in an art show! I was doing really well, so I went off my meds again (don’t do that without a doctors permission like me).

May:

BAdddd time to be off meds, anxiety and depression were dropping my health and IB finals kicked my ass and the class i had been most excited about taking had become my worst at this point, but I got through the exams without missing any. Went to Jr. Prom though! We actually used going to Jr. Prom as a coverup to throw a surprise birthday party for my best friend. I still have no idea how she didn’t figure it out. I also started talking to one of my internet buds, Rosie. She’s helped me through so much she doesn’t even know about, and it such a beaut inside and out <3

June:

MADE IT TO PRIDE MONTH!! I finished my actual finals with minimal panic attacks, and join a Parkner discord! That was short lived, but from it was born… The What the Actual Fuck Fam, whom i love dearly. You guys still crack me up, and i know i’ll always have people to fall back on ( or help me commit murder.) Turned 17 and watched Monty Python (again.) Was forced into not one, but tWo bible camps, but also went to my first pride in my city! I have never felt so loved by so many people i don’t know :)

July:

Depression hit me HarD. I was constantly in a bad mood and taking it out on other people and myself, and I was losing even more sleep. Went back on meds for a bit. I got to see Far From Home, but pretty much isolated myself from anyone in my real life. July is always hard for me to get though for some reason. On a happier note, I started talking to @winterrs-child , who I now love dearly and @exbrodokills , which started out by exchanging memes but i think we can now call a friendship :D

August:

More depression, yayyyy, but Rosie and my irl friends helped me through it so much, even if they didn’t know it was happening. I finally came out to my parents and grandma as pan. They honestly took it pretty well, even if my grandma thinks it’s a ‘phase’. Also came out to C, B, and T as non-binary. Ya’ll were the first people I told after a YEAR omg <3 developed a huge celebrity crush on a cosplayer i won’t name even though they’ll never see this :’) Also fell back into the kiribaku pit after finally stabilizing my Parkner obsession. Also, joined a sapphic server which is basically a big gay support group :) (thanks to Rosie)

September:

Started my senior year of high school. So far, it’s pretty much been one big panic attack but i’m managing. I’m a mentor on the crew team this year and have adopted pretty much every underclassmen on the team. I love them all equally (except for my favorites) Cut my hair even shorter! I love it! Got back into writing poetry and short stories after an intense writer’s and reader’s block that lasted for almost a year. Went off my meds again (I should stop doing that, ik) Went to a Harry Potter fest, which was great, but started building up major anxiety for planning the rest of my life.

October:

SPOOP MONTH. October is my favorite month, so I was determined to make it good. Went on a couple more college tours, but also celebrated fall and halloween with my favorite people. Came reallllly close to stabbing my IB Bio teacher, but he’s survived, so far. Cosplayer mentioned earlier followed me on insta, cue gay panic. i also accidentally created a huge cuddle pile of 30 girls on my team in the captain’s backyard. It was as amazing as it sounds :0 Applied for 6 colleges

November:

CAVETOWN omg. I was also murdered with a bent hammer (don’t ask) and my mental health was pretty stable. I joined yet another server created by the cosplayer, and have made so many friends through it, plus gained a new dad figure :). Contemplated buying a binder on black friday, didn’t and deeply regret it (planing on getting one with the christmas money i get from my homophobic grandfather we pretend doesn’t exist) Discovered the goodness of Baby Yoda. Did pretty much no spanish homework. Solid 7/10

December:

Honestly, school wise december has been the most stressful month of this year so far, and the 2nd worst depressive episode. I’ve written 6 essays and done 5 projects this month and that was not a good time for the already low seratonin levels. i got waitlisted for the school i mentioned earlier, but was accepted into the other 5 :) I got to see an Of Monsters and Men concert, and I’m trying to push thorough til break, but my grandma has been getting sick more and more frequently over this year and now she’s been in a lot of pain for over two weeks and in and out of emergency care 6 times. Just hoping to make it to 2020 with everyone in tact and healthy :) I’m doing a secret santa with my friends im looking forward to. My friends have been amazing support through all of this mess, even if ii didn’t tell you about it, and i love you all!!

special mentions:

@donnaschaunamanon

@dawdlzdoodles

@harleykeenerprotectionsquad

@bumbblebeeeeee

@lykkesw

@chai-studying

@hey-im-pan

@pumpkinparkner

@everyone’s users i don’t know/remember

#2019 #get to know me #recap #2029 is not a real year #i don't have 2020 vision

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conciteque · 5 years ago

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Kiribaku Month - Day 6: Fanboy

Wordcount: 1741 words (a long baby today)

Day 7 of @kiribakumonth2019.

I strayed a lot from the topic but they’re still a bit of fanboying. Just, it’s not super extra because they’re androids, they’re not supposed to fanboy.

Anyway, enjoy some fluff to forget the minimal amount of fanboying in today’s contribution.

Note: minor NieR Automata spoilers. It’s related to a side quest but still, it’s there.

I hope you’ll like it!

Day 6: Fanboy

The Amusement Park was as beautiful as Eijirou remembered. He hadn’t had the chance to visit in a long time, and it had decayed some more since last time, but the never ending party was still going on, the machines were still marching and dancing, too engrossed in the fun to care about the enemies around, and the mysterious fireworks were still exploding endlessly around the central castle. It was gorgeous, and it wasn’t even the best thing about the scenery.

“I’ve read somewhere that fireworks look better at night,” Eijirou said, turning toward the android sitting beside him.

“You read this? Or Sparky did and told you?” Kacchan asked, skeptical.

Eijirou chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess Denki’s the one who told me.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kacchan smirked before turning back to the fireworks.

Eijirou smiled as he watched his profile, changing ever so slightly with each explosion. Clearly, the best thing about being here was that he got to share this moment with Kacchan.

Eijirou had made a lot of progress, since their second first meeting. His relationship with the Battle unit wasn’t yet where it was before, but he could tell that there was something going on. It had taken months to reach this point, and surprisingly, Eijirou’s knowledge got him in trouble more often than it helped, given how suspicious the YuUEi soldier could be. Still, they were getting there, slowly.

A few minutes ago, Eijirou had put his hand on Kacchan’s, and the other android had let him, feigning to ignore it. Right now, Eijirou wanted more than ever to sit closer, to lean against him, maybe rest his head on Kacchan’s shoulder, but he was afraid that it was too early for his. He didn’t want to ruin the moment; it had taken too much effort to make it possible. For now, the feeling of Kacchan’s silky gloved hand under his would be enough.

“I don’t really care for how fireworks look like,” Kacchan commented after a while, still looking at them.

“Really? But they’re so pretty!”

“I guess…”

“You said you liked them, earlier,” Eijirou remarked.

“Hmm… I like how they sound. They have a nice smell, too.”

Eijirou snorted.

“Really? That’s all you care about?” he chuckled.

“What’s so fucking funny about it?”

“Kacchan, they sound like a fight! And they kinda smell like it too.”

“Yeah, that’s what makes them so fucking cool!”

“You’re hopeless…” Eijirou smiled, shaking his head slowly. “That’s why you’re so manly, though…” he added softly, for himself.

“I really don’t get your manly shit.”

Eijirou shrugged.

“It’s how my old mentor used to define things. It started making sense after a while.”

“What was he like?”

“Manly,” Eijirou smiled.

“Still doesn’t make fucking sense,” Kacchan grumbled.

“Well, he was really strong, and brave. He only had one life, like me, but he never hesitated to put it on the line to help others. Said it was better to die doing the right thing than to live and see the consequences of your inaction.”

“Must have been a good guy.”

“He was! I learned a lot from him!”

“Even now, I’m trying to be more like him,” he almost added, but the memory of where this conversation went a year ago convinced him to stop. It was better if Kacchan never remembered it.

“Tch, you sound like shitty Deku with All Might. The idiot keeps saying he wants to be like him.”

“Is it a bad thing?”

Kacchan shrugged.

“All Might was fucking strong. Running toward danger, turning the tide of a battle… he could pull off that shit, and he always won. Deku is a weakling who always dies trying to do his job. That’s stupid. Even if he comes back, he can’t protect anyone when he’s dead. And he can’t fucking win either.”

“True…”

Eijirou hesitated. Should he ask more about All Might, or go back to the fireworks and Kacchan’s hand in his? He was considering the pros and cons when, as if on cue, the pod that never left YuUEi units came to life with a message from the Council of Humanity. As always, it started with the booming laughter of All Might, and Eijirou couldn’t repress a chuckle at Kacchan’s annoyed groan.

“You can’t turn it off?” he asked as the message played, telling them nothing new.

“Nope. That shit’s fucking annoying…”

They didn’t say anything until the message ended and the pod went back to its owner’s side, as if nothing happened. The silence was once again only disturbed by the faraway sound of the fireworks.

“Talk about ruining the mood,” Eijirou chuckled.

His brain almost stopped working when he saw Kacchan’s shoulders shake silently. His head was down, and Eijirou could feel small tremors from where their hands touched. The smile on Kacchan’s face was one of the most beautiful he’d ever seen, full of pure, unadulterated joy, and Eijirou realized that he’d never seen him like this.

He stopped laughing, too caught up in his observation, until Kacchan finally calmed down and said, “What?”

Eijirou hummed, knowing full well that saying anything would forever ruin his chances to see Kacchan’s weird, silent laugh again.

“Who’s really this All Might, anyway?” he asked instead.

“A YuUEi unit from an older generation. The strongest there was. Whatever battle he fought, he always won. When he got outdated, the Council of Humanity invited him on the moon and appointed him as their Voice. That’s what the archives say, at least.”

“He sounds like a manly android. I wonder if he was stronger than Crimson Riot…”

“Your mentor? Of course he fucking was! I told you, he was the strongest!”

“Oooh, who sounds like Deku now?” Eijirou smirked.

“Shut up, Shitty Hair!” Kacchan yelled, indignant. “Don’t you fucking compare me to that nerd!”

“Sure, sure,” Eijirou teased.

Then, Kacchan’s scowl faded.

“I think it’s all bullshit, anyway,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“All Might. I’ve just… Recently, I’ve found some files on a mission, and I’m starting to think… Maybe he’s just a fairy tale for naive androids. Maybe he wasn’t that fucking strong. Maybe… maybe he never fucking existed.”

Eijirou frowned. This sounded like a dangerous line of thought. A very dangerous one…

“Come on, why would YuUEi lie?” he asked with a nervous laugh, hoping to stop it right there.

It was just rumors, of course. But over the years, Eijirou had heard a lot about the evasive E units. Special YuUEi soldiers meant to kill traitors, or androids who knew too much.

“I don’t fucking know! But it just… With what I read, it makes more sense if All Might doesn’t exist at all. If they just wave the fucker around like a puppet, so we don’t see…”

Eijirou gripped Kacchan’s hand, only noticing when he felt it tense.

He couldn’t lose Kacchan now. He didn’t know where the Battle unit was going with his reasoning, but he didn’t care. All his alarms were ringing. It sounded like Kacchan was going to reach an important truth; one he wasn’t supposed to find out.

“Come on, Kacchan, it makes no sense,” he said, but Kacchan wasn’t planning to stop.

EIjirou couldn’t do this a third time. Maybe there wouldn’t even be a third time! It might be a false alarm, but he had to stop this now!

Gripping Kacchan’s hand in his, he used the other to grab the other’s nape and pull him into a kiss, hoping the distraction would be enough. Kacchan stiffened against him, unresponsive, and Eijirou realized that it was too early for kissing. But it was too late to stop now.

He pulled away, ready to apologize, but he couldn’t let go of the hand under his. It didn’t move.

“What the fuck was that for?!” Kacchan yelled.

“I… I’m sorry. I just… I thought…”

“What the fuck, Shitty Hair?! You can’t just pull this shit!”

“Kacchan, I’m sorry…”

The hand was still there, soft, unmoving. Eijirou didn’t want to let go. He should probably let go, though.

“How the fuck… You just… I don’t even know what the fuck I was thinking about just now!”

Eijirou couldn’t repress a tiny sigh of relief.

“I can’t help you here, I wasn’t listening,” he lied.

Kacchan huffed, and Eijirou removed his hand, missing the contact already.

“You’re such a moron, Ei… Too busy thinking about that fucking dirty move, huh…”

“Haha, yeah…”

“Unmanly as fuck,” he said, crossing his arms.

“So you understand the manly thing, after all,” Eijirou smiled.

“Shut up!”

He snapped his mouth shut and lowered his head, ashamed. Panicking or not, he’d really fucked up here…

“Let’s just… Deku’s supposed to call me when I have to go back. Watch the fireworks and don’t even think about pulling this shit again. You’ve lost your fucking touching privileges.”

Eijirou nodded. He put his hand back down, next to Kacchan’s, just out of reach, and looked back at the castle and the forever bright sky. Would he ever be able to share something like this with Kacchan again, after what he’d done? Would it be the last time Eijirou got to spend time alone with him? To think he’d ruin everything after his friends had worked so hard to make it happen…

He didn’t want to believe his sensory cells, when he first felt something move against his fingers, but when an entire gloved hand covered his, Eijirou was forced to admit that he wasn’t dreaming. He looked down quickly, hoping Kacchan wouldn’t notice, and confirmed what he’d felt. There was a hand on top of his, black and silky, and an irresistible smile bloomed on Eijirou’s face as he looked back to the castle.

After a while, he slowly moved his fingers to intertwine them with Kacchan’s, hoping it wouldn’t be too much.

It wasn’t.

Kacchan’s head was still resolutely turned toward the castle and the fireworks, although the blindfold made it hard to tell if he was really looking or not. Eijirou didn’t care. He was proud of Kacchan, and happy beyond measure that he’d initiate contact, for once. He was probably burning, too, but if he noticed, Kacchan didn’t tell. Acting upon his feelings was manly.

Crimson Riot had never been a sentimental android, never having the time to focus on relationships beyond comrades like Eijirou did, but deep down, he wondered if his idol would be proud of him.

#kiribaku #bakushima #kiribakumonth #Kiribaku Month 2019 #kirishima eijirou #bakugou katsuki #nier automata #nier automata au #conci writes stuff

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purplepersnicketywrites · 6 years ago

Note

Kiribaku + Coffee Shop AU!!!

there are So Many things you can do with a Coffee Shop AU. the universe is vast, infinite, brimming with potentialahem

so, i’ve technically sort of done a coffeeshop au before (Everybody Knows That Cats Are Independent), though the coffee shop isn’t totally totally focused on all that much, haha. and there’s the daemons thing.

SO FOR THIS

a less oft seen version is Coffee Shop Coworke- NO NO WAIT

COFFEE SHOP RIVALS

they work…. for different Coffee Shops. on the same road in a busy shopping district, just on opposite sides (i’ve seen this in real life with a couple of ice-cream parlours. can’t help but think what kind of WAR that is)

*cracks knuckles* y’all want coffee puns???

Kirishima works at Fourth Grind

and i’m bringing it back because it made me ugly-laugh when i came up with it:

Bakugou works at Best Beanist

so i figure there’s probably like, some of the class working at one, some at the other. for maximum chaos it’s not all bakusquad at one and dekusquad at another. probably some of the class as customers from other local shops who’re there for the Drama to be Regulars at different places. class B? ehhhhhhhhhhh maybe. okay let’s see:

Fourth Grind crew:

Kirishima

Mina

Kaminari

Deku

Iida

Regulars:

Jirou

Aoyama

Satou

Ojirou

Hagakure

Best Beanist crew:

Bakugou

Asui

Uraraka

Sero

Todoroki

Regulars:

Shouji

Tokoyami

Yaoyorozu

Kouda

Anyway yeah, they’re RIVAL SHOPS

So what happens is, Kiri and Baku are really into the rivalry, and no one else is that invested but they let them do their thing. They yell at each other across the street as they’re opening up.

Baku: EAT SHIT, FOURTH GRIND EXTRASKiri: SORRY, WE DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR BEAN STORAGE

and so it goes.

They start seeing each other in The Wild. Bakugou nearly walks into Kirishima in their local supermarket and they stare at each other with the kill bill sirens going off in their heads, but they don’t want to make a Big Scene in the supermarket by like, brawling or something.

Bakugou accuses Kirishima of having poor taste in coffee. Kirishima says that the taste doesn’t matter as long as it’s quick to make and can buy him extra time. They seethe.

And they keep running into each other, getting into petty squabbles, and going back to their coworkers to Complain. Everyone else is like ‘good, keep your arguments out of work hours’.

The thing is, the further they stray from Coffee Opinions, the more they seem to actually agree on? It’s like they have similar interests or something. How deplorable.

They’re sniping at each other at the supermarket again when some other guy comes up and starts a different argument with Bakugou - probably a rude customer from the coffee shop - and the thing is that Kiri and Baku have the same opinion on that, and they argue from the same side for once and crush the guy.

He leaves, defeated. Kiri and Baku nod at each other and continue doing their own things, minus the sniping.

Now, meanwhile, all the other Fourth Grind and Best Beanist employees? They’re friends. They hang out together. They all earn minimum wae doing basically the same job and they’re gonna have a party to try and get everyone to de-stress a little.

Baku: ew socialising? with the ENEMY?Uraraka: the company is our enemy, BakugouSero: yeah! rail against the corporate scumbags! not the other beleagured workers like usBaku: i can do bothTodo: are you afraid of a party?Baku: wtF NO i just hate partiesTsu: there will be free foodBaku: …I’m in

Kiri: hey i need to find the Worst Possible Outfit, MinaMina, over the phone: this is to annoy Bakugou, isn’t it?Kiri: i’ve never PLANNED to be in the same place as him before. i gotta go all in. it’s gotta be memorable. which pair of crocs should i use?Mina: just ask him out alreadyKiri, spluttering: WHAT NO I DON’t- WHAT- I- NO MINAMina, sighing: i’ll be there in five

So the party is happening. everyone’s chilling. there are some other people some of the workers have invited, it’s a relaxed atmosphere.Bakugou and Kirishima are staring daggers at each other from across the room

Baku, internally: WHAT IS HE WEARING WHAT THE FUCKKiri, internally: Mina is a LIAR I do NOT have a crush on him,,, that’s ridiculous we are EnemiesBaku, marching up to Kiri: ARE THOSE FUCKING CROCS?Kiri, noticing suddenly that Baku is wearing Relatively Nice Party Clothes instead of work uniform or random casual clothes: forgets words for five whole secondsBaku: OI ARE YOU DEAFKiri: NO I’M GAY

Kiri’s panicking internally. Why is Mina always right? But Bakugou just loses it laughing. Kiri is… extremely mega triple gay.

Baku, still amused: well i guess that explains your whole outfitKiri: thanks, i put it together for youKiri, internally: i did not authorise that sentenceBaku: fuckin hell, you want me to tear my eyes out?Kiri: that was the aim, yep.

They actually manage to hold a pretty civil conversation after that. Kiri might have been flirting a little (by accident) but he kept it subtle.

After the party, he goes into Full Gay Crisis Mode and complains to Mina at work. She consoles him. And rolls her eyes.

Kiri: what do I do? ? ? we’re COMPETITORSMina: i can ask Tsu for his numberKiri: why does your girlfriend know Bakugou’s numberMina: Mina: Asui TsuyuKiri: …FROM BEANIST?Mina: WHY DON’T YOU KNOW THIS? Kami: why doesn’t he know what?Mina: that i’m dating a Beanist, apparentlyKami: oh lmaoKiri: IT NEVER CAME UPKami: why forKiri: none of your-Mina: he likes BakugouKami: huhDeku: who likes him?Kami: Kirishima, apparentlyMina: it’s trueKiri: unfortunately…..Deku: you like….. Kacchan. Blond Kacchan. Angry Kacchan. Kiri: yes and it sucksIida: WH Y ARE YOU ALL IN THE BACK IT’S NOT BREAK TIME???

Kiri goes through like, three crises after learning that Mina's girlfriend is from the Other Coffee Shop. he declines asking her for Baku's number, and says he'd prefer to get it himself

things continue on mostly like before except now when Kiri and Baku see each other and find something to argue about, it's no longer as hostile. they're just bickering because they enjoy bickering, and Kiri keeps flirting with Baku (mostly by accident at first)

the problem is - he can't get a read on the other guy. is he reciprocating? is he oblivious? is he ignoring it?

meanwhile Bakugou goes home every time they meet and frantically googles stuff like'i hate this guy but i don't want to punch him any more''what does it mean when you want to see someone so you can fight with them when you don't actually want to fight with them''is seeing a colour and being reminded of someone psychic warfare''what stage of anger affects the heart and stomach''why am i happy to see my arch enemy'

Google: i diagnose you with Crush

Bakugou is Furious that google could come to such a conclusion. So furious, in fact, that he rants about it to his coworkers, who all sort of look at each other with resigned expressions.

Uraraka, Todoroki, Tsu and Sero: ...you have a crush on Kirishima?Baku: NO I JUST SAID THAT I DON'T AND GOOGLE IS WRONG(Tsu, texting Mina: Bakugou has a crush on KirishimaMina: oh sweet)Ura: it's okay to have feelings, BakugouBaku: SHUT UP I DON'T HAVE ANYTodo: i find that hard to believe.Baku: YOU DON'T HAVE FEELINGS YOU REPRESSED BASTARDSero: oh so you're not repressed, Bakugou?Baku: OF FUCKING COURSE NOTSero: so you DO have feelingsBaku: FUCKTsu: alright Bakugou, you don't have a crush on Kirishima.Baku: ExactlyTsu: but you do look forwards to seeing him and spending time with himBaku: ...Tsu: you think about him in a variety of unrelated situationsBaku: ..I...Tsu: and your stomach goes fluttery when you doBaku: .........fuck

So Baku has his own Gay Crisis to work through.

The next time they see each other in the wild, Bakugou's like: okay. act normal.

Baku: HEY KIRISHIMAKiri: BakugouBaku: ....Kiri: ....Baku: ....Kiri: uh what's up?Baku: NOTHING I HAVE TO GOKiri: ...???Baku, internally: nailed itBaku, internally: wait no i didn't wtf happenedBaku, internally: I HAVEN'T MOVEDKiri: dude are you okayBaku: i'm fine.Kiri: ... are you?? leaving?????Baku: i changed my mindKiri: oh okay.Baku: ...Kiri: ...Mina and Tsu, who happened to be on a date, saw Bakugou stomping up to Kirishima and decided to watch from a bush Mina pulled them into: wow they're bad at this

It’s the most awkward interaction they’ve ever had, because both parties know about their own feelings and they’re trying to work out what the other thinks and they’re just. Staring at each other.

Bakugou decides to bite the bullet.

Baku: KIRISHIMAKiri: ah! dude, i'm right hereBaku: date meKiri: whatMina and Tsu: !!! oh he just went for it okayBaku: Date. Me.Kiri: what. I mean, YES but? ? what? ???? ?

They exchange numbers and just sort of... grin at each other for a few more minutes. Idiot boys. Then they part ways and start textin each other and arrange a date.

It goes really well. They actually do get on when they’re not trying to find things to pick at each other about. And Kiri is definitely flirting and Baku is flirting back and it’s just an all-around success. Baku walks Kiri home and they smooch outside his door.

They show up to work the day after the date both of them are like 'hhhhhh' the whole time because the date was so fun and they’re both still pretty giddy about it.

Bakugou is noticeably less crabby and actually tells Uraraka she's doing a good job at one point

Ura, crying slightly out of fear of the unknown: who ARE youTsu: Kirishima's boyfriendBaku: not yetSero: but soon?Baku: fuck yeahTodo: so you DO have a crush on him.

meanwhile Kirishima is sparkling all over Fourth Grind. like, beaming. radiant. clearly head-over-heels.

Kami: what happened?Mina: Bakugou asked him out and they went on a dateDeku: sorry did- did you say Kacchan asked him? not the other way around?Mina: yeah i was there it was hilariousIida: please,,, please wait until your breaks to discuss these things i can't hold the line all by myself

and the rest is just mushy happily-ever-after stuff. they bicker about their tastes in coffee, of course, but the rivalry has turned into Competitive Flirting and now they yell sappy things and stupid pick-up lines at each other when they’re opening up instead of insults

#kiribaku #bakushima #reply #anon #ask meme

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jackielikestea · 6 years ago

Text

The villain I appear to be (A kiribaku fic)

The villain I appear to be

Summary: Inspired by Diamond Jack and the game series Sly Cooper.

Sometimes when I

Wanna run away and hide

When there's no one on my side

And all my pride had disappear

I take it off my mind

And leave it all behind

Nothin' left to do but

Try to take the leap and follow through

And that's exactly what I'll do

I watch carefully over the crowd as I walk glasses of wine to the table I was “severing” as Todoroki spoke softly in my ear piece.

“Remember, Bakugou we only get one shot at this. Iida ran the numbers again you only have a hour and a half to collect the diamond and get out of there.”

I tilt my head down and moving my lips as little as possible a whisper into the mouth piece.

“I know half n’ half, in fact.” My eyes lock onto the elder man who I knew after running over the guest list and researching the Plaza with Iida, was the owner.

“I just made eyes on my way in. Be ready with that helicopter.”

“I’m the get away driver, so you saying that is redundant, as is me telling you to be careful. If you’re not we’ll be forced to send Izuku in.” IcyHot ended our connection, threat though clear in his voice, he didn’t want things too get crazy.

I set the severing tray down at the table and quickly gave the two girls that were dinning my most charming smirk as I give them their glasses.

“I’ll be right back to take your order.” I promise them both not keeping my attention on either one of them for two long.

I act like I was going to walk back to the kitchens, but turn quickly as soon as another blond waiter walks by me and quickly follow where the owner had slipped down the hallway with his “guest.”

A young woman probably half his age if not more. She had been seen recently at a ballet and at a grand opening of a museum with him, so I have a pretty safe bet of where he’s taking her.

I watch behind shadows as the two talk quietly in front of one of the archways to another room, one that said it displays some of the world’s most precious treasures.

There’s only one entrance which is currently being blocked by money bags and his date, so I’ll have to find another way to get in. As I consider my options I notice a security officer quickly walking up to the owner and grabbing his and his date’s attention. Well beggars can’t be choosers.

I use this distraction to sneak my way into the room and from there it’s easy. A quick and small explosion underneath the display of the world’s rarest diamond; and the only security system that Iida couldn’t hack into, and disable is gone, leaving me to open the display and grab the rock, slipping it into my tuxedo jacket, and then quickly rush out of the room while everyone else was distracted.

“Ground Zero, have you got what you came for? Cause we have a situation.” Iida asked over the head set.

“Who do you take me for, of course I got it, and what have you nerds done now!? Don’t tell me you don’t have me a ride?” I hissed into the mic as I walked into the kitchen fully prepared to grab a severing tray and walk out. Just like we planed.

“Kirihsima Eijiro better known as Red Riot, is on the premise. It would seem if someone has tipped him off. He’s outside the building, with at least a dozen cops.”

“Shit.” Tall, strong, and handsome wasn’t in the plan tonight. Before I could actually respond to Glasses, the alarms went off over head.

“I guess they just found the empty display case. I’ll take care of this.” I told him as I picked up a severing tray.

“No Bakugou! We need to discuss this properly! What if we need to send Midoriya in after you?!” Iida yelled and I could just imagine him being all 90 degree angles.

“Don’t. I’ve got this.” I promise him before turning down the head piece so I couldn’t hear him yelling.

I walk back into the dinning room holding a severing tray up shoulder length. Now I just need to set it down and make it out the door as casually as possible. No one will look twice at a waiter getting off his shift. I kept my eyes focus toward the door, which is why I saw him before he saw me.

Kirishima rushed right by me headed toward the kitchens, before slowing down and turning to look at me. I turned my head to follow him, so now we were now staring at each other. His eyes trace down my body before coming back up to my face as if to check and see if I was really me.

I smirk once his eyes finally met mine, before dropping the tray I was holding and sprinting toward the door.

“Shit! Bakugou?!?” I heard him yell as he began to chase me.

I use my quirk to help me move faster through the halls, and it also provided some cover so that I could lose Kirishima. Since I was on the second story of the building I knew that the police had probably blocked off the bottom of the stairwell and all the exits. As I blast my way down the hall my eyes lock on a window. Perfect.

I used my quirk to keep the glass from cutting me as I jump through the window and another to boost my distance. I look down below me seeing the police outside the Plaza and Red Riot out there with them.

“Get hard, Shitty Hair!” I yell as I come down, my foot landing on Kirishima head which he had harden just in time. I push off it, and tuck and roll forward, pushing my body up and exploding my way forward, ducking and dodging my way around cops and a handsome hero’s hands.

I heard the gun discharge before I notice the officer who pulled it and shot a explosion toward the asshole who took the shot. Through it I could hear Kirishima yell at the officer that I was suppose to be taken in for questioning. I use this unplanned distraction as a way to lose them as I slipped into a casino.

I hid behind some of the machines as Kirishima and the officers rush in. I watch as Kirisihima looks around, before saying something to the other officers who disperse and went further into the casino. Kirishima walks down the aisle where I was hiding behind the slot machines. I slip out from behind them and made my way further in the casino. My eyes find this little old lady playing the slots so I walk beside the machine and hit it, hearing the siren go off announcing that there was a winner. I hope that would draw a crowd and hopefully keep the police busy.

As I took the diamond out to make sure it was still unharmed some guy bumped into my back making me fumble with it until I had to go over a unused blackjack table to catch it. Only to land in front of five cops all staring at me.

I smirk at them as I grab the red currant hanging next to me, and throwing them in front of me as I jump onto the ledge outside the widow.

I ran quickly realizing that I couldn’t use my quirk without severely damaging the ledge or sending my self off of it. I turn the corner of the building, running as hard as I could before jumping onto the building’s sign and onto a lower ledge.

My eyes widen as a helicopter round the corner of the building where I was standing with Kirishima hanging out of it with a megaphone.

“Give me the diamond Bakugou!” The gel in his red hair seem to be losing its hold as stay pieces blew around his face.

I smirk as I held up the diamond in question. “You know I usually have to take guys to dinner before they ask me for a diamond, but for you I’ll make an exception.”

Even though it was dark I could tell that Kirishima’s cheeks had darken just like they had high school.

“Bakugou, please. Just give me the diamond, and come with me. Let’s talk about this.” He pleaded as he held out his hand for me to put the diamond in.

I almost hated how even now Kirishima just asking something of me made me want to do it. I guess maybe I hadn’t change that much either since high school.

I reached my hand out holding the diamond and let Kirishima place his hand on it, just as his palm touched it I quickly covered it with my other hand and used his arm to swing and land on a balcony between two buildings.

“Damn it Bakugou!” I heard him yell as I ran farther down. I saw a teenage get into a old pickup truck and I quickly jumped down between the two walls and landed in the tailgate, just as it started to drive off.

I waited a good ten minutes before looking up to see which way I was headed, when I realized I was out of the city and was on a bridge. I stood up and leaped off the back of the truck using my quirk to keep me from coming down as hard. I begin to walk further down the bridge.

“Todoroki, you there?” I ask into my mic which by some miracle stayed on.

“Been here the whole time, did you manage to get Red’s number or are you waiting to be detained first?”

“I want you to remember this conversation the next time you and Deku are in the field together and I’m the one safely tucked away, making smart ass comments.”

“Noted, I have a lock on your location and I’m headed there now, anything else you wanna add?”

I take the diamond out of my jacket and pull hard at the face of it so that it would pop off. Hearing the clicking nose it made my eyes lock onto the bomb that was counting down in this hollow out toy.

“Yeah, anyway you could be here in less than ten minutes?” I asked as I watched the red numbers count itself down. I pulled the bomb free holding it in my hand.

“Bakugou Katsuki!” A voice yelled out.

My senses were flooded as blue and red lights came over the bridge and surround me. Kirishima and probably half the police force stepped out.

“You should have just come with me.” Kirishima said as he walks toward me.

“And risk missing seeing your pretty face under the pale moonlight? Never.” I watch as Kirishima harden his body and it really shouldn’t be as attractive as it was.

I move quick to dodge the officers that rush toward me as I made my way to the other side of the bridge. I didn’t need to set off any explosions with the bomb being out of its “case” so I put it in my jacket pocket, trading it out for its now hollow casing.

Kirishima grabbed my arm straightening it toward the sky and I notice then he has quirk canceling handcuffs in his other hand. I stuck my hand that has the diamond in it over the side of the bridge.

“Let me go or I drop it.” I said to him.

“If you drop it I’ll be force to cuff you and take you in.” He threaten not lowering the cuffs.

I didn’t have time for this. Technically none of us did and if I was right I could faintly hear the sound of a approaching chopper.

“If I drop it will be lost forever, and you’ll have one less vigilant on the street, but be down a priceless artifact. Which do you think the city would rather have?” I asked.

Crimson eyes glared into mine. I knew this was a gamble, but I need Kirishima to let me go and back away. After a moment Kirishima sighs, released my arm, and backed away, the rest of the officers following his lead.

I kept my eyes hard until they were far enough away, then gave Kirishima a small smile as I toss the diamond to him, before taking a running leap toward them using a small explosion to help me over them.

I jump up onto one of the eighteen wheelers use for the road block and onto the top, grabbing the rope hanging off the side of the helicopter.

Todoroki flew up to the tallest beam of the bridge and I quickly jumped off running to the other side of it and throwing the bomb as hard as I could. Watching as it got a good distance away before exploding over the water.

I glance down at the officers in blue, but my eyes lock onto the only red dot among them. While everyone else was staring where the bomb exploded, Kirishima was looking up at me.

“Alright, that’s enough heart eyes for one night. Blow him a kiss Katsuki and let’s go.” Todoroki said.

“Get fucked. I’m going to remember all of this next time Deku decides to wear leggings casually around the safe house.” I promise him as I walk over to the rope and grabbing on.

I hear IcyHot huff as I start to climb up the rope. “At least my crush doesn’t try to arrest me every time we met.”

I pull myself into the copper and take the seat next to him. I took off my headset and jacket before looking at him.

“Right which is why it’s so pathetic that you two don’t just go on a date already.” I tell him blandly.

The temperature drops dramatically and I couldn’t help but smirk knowing that I could get under his skin so easily.

“Just for that. I’m telling Iida that you gave Kirisihima the casing for the bomb.”

“Go ahead.” I reply putting my hands behind my head. “I remove the bomb from the Plaza, in my opinion our work is done. It’s up to the cops to find out why it was there in the first place.”

I could hear Todoroki sighing not wanting to explain why it was in fact important that we know and I’m sure Iida will tell me anyways. I decide to let my eyes drift close as thoughts of red hair, crimson eyes, and a smile that looked like sunshine filled my head.

Movin' along, no I won't settle down

I don't have the time to tell you

Why I do the things that I do

Just please hold on and soon you'll see

That I'm not the villain I appear to be

Movin' along, no I won't settle down

Until I'm locked behind bars or I'm kicked outta town

So you can keep on a runnin' around and around

But you will never quite catch up to me!

And I know you think I'm crazy

But I hope that maybe

Now you'll see why

I had to try!

Author’s note: I really hope you guys enjoyed this. I really enjoyed writing it! I recently watched Diamond Jack and it reminded me of the game Sly Copper I use to play as a kid and I started to see how the vigilante in Diamond Jack moved like Bakugou. And the fic was born. Let me know if you would like to see another I have a few more ideas not only with kiribaku but with Tododeku as well.

Hope y’all have a great rest of the day.

#bhna #my hero academia #diamond jack #kirishima eijirou #katsuki bakugou #kiribaku #bakugou x kirishima #todoroki shouto #tododeku #iida tenya #midoriya izuku #deku midoriya #sly cooper inspired #jackiewritesafic

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franeridart · 6 years ago

Note

what program/brushes do you use for your art? it's so damn pretty

Easy Paint tool SAI and the default pen/brush/marker tools, mostly! and thank you!!! ;^;

Anon said:When I was a kid I would've had a crush on Akane

HECK that’s such a compliment!! Thank you!!!

Anon said:Couldn't Akane technically Control/move Kiri's hair since it's dyed? I mean it's like his hair is stained meaning it's not alive! so Akane finally warms up to him and messes with him or plays with his hair?

She can and she did! I drew her doing just that both in the first and in the fourth thing I posted about her! :D

Anon said:okay i don't know if this is coming through but i have just looked through your entire blog(can only go 4 years back) and let me just say you are wonderful, I absoluty LOVE how you paint/draw like its sooo pretty??? like dnjwcfehbi i cant describe it, (part 1) || like you are wonderful, I absolutely LOVE how you paint/draw like it's so pretty??? like dnjwcfehbi I can't describe it like it's absolutely Fabulous, Stunning, Amazing, Lovely and it looks so smoooooth like what????how??But anyways love your art and love you keep being Amazing! (part 2)

AH GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! This is such a sweet ask to get TT^TT (and you can only go 4 years back because the blog is 4 years old! Can’t believe you actually went through it all!!)

Anon said:I really love your art style and your comics are so cute and I love how you draw older Bakugou and Kirishima!! It’s all so wonderful! Thank you for sharing it with everyone!

Oh man thank you!! ;;; I’m so happy yo know you like them!!!!!! TTOTT

Anon said:the level of FLUFF and KOOKIENESS and SOFT and MARSHMALLOW and MY HEART CAN'T TOOK THIS IS is so much I could die.

PLEASE DON’T DIE I LOVE YOU !!!!!

Anon said:I love everything about Akane's au. Her, her interactions with Bakugou, how she dislikes Kirishima but is beginning to warm up to him, the boys' aged-up designs. Everything. It's all amazing. Thank you for bringing it into my life!

Nggghhhhhhhh no anon thank you for liking her!!!!

Anon said:Currently procrastinating on my essay to go through your blog because it de-stresses me and I love your art so much like seriously h e l p

GAH THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! /////

Anon said:There's something I'm not understand in your AU children kiribaku. She adopted by bakugo or she is a kid bakugou have with someone. ( I'm really really sorry for my English )

Adopted!

Anon said:Your comics are so cute and funny! I'm loving the story with Akane, the last update was great! I really like the way you draw the characters, like your style is so nice. Thanks for making my day better with your art!

G o d thank you So Much!!!!!!

Anon said:Akane is adorable, and I absolutely love the comics that you upload of her, but also on top of that your mohawk Bakugo has cleared my skin, watered my crops, and brought me back from the dead at LEAST twice.

I’M REAL GLAD TO HEAR THAT because mohawk Bakugou owns my whole soul and it’s nice to know I’m not alone in that hahaha

Anon said:What are some ways Akane messes with Kiri (or used to) when he wears red clothes? Does she often do that? Does she do it when Baku's not home, or when he is so that she can hammer in just how much she dislikes Kiri? Has she ever done anything major that caused her to be really reprimanded by Baku, but being the best person in the world Kiri did not get angry?

She really only ever gets pissy (or used to! they’re starting to get along better !!!) at Kiri when she feels jealous for whatever reason, and that doesn’t happen as often as it seems through my doodles, so it’s not like she’s always antagonistic towards him! Mostly she just ignores him, so no, it doesn’t happen often at all! And she’s never gone further than messing his hair up or tugging a bit at his clothes, since she doesn’t have the strength to move Kiri all that much haha the only reason she managed to have him fall the first time was because he was balancing already, but generally Kiri weighs way too much for her to move him around or pull at the red stuff he’s wearing enough for him to notice it all that much

anyway, Baku never reprimended her for it - not more than he did in the first comic I posted with them, at least, specifically because the damage she can make is so minor that Kiri and Baku barely consider it something to tell her off for... if she were ever to act that way towards someone she might actually hurt (say, a kid her own age) then Baku might reprimend her more seriously, but as long as she’s just tugging at Kiri’s clothes they don’t see it as anything worth fighting her over :D

Anon said:Just sent an ask, so forgive me for this one, but I'd love to get this straight: in the Akane AU Kiri and Baku graduated and share an apartment, are madly into each other, but they neither has made a move on the other yet? Perhaps that should be sad, but it's 100% adorable.

I know I shouldn’t say this as I made the au myself, but I find the arrangement pretty dang adorable too haha they act like a married couple anyway, so it’s like... pining while the rest of the world already considers them an item? and the pining is mostly about stuff like ahhhh I wanna tell him I love him or ahhhhhh god I wanna kiss him, but then they’ll fall asleep on the couch together or hold hands just for the hell of it or cook for each other or make plans that always involve each other and all in all act as each other’s partner, so it’s mostly just like *Kaminari voice* “God these oblivious idiots” hahaha

Anon said:That latest Akane comic melted my heart like you often do. Though for a moment, I expected Eijirou to say "I don't want Katsuki to be my dad, I want him to be my daddy" XD Though that would not sound like him. Props for his adorable interactions with Scarlet Death Queen Witch.

Anon you don’t get it that’s exactly why I had him say “be his son” instead of “be my dad” LMAO it was like, a conscious wording decision hahaha thank you so much for liking my girl, btw!!!

Anon said:Fran! I was just wondering if you would be willing to post your Demon Kiri and Angel Baku art on Redbubble? I'd love to buy a print of it!! Totally understand if not. Also your newer Akane comics are killing me, they're so damn cute!! So yeah love you and your beautiful art! Hope you have an awesome year!!

I CAN TRY I think I did try last time I updated my rb? But the format of the pic made it hard to use it for a lot of things so I gave up??? I can try again tho!!! Thank you for being interested in buying it!!! And thank you for liking Akane too!!!!!

Anon said:is katsuki and kirishima not together in the adopted child comics or is there gonna be a plot to them getting together? 👀

I’m not really writing anything cohesive for it so I wouldn’t call it a plot point, but yeh they still aren’t together! And I wanna have them get to the point in which they are together!!! :D

Anon said:I'm gonna die why do you do this with your adorable art my god

PLEASE!!!!! DON’T DIE!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Your Akane + KiriBaku comics are adorable and I love the relationships that exist between them. I can't wait to see more of them!

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!! I hope I won’t disappoint!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:I love your art so much!! Especially the little Akane au (so freaking cute!!!!). Random question: if you’ve ever seen Lucifer, who do you think would fit his character? Have an awesome day!

I haven’t seen it, sorry :((( but thank you for liking my girl!!!!!!

Anon said:I apologize if this has already been thought of but i feel as though when akane gets older and if she decides to be a hero, part of her costume could include useful red objects mayhaps?? Such as a shield or daggers or handcuffs so if there’s a lack of red around her she isn’t in a complete ditch. But i love your work sm ahhh💕💕

Yes!!! That’s the plan!!!!! I don’t think I’ll ever draw a teen version of her character but I MIGHT mention this idea in the current timeline, I like the idea so much TT^TT

Anon said:Hey there, I am absolutely obsessed with Akane like I love her so much wow but anyways I was wondering if you've ever drawn tododeku/ will in the future?

Thank you!!!! And I have drawn them in the past (under my tododeku tag!) and I might draw them again in the future, though currently I’m in a pretty big izu//ocha mood so I dunno when that will happen!

Anon said:I love your art so much like??? Help???

THANK YOU TTATT

Anon said:Y'know it could be gayer c'mon

This ask has been in my inbox for 17 days and I still don’t know what it means ??? but I laughed a lot when I got it so thank you anon and yes, definitely, everything could always be gayer that’s just how the world goes

Anon said:I swear you drew an older version of the krbk kids and it wasn't a fever dream I'm currently frantically searching through your blog rn help

I DID that post is CURSED anon, you can look it up through any of the tags I used to tag it and it won’t show up it won’t and I don’t know why!! I always lose it exactly because of this reason I have zero idea why it does this but??? okay I guess???????????

anyway if you still want it it’s here

Anon said:If Akane can control red things, does she low-key also have control over things that are pink and orange depending on how reddish in hue they are? I love her btw. Such a smol bean who could probably kick my ass!

What a good question you got there!! She has control over everything that has a color that falls in the red wavelength of the visible spectrum - that does include certain tones of pink and certain tones of orange, but there’s a point where orange gets too yellow or pink gets too white that her powers stop working. As long as the red in the color is more than any other hue, though, her powers work!

Anon said: im just imagining if baku takes akane with him when he is going to work and is there with kiri and akane help kiri with his hair bc she is suffering when he tries to style it himself

Once they start getting along better Akane and Kiri actually start helping each other with their hair! They’re both very particular about it so they understand each other as far as that topic goes haha

Anon said:Hi I just wanted to say I’m really enjoying what you are doing in your latest drawing. The contrast with the thick sketchy lines and the thinner crisp ones and the spaces that have no defined line! It’s cool to see you experiment with your line work while staying true to your natural style! Sorry if this came off weird but I love seeing talented artists try pushing the boundaries of their style it’s really visually/conceptually interesting! :)

AH MAN thank you so much I’m so happy to know you like that tool TT^TT it’s really super comfy to use, so it’s nice to know someone finds it visually appealing too!!! thank you!!!!!

Anon said:Is there any chance you could make a masterpost of the aus you do? It's a lot to scroll down to the beginning of a concept u have sometimes and it can be unclear when they start

They all have a tag they’re under, tho? If I’ve made more than one post about them! I have so many AUs going around that making a masterpost with all of them is a bit... mostly so since I don’t know for how many I’ll actually go back on! But if the tags don’t really work for you (generally the link is gonna look like https://franeridart.tumblr.com/tagged/[here goes the tag]/chrono to have it in chronological order) then I can try? I can’t promise I’ll find a comfortable way to do this, tho orz sorry!

Anon said:This might be an odd ask but does Akane like Jirou? I feel like they would get along really well. And how about her grandma Mitsuki? Since she takes after Katsu who takes after her, they could make an adorably angry trio

She hasn’t spent much time with Jirou yet so right now she’s mostly meh about her (though right now she only actually likes Bakugou, and she’s warming up to Kiri, but that’s about it). She doesn’t mind Mitsuki, but she hasn’t spent too long with her either! She yells a bit too much at her dad tho, which Akane isn’t particularly fond of (protective bean that she is, she doesn’t get that that’s just their way of communicating just yet), so out of her grandparents she prefers Masaru, after all~

#fran answers #a bunch of asks i had forgotten about after closing the inbox!!!#jesus im a disaster #i was sure i had a couple asks more in here but i can't find them so...???#ah well #either way i'm sorry these took so long my brain is seriously all over the place lately #go d s #anonymous

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pointy-hat-witch · 6 years ago

Text

Title: The Magic Song Series: KiriBakuWeek2019 Show: Boku no Hero Academia Pairing: Kirishima/Bakugou Summary: Cinderella AU | Eirijou works as a servant at the royal castle and one day his hair turned red. That screams for stupid ideas. A/N: Collection of works for KiriBakuWeek 2019. First time writing KiriBaku, they deserve so much love. Ha.

You can read chapter 2 on AO3 if you want to! :)

In record time, Eijirou thought he never ran this fast, he sprinted down the small space between the barracks and the castle walls, shot through the next door inside the east wing and ran towards the servants' sleeping chambers. Fortunately for him, most servants were either occupied by the still ongoing banquet or were already in their rooms.

When he arrived at his door, he jerked it open and closed it immediately after he entered, leaning against the cold wood and catching his breath. His heart was still pounding against his rib cage, he thought it would crack through the bones.

“Eijirou!” Mina jumped to her feet followed by Hanta, Denki nowhere to be seen.

Eijirou slowly slid down the door, huffing out a small whimper and buried his face in his knees. His friends were by his side right then, grabbing his shoulder.

“W-what happen? You were gone for so long!” Mina cried out, voice cracking with emotion.

“You’re covered in dirt, what the hell?” Hanta examined his attire, dusting off the slowly drying mud from his arms and shins.

“So many people… questions… prince… swords…” Eijirou pressed between tight lips. He grasped at his hair, groaning.

“What?! Slow down, what happened?!” Mina, slowly losing her patience, shook a little more insistent at his shoulder. Eijirou groaned again, trying to order his thoughts himself. Hanta, an angel in disguise, held Mina’s arm and shook his head.

“Let the man breathe, he just needs a minute.”

“Maybe we don’t have a minute!” Mina countered. “Eijirou, are you being followed? Did the prince send someone after you?” Eijirou shook his head against his knees and only then Mina allowed herself to calm down. She let go of his shoulder and sat down next to him, Hanta following her example, all three with their backs against the door.

Eijirou drew his breaths in and out, slowly regaining control of his emotions. He let go of his hair and leaned his head against the door, blinking at the ceiling as if he just realized where he was.

“There were-“, his voice broke and he had to clear his throat, “there were so many people, asking me all this stuff we thought up in advance and at first everything was fine. I just wanted to eat something and then leave, that would be enough. I was so afraid some of the servants would recognize me.” He groaned again just imagining that.

“And then”, he blinked, swallowing, “the prince was there. I was introduced. To the prince. As a noble. To the prince. Guys, I talked to the prince! The prince of this very kingdom. Me!” His eyes sprung back and forth between Mina and Hanta, growing more and more erratic as he spoke.

Hanta put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. “Did he notice something?”

“I… I don’t think so.” Eijirou inhaled. “We talked just a little bit, I think I offended him.” He laughed dryly. “I thought I was going to die right that moment, oh my god. And then, and then, the queen walked over. Guys, the queen!” He buried his face again in his hands, shaking his head in disbelief that had really happened.

“I panicked and ran. Just straight into the crowd. I wanted to leave but then those nobles came and, hell, I talked my mouth off, guys, I don’t even remember anymore what I was rambling about. But they were laughing, that’s good I guess.”

Mina chuckled slightly. “Leave it to Eijirou, the humble servant boy making the nobles laugh in the face of his own death.”

“Not funny!” Eijirou wailed. “But then, the prince was there. Just, appeared out of nowhere, grabbed my arm and took me outside. I almost hugged him. I mean, I was so fucking terrified but I was finally outside. And then.” Eijirou stared at the ground, tilting his head in thoughts.

“We… sparred?”

“You what?” Hanta and Mina said in unison.

“We… He took some wooden swords, gave me one and then we fought? I don’t know guys, that was so surreal I don’t even know.” He shrugged helplessly. “For like half an hour? Then he beat me, obviously, and said something about taking a bath and how filthy we are and that my hair looked almost black.” He gestured vaguely at his hair that was, in fact, back to his original black color.

“And then I bolted. Just straight away. And here I am.”

Mina huffed out a breath, opening and closing her mouth, changing whatever she wanted to say every second.

“At least he doesn’t know who you really are.” Hanta said with a shrug. “Could be worse.”

“Worse? I insulted the prince and fought with him on equal terms! As if impersonating a noble wasn’t bad enough, but behaving like that in front of the crown prince? I am a dead man walking.”

“Geez, drama queen, relax.” Mina patted his shoulder with a little too much force, making him wince. “I think, that was a successful evening.” She grinned at him.

“How so?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Well, you talked to nobles, ate their food, talked to the prince, who spent time with you alone”, she wiggled her eyebrows at that, “and nobody found out.” She clapped her hands in conclusion.

“I…”, Eijirou sighed. “I mean, you’re not wrong. But I won’t do that again. Ever.” He huffed, crossing his arms.

Denki entered the chambers shortly after that conversation, or at least, tried to since they were all still sitting in front of the door, holding it close. He got a short recap of what transpired, made an equal conclusion as Mina and Eijirou just sighed in defeat. He let them believe, that this was a success but insisted that he won’t do it again. He shoved the strange pot under his bed, hopefully forgetting about it soon enough.

The first two days were hell. Eijirou was so paranoid, he couldn’t sleep, made simple mistakes at work and was just a total wreck. The third day was a lot better. He finally could sleep a few hours at a time and didn’t jump at anyone who called him. On the fourth day, he accepted that nothing would happen. He was fine.

He sat in the kitchen on a low wooden stool, helping to peel the potatoes. A tedious, ungrateful work nobody liked doing, but Eijirou liked to rise to the occasion and took on the task. Half of the basket was peeled, half of them not. He craned his neck, rolling his shoulder with a loud crack and started on the next potato when he overheard the two cooks at the oven next to him.

“Another banquet next week? What are they thinking?”

“I don’t know, man. They decided yesterday and now we have to get all the ingredients in time. I think they don’t understand this fucking job. We can’t just make a list with everything we need.”

“But why another one so soon? Aren’t they, like, just for show? Showing off their money and stuff like that?”

As they spoke, Eijirou listened with half an ear, he didn’t care about another banquet since it didn’t concern him, a servant walked up and filled his tray with snacks. He chimed in without hesitation.

“I heard it was a request by the prince himself.” The cooks’ head whipped around. “No kidding. Something about internal affairs or something like that. Strengthening the bond between their juris… jurisdi… the different regions within the kingdom.” He shrugged. “I think they said something about inviting every noble family from the Chiba region.”

Eijirou let his knife fall down, clattering loudly on the ground. He blinked and grabbed at it, apologizing under his breath. A cold sweat broke out on his back, his heartbeat increasing.

“Rumors have it he is looking for…” Eijirou slowly looked up to the servant, trying to hear better what he was saying and their eyes met.

“You!” The servant inhaled sharply. Eijirou sprung to his feet, grabbed the servant by the collar and yanked him outside. The tray fell to the ground with a loud clatter, probably everyone looked up at the commotion but Eijirou was already out the door, pushing the servant inside a small broom closet. It was big enough for two people, but they still had to stay so close to each other their knees brushed.

“What the-“ – “Shhh!” Eijirou covered the servant’s mouth with his hands, frantically shaking his head. The servant gave a slow nod and Eijirou lowered his hand.

“Holy shit, dude! You’re the one… the one with the prince! You said thanks! I knew it, no noble could be that nice.” He chuckled in disbelief while Eijirou was regretting every life choice he ever made, ticking off every option he had to survive this.

“Dude, chill! I won’t tell on you!”

Eijirou’s eyes focused back on the other servant. “You won’t?” He croaked.

“No, man. That is just… wait, what exactly were you doing there?”

“I… I don’t know, something like a bet and it went out of hand and ugh.” Eijirou slapped a hand on his forehead.

“I think the prince is looking for you.” He bit his lip. “I don’t know how much you hear down here, but the prince and the mysterious red-haired noble are the talks of the castle! Like, everybody saw how you and the prince left together and he came back alone, raging. Geez, I mean, I knew how much a storm he could curse but that was from a higher level.” He crossed his arm, shaking his head.

“And now he demanded another banquet, asking specifically for the nobles of the Chiba region, dude, he has it bad for you.” A grin spread on his face and in every other situation he would be overjoyed at the sight of the same row of pointy teeth but right now, his ears were ringing.

“Wh—No! We… we just—” He shook his head. “We were just talking and fighting.”

“Fighting, huh?” The servant wiggled his eyebrows at him. Before Eijirou could interject, the servant held up a hand. “Relax, man. Don’t worry, I won’t tell a single soul, promise. I’m rooting for you, for whatever thing is happening between you and him.”

“The is nothing happe—”

“If you want to, I can be your ears and eyes inside the castle.” He nodded at himself. “I let you know if I overhear more about this occasion.”

“But… No, man, I mean, thanks. Thanks for not telling anybody and all that. But I don’t… I’m not doing that again.” Eijirou shook his head. “If anybody else will find out, I’m dead. Like, literally dead.”

The servant rolled his head from one shoulder to the other and hummed. “I get it.” He nodded. “Okay, I tell you what. Just listen, for now, okay?” Eijirou nodded reluctantly.

“Like I said, everybody is talking about it. Like, all the servants that were present and even the personal maids from the prince. Something like he is nicer to them or something. I think, he really likes you. And like every servant has an easier time with him being not his usual grumpy self. So, I’m totally rooting for you.” He shrugged. “My suggestion is the following: I tell the other servants about you, just the ones who saw you at the banquet. You will attend the next banquet and we’ll help you out. And then you two can live happily ever after. Or just have a nice evening, don’t care. Just think of something that you can’t see him again after that.”

Eijirou was baffled. That was the most ridiculous, preposterous, ingenious idea if he ever heard one.

“Everyone would be on board?” His thoughts were running a mile a second. If he could attend one more banquet and somehow make a possible excuse that he won’t come back ever again the prince would have to let this go and he would never live in fear again.

“Of course! Like I said, we’re rooting for you!” He snapped his fingers right in front of their faces, remembering something. “I’m Tetsutetsu, by the way.”

“Eijirou”, Eijirou mumbled perplexed.

“You gave him your real name?” Tetsutetsu raised an eyebrow at him but chuckled slightly at first, then louder. Eijirou had to cover his mouth again, shushing him.

“Sorry”, Tetsutetsu whipped a happy tear away. “This is the best. I like you, man. You have balls.” He nodded again, gripping at Eijirou’s hand. “You in?”

Eijirou’s eyes darted around from Tetsutetsu’s face to his hand to his grin. He inhaled deeply, grabbed his hand as tight as possible and nodded. “Alright.”

As soon as they left the broom closet and Tetsutetsu sprinted back to the kitchen, remembering that he was just in the middle of serving food, Eijirou took to his heels and ran the whole length of the east wing down the same corridor a few days ago and just kicked in the door to Denki’s workplace.

“WHA--!” Denki threw the small flask he had in his hand in the air startled and just barely caught it. “What in the?!”

His head whipped around and narrowed his eyes at Eijirou. “Dude, don’t make me lose my job by destroying my ingredients.”

“S-sorry.” Eijirou stammered, honestly embarrassed.

“What’s going on?” Denki chirped, already forgiving Eijirou. The latter sat down on the other wooden stool, sighing.

“You won’t believe this.” He shook his head. “There will be another banquet next week and I’ll be attending.”

“You what?!” Denki sprung to his feet, hands on Eijirou’s shoulders. A wide grin spreading over his face, he nodded enthusiastically. “Knew you’d come around. How come?”

Eijirou briefly summarized his conversation with Tetsutetsu and their plan before he took a deep breath and stared at Denki, chewing on his lips. “What do you think?”

“That is probably the worst and best plan I have ever heard!”

“That’s what I thought!”

They burst into a small laughing fit, wheezing. Denki held his side, rubbing over his eyes. “Okay, dude, we need to make a plan. We need”, he fumbled over his desk, grabbing for some ink and paper and started scribbling as he spoke, “Mina needs to give you some more clothes, you can’t wear the same from last time. We need to gather enough information about other families in Chiba, so you actually play a believing part to be from that jurisdiction. We need to maybe polish your overall appearance a little, like”, he gestured a circle around Eijirou’s face with his quill, “maybe some powder, new hairstyle.”

Eijirou couldn’t even close his mouth as Denki spoke. When did his friend became so proactive and even had some really good advice? He shook his head to bring himself back to the moment and then nodded. “Y-yeah, sounds good!”

“And you have to learn to speak a little more proper!” Denki actually chided but still grinning. “Though, the prince seemed to like you nonetheless, so…” He trailed off, shrugging. “I don’t really know. Being yourself seemed to be the best course, I guess.”

The next days were pure stress. Not only because every servant was involved in the preparations for the banquet since it was on such short notice. The chambers had to be prepared for the guests, clothes, tablecloths and draperies had to be washed, food had to be harvested and bought and hunted, dished had to be polished, the floors had to be mopped and so on. It was a little miracle, no one has dropped dead yet.

When it was only two days until the banquet, they had a little bit f time to breathe. Most of the tasks were fulfilled, there will be another rush the next day but for now, Eijirou could actually work on their other plan.

Mina had gathered some different garments while washing clothes, slowly piling it up. Eijirou didn’t know how she could get away with it, but he suspected the other wash maiden had heard about his ordeal as well and helped out. In fact, probably everybody had heard about it by now, judging by all the knowing looks he got.

Tetsutetsu pulled him aside a few times to give an update, but nothing noteworthy has changed. Nobody has heard any other reason for the banquet to be held but the personal maids are still recounting pleasant encounters with the prince.

So, when Eijirou had the opportunity, he grabbed all the clothes Mina had gathered, shoved the mystical jug into his pocket and sneaked outside, up to the river stream. He knew Mina could help him a lot more but Eijirou wanted to try out some stuff himself. He had relied on his friends so much the last week, he wanted to lift some of their burdens.

He hid behind the trees next to the river, folded out his clothes and smeared some of the substance into his hair. It was strange how the pot never seemed to become emptier. But who was he to question some magical pot of hair dying substance?

The next step was to come up with an acceptable outfit with his limited choices and a new hairstyle.

The two days after the banquet, Bakugou was just furious. Outstandingly furious. He snapped at everything and everyone, making them stay out of his way altogether. It was better for everyone involved. He was outraged, to be just ditched like that. What was Kirishima thinking who he was? He was just a lowly noble, just recently established and then he ditched him, the prince?

It was both infuriating and humiliating. He knew he wasn’t the most amiable person to ever exist, but he thought that Kirishima didn't mind because, well, he didn’t evade him because of it and could actually hold a conversation without licking the ground he was walking on. It was… nice. To talk to someone without being held to the standards of a prince, to just be a man.

Nevertheless, he ditched him. Just after they had the most exciting sparring fight he had in a long time. Did he do something wrong? Did he say something? Did he insult him by kicking him in the mud? It could be all three possibilities.

After he finally got himself out of his self-pity, Bakugou at first thought about just forgetting about Kirishima. They would probably never meet again. That was okay. He didn’t need him. Then, when he was being dressed by his maids, Bakugou wasn’t sure why but something Kirishima had said popped up in his head, he looked down at the maids, observing their movements, and asked:

“Should I”, the maids’ heads jerked up in alarm as they heard him growling, “stay differently, so you can reach better?” He was one head and a half taller than them and they often had to stretch to their toes to reach his shoulder or even get a stool to stand on. The next few seconds were filled with silence, nobody moving, until Bakugou’s face moved back into his usual scowl.

“Could you”, the maid behind his back quietly piped up, “hold up your arms, your Highness?”

The other maids held their breaths, staring at Bakugou to see his reaction. He nodded sharply and held up his arms as he was asked. The maids exchanged some confused looks but didn’t question his behavior. As they dressed him, the other maids started to request some simple posture changings which he did without complaining. Dressing took less time than usual.

“Thanks.” He mumbled when they hurried out the room and they made their curtsies with small smiles to their faces. Huh.

The next day, he paid attention. To the waiting staff, the errand boys, the servants, the gardeners. And, as Kirishima said, no one paid them any mind, not even half a glance. They just did all the work without complaining, not one hurtful glare against someone who bumped into them or dirtied the hallway just a second after it was cleaned. Maybe, just maybe, there was some truth in what Kirishima had said.

The day after that, he walked inside the chambers of his mother first thing in the morning. He didn’t care that the guards advised against just walking in without announcing himself but he ignored them in Bakugou-fashion. He kicked the door in without knocking, his mother jerking from her bed. His father kept on snoring next to her.

“Mother.” He growled.

“Son.” His mother slowly rose, glaring at him. “What could be so important for my precious son to wake his mother from her well-earned sleep in this manner?”

Bakugou had to bite back some inappropriate remark, biting his lower lip. “I want you to hold a banquet. For me.”

Well, that stunned his mother to silence. “You what?”

He rolled his eyes, hard. She didn’t have to make such deal out of it. Sure, he never ever asked for a social event he had to attend, especially not in his name.

“You heard me. A banquet. Like the monthly thing. Just, make it for internal affairs. Reinforcing the friendship between the castle and the jurisdiction of the Chiba prefecture.”

“Internal—Katsuki, who are you?” His mother grinned at him. “Or is this about a certain red-haired man?”

“I—No!” Bakugou spat. “What the fuck, mom?” He groaned. “I actually act like the prince you always wanted and then you make it about something stupid like that? Just. Do it.” His lips tightened in a straight line. “Please.”

Mitsuki had to blink a few times to register what her son had just said. She knew when to push and when to just shut up, she was the one who raised him, after all.

“Sure thing, Katsuki.”

Bakugou nodded and stormed out her sleeping chambers without saying anything else, seething. That took a lot of his energy. The next days were pretty similar to his usual routine. Classes, sparring, dinner, and lunch. However, since he actually paid attention to their personal, he saw the strained faces, the hectic in their movements and the hurried gestures. It probably wasn’t easy to prepare such a huge banquet on such short notice.

Bakugou actually felt, what audacity his feelings had these days, guilty. Guilty for putting so much pressure on them on top of their usual workload. So, when he happened to overhear some of the servants talking about the menu, what kind of proteins they still needed, he asked them, if it would help if he hunted down a deer.

The looks he got were always like a punch to his gut. Was it really so strange to ask if they needed help? Well, yeah, he answered himself, he never did in the past 19 years he had lived here. Nor knew he about anybody else who did.

That was why he now was riding down the cobblestone path behind the castle walls towards the forest, the royal hunting grounds. The bow was fastened at his saddle for now until he arrived at the forest, a quiver on his belt. Even though there was some pressure of time, Bakugou was relieved to get out of the castle again. He steered his horse down from the paved way and rode towards the small river that streamed parallel to the path towards the forest.

His horse strode leisurely, not stopping but taking its time to walk through the high grass of the riverbed. Bakugou led his view drift into the distance, relaxing for the first time since a few days. A red do next to a cluster of trees drew its attention to him. He squinted and stopped his horse, one hand on the handle of his hunting knife. He silently cursed himself that he didn’t bring his sword, but what good would a sword do at a hunt anyway?

After observing the red dot for a few seconds, Bakugou noticed it was moving just slightly back and forth to the river and back to the trees. It seemed human alright. With a swift motion, he got off his horse and gestured the horse to stay put. They knew each other for long enough so it understood. Bakugou drew his knife and silently sneaked up to the patch of trees, squatting down to get a better view through the branches. And what a view he got.

Kirishima only wore his pants, open at the front. His chest was bare, seeing the dark happy trail from the navel down and Bakugou could finally confirm that he was built. Like a wall. His hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, a few strands framing his face. His mouth was pulled in a frown as he grabbed one of the shirts laying on the ground and put it on. Kirishima tucked the shirt in, tugging on it for good measure and walked towards the river to look at his reflection.

Bakugou felt his face heat up, his heart accelerating its beating. He wasn’t a peeping tom so he put his knife away, stood up straight and cleared his throat.

Kirishima spun around so fast, he almost lost his footing, stumbling violently before catching himself and leveling his eyes on Bakugou. His cheeks rose in color ever so lightly, but Bakugou decided to ignore it for now.

“Y-Your Highness?” Kirishima croaked, fumbling with his clothes, tugging at his hair, a nervous wreck some would say.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Bakugou crossed his arms. Even if he was in no position to judge, this was still inside the castle walls, somewhere far away for people to see, so why would Kirishima sneak around to try on his clothes?

“I- uhm”, Kirishima stammered, slowly walking towards the shirts that were laying on the ground to obscure Bakugou’s view on them, kicking at them with his heel to gather them up. Bakugou raised his eyebrow at that.

“I was…”, Kirishima looked over his shoulder, biting so hard on his lip Bakugou thought it would draw blood and sighed in defeat. “I was looking for something to wear for the banquet.”

“You’re coming?” Bakugou could just hope he didn’t sound as eager as he felt.

“Well, yeah”, Kirishima shrugged. “Your Highness invited all noble families of the Chiba jurisdiction, would be kinda impolite to not attend, I guess?” The first smile from him finally stretched over his face.

“You’re damn right.” Bakugou scoffed. Then his eyes drove over Kirishima, finally looking at the outfit Kirishima wore. “That looks fucking hideous.”

“What, really?” Kirishima frowned, looking down at himself. “I was pretty confident in this.” Bakugou huffed a small laughter, covering it with a cough. With two big steps, he was right beside Kirishima who looked at him with big eyes. Trying to ignore his gaze on him, Bakugou eyed the different shirts, pants and the two vests. Not exactly the wardrobe of a noble.

“Why for fuck’s sake are you dressing up in the middle of the royal castle walls?” He grumbled. There was no heat in his words, he realized that himself already, just curiosity. Kirishima coughed, scratching his neck. He kneeled down to his shirts, pulling at their hems.

“Well, I”, Kirishima bit his lips. Bakugou subconsciously filed it under a nervous tick. “I don’t have that much to choose from.” He silently said, chuckling dryly. It didn’t fit him. “It’s not much and I have to dress myself. Something Your Highness probably isn’t used to.” A wink at him and Bakugou didn’t know if his cheeks heated up in humiliation or embarrassment.

“Fuck off.” He huffed as he squatted down as well and earned a more earnest chuckle. “At least I know that this shirt”, he jabbed a finger against Kirishima’s firm chest, “doesn’t fit your pants.”

“But the pants are nice, aren’t they?!” Kirishima cried out in mocking despair.

“They are.” Bakugou grunted. He pulled at some of the shirts, eyes going back and forth between the shirts and Kirishima's black pants until they settled on a white shirt with a puffy collar and sleeves. He grabbed it and hold it in front of Kirishima who eyed him curiously.

“Put this on.” He ordered, grabbing for one of the small vests. In the corner of his eye, he could see Kirishima undress before pulling the other shirt over his head. His eyes darted down at his chest for just a second before staring back at the vest in his hands.

“Okay.” Kirishima tugged the hem into his pants, fastening the cords at the frills of his sleeves. Bakugou helped him with his left sleeve and threw the vest in his face. Kirishima chuckled and tucked his arms through the open sleeve holes, butting it up. There were just three buttons, ending just shy under the poof of his collar, accentuating his broad chest just a little more.

“Do I… Does it look good?” Kirishima smiled shyly at him, doing things to his gut. Bakugou nodded once before Kirishima trotted over to the water, examining his reflection. Seemingly pleased, he offered Bakugou a wide grin.

“Thank you!” He beamed at him. Huh, it actually feels nice to hear a thank you for something he did.

“You still didn’t answer why the fuck you’re inside the walls.” Bakugou growled. “Nobody in his right mind would sneak up inside just to play dress up.”

Kirishima looked caught, fumbling with his sleeves. His eyes darted around, looking everywhere but at Bakugou.

“Stop stalling. Just fucking tell me.” He snapped.

“I—”, Kirishima sighed, “I mean no harm, I promise. I can’t… I can’t tell you, I’m sorry.” Bakugou’s eyes narrowed down at him but couldn’t find any sign that indicated he was lying or wanted to deceive him in any way. He scoffed.

“Suit your-fucking-self.”

Kirishima threw him another apologetic smile. “Thanks.”

An awkward silence stretched between them, making both of them uncomfortable. Bakugou glared at the ground, stuffing down the slight pricking feeling in his chest.

“So”, Kirishima walked up to him, “what are you doing here?” Bakugou threw a glance over his shoulder to see his horse grassing right where he left him.

“On my way to hunt.”

“Oh!” Kirishima exclaimed, clapping his hands. “For the banquet?” He nodded.

“Anything in particular? Deer? Boar?”

“Deer. Probably.”

“Mhm”, Kirishima hummed. “I wonder how it’ll taste?” he mumbled. Bakugou wasn’t sure if it was meant for him to hear but he huffed, nonetheless.

“Like fucking deer. I don’t think deer tastes differently in other prefectures.” Kirishima threw him an unreadable glance.

“Well, I’m gonna find out anyway, huh?” Kirishima smiled at him.

“You want to come with me?” They blinked at each other before Bakugou’s brain caught up with his mouth. He coughed, taking a step back.

“Forget tha—“ – “Sure.” They spoke at the same time. Bakugou’s gaze shot up, meeting Kirishima’s, cheeks slightly reddened.

“Ah, but I don’t really know how to hunt, so I won’t be of any help.” Kirishima scratched his cheek. “Sorry.”

Bakugou huffed. “I’m more than capable enough. Just don’t scare it away.” He turned around on his heels, not looking if Kirishima followed him, only hearing his footsteps falling in line behind him. He took the reins of his horse again when they reached it and climbed into his saddle again. He stepped out of the stirrup iron on Kirishima’s side and threw him an awaiting glance.

Kirishima hesitated only for a second, taking a step forward and grabbing the hand Bakugou offered. It was warm. Kirishima put one foot in the stirrup and with a little effort, Bakugou pulled him up. Kirishima slid behind him in his saddle, his back flushed against Kirishima’s chest. He hoped Kirishima wouldn’t notice how hard his heart was hammering in his chest.

Bakugou steered his horse back on track and silently they rode towards the forest. Kirishima’s breath tickled against his neck, sometimes his ear whenever he turned his head to look around, gasping voiceless at the view or an animal or whatever he deemed interesting. Bakugou tried really hard to focus on his environment, but that proved really hard with Kirishima literally all around him. His breath and voice surrounding his head, his arms pulled lightly around his waist, their torso’s and thighs pressed against each other.

“There.” Kirishima mumbled softly into his ear. Bakugou could feel the tips of his ears burn, just where he felt Kirishima’s breath. He pointed carefully between two trees and when Bakugou followed his line of sight, he saw a deer, antlers growing high above his head.

Ever so slowly, Bakugou reached for his bow, stroking over Kirishima’s thigh with the motion, pulling out an arrow with his other hand. His motions were slow but without hesitation, assertive. He drew his arrow, aimed with one eye closed, feeling Kirishima’s chest rising against his back. Their breathing was in synch, he felt Kirishima exhaling by his chest flattening and let go of his arrow.

The arrowhead shot through the branches right above the deer’s front legs through his ribs, killing it instantly. Kirishima gasped again.

“Amazing.” His grip tightened around Bakugou’s waist.

“I fucking know”, he grumbled more out of reflex. He fastened his bow back on the saddle and galloped over to their prey. He slid down from the saddle, landing on the ground with a soft thud and kneed down. Pulling out his knife, he heard Kirishima land behind him, and slit his knife through the deer’s throat to let it bleed out.

“We let it bleed out and then the kitchen staff will take care of the rest.” He explained without being asked to, seeing Kirishima nod next to him.

“You never skin and gut it yourself?”

“What? No. It’s all dirty and gross.”

Kirishima laughed airily. “Well, I think, if you want to eat something you have to go through the whole process.”

“But you never fucking hunted yourself. So, you don’t actually deserve to eat deer yourself.” Bakugou shot back. Kirishima didn’t say anything, just held his hand open for the knife. Groaning at himself, finally catching up what was going on, he handed Kirishima the knife. For someone who was praised to be a genius he sometimes was a little dense.

“You never ate deer before.” He answered himself quietly. Kirishima hummed and began to hold up the knife before stopping.

“What now?” Bakugou rolled his eyes.

“My clothes!” Kirishima put the knife down and stripped off his vest and shirt with deft fingers. His skin was slightly flushed as he kneeled back down, grabbing for the knife again. He set the knife at the bottom of the deer’s throat, Bakugou could see Kirishima’s muscles tense up as he pulled the knife from left to right in one firm stroke.

Immediately, all innards fell out. Fortunately, it already bled out enough from its throat so not too much blood came out through the cut. Kirishima wiped the Knife on the grass to get the excess blood off from it and then grabbed at intestines and stomach and whatnot. He just grabbed it with his bare hands. Bakugou stared at him as if he wasn’t human.

“You… you just do that?”

Kirishima blinked at him. “Why not?”

“Because—” Bakugou stopped himself. Because it’s the servants’ job, was what he wanted to say but knowing Kirishima well enough, he would insult him with this thinking. He nodded, took a deep breath and watched Kirishima gutting the deer. After a short while, Kirishima began to explain what he was doing. He couldn’t name much of the anatomy of the deer, Bakugou filled these blanks, but had extensive knowledge about the right procedure to prepare a deer to be cooked.

It took them about half an hour to get all its intestines properly wrapped up, another half an hour to skin it, and then strapped the deer on the back of Bakugou’s horse. They opted to walk beside the horse, Kirishima said to have an eye on the deer so it wouldn’t slide down but Bakugou understood that he didn’t want to strain his horse too much with two grown men and a deer on its back. No way, he would ride then.

Bakugou had taken Kirishima’s clothes and held onto it for now since Kirishima’s arms were still dipped in blood right up to his elbows. After exiting the forest, Bakugou steered them back to the river and Kirishima could wash his arms. When he emerged from the water and strutted over to him, asking silently for his clothes, Bakugou had to force himself to give it back to him, he had to admit.

“Thank you, Ba- Your Highness.” Kirishima snapped his eyes to the ground as he stumbled over his words, pulling the shirt over his head. Bakugou squinted his eyes at him but let it slide. He crossed his arms and waited.

“No, really, thank you.” Kirishima said again. “For, you know, taking me with you and”, he gestured at himself, “helping me out.”

Bakugou huffed and pulled himself back into the saddle. “Whatever.”

Kirishima beamed at him. “See you at the banquet.”

“You better will.” He steered his horse back to the cobbled path, hitting its flanks with his heels and galloped back to the castle before he could look back.

Eijirou stood at the river as long as he could see the prince ride away. At the same time, he wished for Bakugou to turn around and to just ride away as fast as he could. Bakugou took the decision from him as he galloped away. He let out a breath he didn’t know he held in.

He squatted down, hands to his face a made a noise between a squeal and a giggle. No, this couldn’t be happening. No. Nope. Eijirou walked up to the patch of trees, grabbed all the clothes and, finally, ran all the way back. He already took long enough as it was. He ignored all the looks he got and was relieved he could say his red face was because of the running.

He slid into his chamber and stuffed the clothes under his bed, changing out of his current outfit. He put on his simple linen clothing, pulled his headband around his red hair and ran all the way back to the kitchen and asked for something, anything to do. He needed to be distracted.

After tackling every possible assignment, Eijirou made his way back to their chambers when it was already late. He stumbled into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible but as soon as the door swung open, his friends were on their feet, lighting a candle.

“What happened?!” They all whispered loudly in unison.

“I—” Kirishima stuttered. His brain provided him instantly with his memories of today’s afternoon, Bakugou’s eyes constantly roaming over his own naked chest, his body pressed against him, brushing against each other with every step the horse had taken. His face flushed unbelievable hot.

“You met the prince, haven’t you?” Mina gave him a knowing look, receiving nothing but a nod in confirmation. His friends high fived each other.

“Guys”, Eijirou whined, “that’s not something to celebrate. I will only meet him once again and then never again. This just makes everything”, he huffed in annoyance, “more complicated.”

His friends followed him with his eyes as he prepared for bed, exchanging glanced.

“What do you mean?” Denki asked.

Eijirou’s shoulders tensed before falling down. “You know what I mean.” He shook his head. “Alright, let’s talk hypothetically.” He sat down on his bed, his friends following suit. “Hypothetically, I like him. And he liked me. We met at the banquet, becoming even better friends. Yeah, well, surprise I have to move to another country, so see you never again.” He groaned. “This will just… suck.”

“And if you just, I don’t know, play along for a little longer?” Mina asked quietly.

“Deceiving him? Playing someone, I am not? Yeah, great. And either it will suck even more when we have to stop seeing each other or he’ll find out eventually and take it upon himself to stab me to death. I don’t want to…”, he clenched his jaw, “I don’t want to lie to him anymore. I mean, hypothetically, if I liked him, lying to the person you like is just not right.” Eijirou fell backward onto his pillow, both arms spread to his sides, bumping against the wall with his knuckles.

“Just two more days.” He mumbled into the almost darkness. His friends stayed silent. There wasn’t anything they could say because deep down, they knew Eijirou was right. There was no possible solution that a prince and a servant could ever be friends, let alone anything else.

Eijirou tried not to think about the upcoming banquet too hard for the next days but that was kind of impossible since every waking second he was reminded that it was happening due to all the assignments their wing was flooded with. The day before the banquet was especially brutal. Some of the guests had already arrived and demanded attention on top of preparing for the event. Eijirou still was grateful, working and running around at least occupied his brain well enough to actually think about that he would be attending as well.

Well, until it was finally was the day of the banquet. His thoughts caught up with the impending task at hand and made him jittery. His hands trembled, his mind wandered. What he couldn’t really grasp was, was it just anticipation acting as a noble or did he, as a matter of fact, not want to part ways with the prince? He didn’t know and, to be honest, he didn’t want to know.

When it was finally time to get ready, all the other servants ushered him out of the kitchen, encouraging to do whatever he wanted, with a wink, that they could handle the rest. With a heavy sigh, he left for his chambers where Mina was already waiting for him.

“Wow, you look like you’re on the way to a funeral.” She smacked his back. “Cheer up, you’re gonna see your prince tonight.” She chuckled with a knowing look.

“He is not my prince”, he grumbled in response but, oh no, did he want him to be his? Shaking his head, he banished the thought as soon as it came up and pulled out the clothes he prepared for tonight. Mina helped him dress, to give a few knowing tucks so it framed his body just the right way.

Eijirou had already smeared some of the substance into his air before he went to bed last night, not entirely sure how much time he would have for getting ready. Turned out, enough time.

“Sit”, Mina ushered him to sit on the floor in front of the bed, sitting down behind him. She brushed his hair with a broken comb and started to part his hair. Slowly she started to braid different wisps of hair on the side until it united in the middle of the back of his head and became one thicker braided tail, which was slightly raised with a black bow. The end of the ponytail was fastened with a thin black strand.

Eijirou carefully drove his hand over his hair, feeling the tight strands and when Mina handed him her mirror, he let out a tiny gasp.

“Mina!” He turned his head from one side to the other, a few shorter strands on his forehead bobbing with the motion, and his smile grew. “That looks amazing! Thank you!” He turned around fully and pulled her in a firm embrace. Mina laughed into his shoulder.

“It’s not difficult to make a pretty person pretty.” She tightened her hold for a second before they both let go. “Eijirou”, she tugged at his frilly collar, stroking over his vest.

“I want you to know, that we will be on your side. Whatever will happen, whatever your decision will be.”

Eijirou nodded, trying not to cry on the spot. Mina patted his cheek. “You still have time to cry. As soon as I’m finished with you I won’t let you.”

“Mina!” Eijirou wailed, again, pressing his face into her chest. She patted his hair and hushed him.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got you.”

He nodded, took in a deep breath and sat up again. “Alright.” Mina grabbed some of the make-up utensils she could gather over the span of last week with the help of other maids and started to apply some powder on his cheeks, drew a fine line on the wing of his eyelids with charcoal and dabbed some red substance onto his lips, making them even rosier than they were anyway.

“Perfect.” Mina admired her own work.

Eijirou took his time to mentally prepare himself, just staring at the wall of their chamber, Mina at his side, holding his hand. They went through the plan often enough he could recite it by heart. In hindsight, he was grateful for Tetsutetsu to get all the other servants on board with this over the top stupid plan. It took some pressure off his shoulder, especially, since the servant who was announcing the guests was as excited as everybody else and could play the part, so he didn’t have to sneak in again. Particularly, because this is an event hosted for his apparent home prefecture and it would seem pretty odd that he had to sneak in for that.

Come in, eat and drink something, tell Bakugou he needed to leave the country because he was promised some young maiden in a far away state and then leave. Easy enough.

Bakugou was in high spirit in the past few days. High spirit meant, he didn’t snap at everything and some of his heat left his voice, but rarely someone noticed. Still, Bakugou could feel a little change in his mood. Was it because of the little trip with Kirishima? Probably. But he wouldn’t admit to that out loud.

He noticed a difference in how he was treated by the servants as well as much as he treated them differently. Not that he thanked them for everything they did, it was still their job, but he at least acknowledged their existence, gave them a short nod when, for example, one of them brought him a snack or he saw maids dusting off the busts in the hallway. Which made them a little less… afraid of him, Bakugou dared to say. He didn’t think it was bad to be afraid of him, it meant respect. But somehow, being asked by his staff if he liked his tea rather with one or two spoons of sugar instead of just needed to be told how he wanted it, felt something akin to trust to him.

Trust with the people he wanted to lead.

“Did something good happen, Your Highness?”

Aizawa pulled him out of thoughts. He didn’t listen for the past few minutes, he assumed. Blinking the thoughts away, Bakugou wore his usual scowl etched on his face.

“The fuck you want?”

Unfazed, Aizawa turned back two pages and sighed. “Just asking. I thought for a second there, you were smiling. Must be a trick of my mind.”

“Damn sure it was.” Bakugou snapped but turned his face down to the desk. Just in case. There was no way, such stupid, sappy thoughts would make him smile. Fortunately for him, Aizawa didn’t care much about his current mental state and continued or rather repeated his lecture about the Chiba prefecture. Bakugou was making sure he knew about each and everything of the regions so he could host the best banquet they had ever attended.

Time flew by, the day filled with his usual routine of lecture, lunch, greeting some of the early guests and getting ready for the banquet. He noticed as the maids dressed him that they were a little more fidgeting, suppressed smiles here and there. He didn’t stoop so low as to ask what was that all about even if his curiosity was stretched to its limit. Instead, he looked at his reflection in the wide mirror, tucking at his collar and sleeves to make himself more comfortable, and thought about someone he might, he better be, meet this evening.

Kirishima was a mystery to him. Starting by his appearance, what noble did have red hair? And it looked natural, he couldn’t really be at fault but he could try to get some hair masks or whatever, so it wouldn't be that red. But it matched his eye color which was satisfying. And of course, the main reason he was such a mystery was his demeanor toward nobility. There was leisure in his speech, his gestures, his being he wasn’t used to in a noble. Which was refreshing. He felt like talking to a human being and not someone who recited the usual pleasantries. Especially, he felt he could talk to him freely. Because or Kirishima’s leisure he didn’t feel like Kirishima forced himself to speak with him or to kiss his ass, just, he was honest.

He wanted to know the secrets Kirishima harbored. There was something he didn’t tell him, obviously, and it felt like a challenge. Was he worthy enough to encode this enigma called Kirishima Eijirou?

His feet brought him to the ballroom, he nodded toward the servants opening the door and received small bows, and entered the room which was slowly filled with attendees. Automatically, his eyes scanned the crowd for a specific redhead but didn’t find anything. He tried to ignore the disappointment in his chest. Taking in a deep breath he made his way to the side of his mother, greeting everyone who stopped him.

Whenever the door opened, his head jerked up, squinting at the people coming in and whenever it was not a specific red-haired man, his scowl grew deeper.

“What made you so peeved, my dear son?” His mother nudged him with her elbow, pushing it deep between his ribs and he suppressed a wince.

“Shut up. Nothing.”

“Hum.” She hummed, grin growing a little wider, a little wickeder. “Awaiting someone?” Bakugou narrowed his eyes on her and clicked his tongue.

“Why would I? Just waiting for everybody to arrive to eat, I’m starving.”

“You sure, you aren’t thirsty?”

Bakugou chocked on his own spit and spun around. “Mother—” but before he could finish his sentence, the door opened again and his ears heard the quiet announcement.

“Sir Kirishima Eijirou, first and only son of Lady Kirishima Tomoya.”

Bakugou’s voice died in his throat as he looked up to Kirishima walking through the doors, wearing the outfit he put together for him and an elaborate hairstyle. Maybe it was the chandelier or the lightning overall but to him, it looked like Kirishima was glowing.

He didn’t hear what his mother said to him, just walking right up to Kirishima who was already getting attention by other bystanders. He pushed through them until he was right in front of him.

“Finally decided to show up, dumbwhit?” He crossed his arms, taking a quick once over glance at Kirishima before settling on the small smile that appeared on his face.

“Aw, did Your Highness miss me?”

“You fucking wish.” His fist shot out against the other’s shoulder earning a small grunt, but it turned into a chuckle. Kirishima rubbed at his shoulder and shook his head.

“Need to work on my reflexes so I can kick you’re a—to win fair and square.” He coughed and scratched his cheek.

“Why the fuck do you think I care about your wording?” As if caught, Kirishima’s eyes shot open, blinking.

“Uh, I…”, his hand traveled to his neck, rubbing at it, “I mean, you’re still the prince and I’m far beneath you, so”, he shrugged as he trailed off, eyes looking up at him sheepishly. “Do you… don’t want me to?”

Bakugou glared at him with a small grunt and shrugged. “It’s whatever. I don’t care.” Kirishima hummed, leaning over a little.

“Then, Your Highness, please let me kick your ass next time we spar.” Bakugou’s eyes narrowed down on Kirishima’s beaming smile and shoved his shoulder at him.

“Big words for someone who couldn’t even get one hit in.”

“I almost had you… that one time, I think.”

Bakugou chuckled ever so lightly at the contemplating look on Kirishima’s face. “You and thinking? I highly doubt that.” When their eyes locked, his heart stuttered for just a second when he saw the tiny, yet warm smile meant for him.

“So, you do can laugh.”

“Fuck off!” Bakugou shoved at him again but Kirishima was laughing wholeheartedly already.

For the next hour, they kept on bantering, trying to one-up each other for their next sparring session and walked around the room. Bakugou had to stop every now and then to hold an obliging conversation with which he really could live without. His eyes always trailed off to his side, where Kirishima was apparently glued to him, never really leaving him but not chiming in in the conversation. Afterward, when they were alone again, Bakugou listed off some trivial information of the noble they were talking to. Not to impress Kirishima or anything.

Then, a small bell was rung, and his mother invited their guests to join her at the dinner table. Bakugou made a face and lead Kirishima to the table, scanning it for Kirishima’s name badge and was pleasantly surprised to find him seated directly at his side. Whoever decided their seating order needed to be thanked. He almost pulled out the chair to offer it to Kirishima but could stop himself in time. Instead, he sat down on his own chair, registering by the movement next to him that Kirishima sat down as well.

“Do you know what will be served?” Kirishima leaned in and whispered to Bakugou. He just shrugged.

“Probably the same as always. Soup, fish, meat, dessert.” Pushing his lips up a little higher in a scowl. “Always the same.”

Kirishima tilted his head at that. “You… don’t like having four different courses?” Bakugou rolled his eyes and groaned.

“No, Shitty-shima, I don’t like having the same four courses every damn day. I thought we have top chefs who like to experiment and give us something to look forward to and not this bland shit, every day.”

His mother cleared her throat and shot him a meaningful glare which he answered in the same manner. She rolled her eyes and stood up, all conversations died down.

“My honored guests, it is my pleasure to welcome you at our home.” She raised her glass. “It is not only a joy for me to see you come from a faraway place to strengthen our bonds but, as well, that my son takes it upon himself to fight for these bonds.”

He scuffed under his breath but Kirishima nudged his knee under the table, nodding at him with a smile.

“So, thank you, my dear son, Katsuki, to present us this opportunity. Would you like to say something yourself to our guests?”

‘No’ was the first thing he wanted to say but clenched his jaw to not blurt it out. His eyes found Kirishima’s and he sighed. He stood up with a glass in his hand, looking them all over once.

“Thank you for following my invitation when I reached out for you. It is a great honor to have you all assembled in these halls and I hope to nourish our relationship with newly found friends and allies.” His expression turned a little sour. He hated speaking as if he had a stick up his ass. “Then, let’s toast to our friends and eat to our heart’s desire, I’m fucking starving.” He down his glass and sat down.

Kirishima was the first to break the stunned silence with a laugh and the others followed suit. Pleased by himself, Bakugou gave his mother a courteous nod who in turn fixed him with a knowing look in her eyes, dancing between him and Kirishima. He chose to ignore that and turned his attention back to Kirishima who was beaming at the soup that was brought in.

“That looks delicious!” He gasped as a bowl was put in front of him.

“It’s fucking soup.”

“Yeah, well, Your Highness, even ‘fucking soup’ can taste pretty good!” Kirishima mimicked his words with the same grumpy expression, Bakugou assumed he was wearing right now and kicked Kirishima under the table, earning a snicker.

It was fascinating to watch Kirishima eat a simple potato soup as if it was some blessed meal. His face beamed with every spoonful, humming every other bite and when he wiped his bowl clean with the slice of bread, it was pure bliss on his face. It was fucking soup. And yet, it made Bakugou enjoy his own soup a little more, admitting that it, in fact, did taste pretty good.

When the fish was served, Bakugou witnessed a rather peculiar situation. He was just quipping back in forth with his parents, when he out of the corner of his eye saw that Kirishima was grabbing for the wrong knife regarding eating fish. When he was about to say something, Kirishima locked eyes with the servant on the other side of the table. They shook their head so lightly, it was only visible if you look for it. Kirishima then moved his hand to the next, another shake and when he touched the right knife, he got a nod. They exchanged a subtle smile and the servant was gone.

As if nothing had happened, Kirishima turned back to Bakugou, grinning at him.

“Do you know which fish will be served?”

Still a little dumbfounded what he just witnessed, Bakugou shook his head. “Fish.” He deadpanned. Kirishima chuckled at him.

“I sure hope it is fish since it is the fish course. Man”, his eyes grew distant, “if that’s all it takes to be a prince, I have a pretty good chance to become one myself.”

That earned him, at the same time, a hard kick under the table and a chuckle from the queen. Kirishima’s quiet yelp was accompanied by his flashing cheeks as he shot a glance towards the queen. A shy smile formed on his lips.

“This is Sir Kirishima Eijirou from whom I’ve heard a lot recently, isn’t he?” The queen asked between bites.

“Y-yes, Your Majesty.” Kirishima bowed his head slightly and Bakugou could see him fumble, apparently undecided if he was allowed to continue eating or waiting for some conversation. He rolled his eyes and nudged his knee, nodding at his fish. Relief washed over Kirishima as he took the next bite.

“I haven’t seen Katsuki hold such a long conversation in a long time without chasing the other party away. What’s your secret?”

Kirishima snorted slightly but shook his head. “No secret, Your Majesty. Just honest… I like the way he is.” Another smile, almost fond, formed on his lips and a bit of fish fell from Bakugou’s fork as he stopped it right before his mouth. Ignoring the heat forming on his cheeks he bit down hard on his fork.

His mother just laughed. “Oh, dear Sir, that is truly fascinating. Do tell, what is it you like about my son?”

“Mother!” Bakugou almost shouted, heads turning to see what the commotion was about. Bakugou glared at his mother, having a silent conversation with his eyes alone. Which Mitsuki choose to ignore.

“What is it, Katsuki? I just thought it was nice to know about redeeming qualities you have I’m not aware of.” Her smile stretched on his face, every inch of it smug.

“Oh, is it so hard to believe someone likes the son you raised? That is really reassuring.” Bakugou snapped with fake hurt, lashing his anger out on his fish. The queen waited for another second before bursting out in a fit of laughter, dispersing the heavy atmosphere that had formed. Bakugou grumbled.

Kirishima touched his elbow with his own, searching for his eyes. He glanced over, pursing his lips. Slightly leaning forward, Kirishima held their gaze and whispered.

“For what it’s worth, I like how determined you are, among other things.” He had the audacity to wink at him. Bakugou felt another wave of heat rising up his face but also in his chest, tightening around his lungs. He grunted in response.

When they were finished with the fish, Kirishima leaned over again. His eyes were cast down, his fingers twitching at his napkin.

“I—Can we talk after dinner? There is something I have to tell you.”

Bakugou’s eyes narrowed. “Why not tell me fucking now?”

Kirishima shook his head, a sad smile on his lips he didn’t like one bit. “We should talk… in private.” Bakugou rolled his eyes but nodded.

“Whatever.” Whatever, indeed. It wasn’t important that his heart clenched by the sorrowful look Kirishima wore or that he held his breath when he thought about what Kirishima had to tell him in private.

When the meat course was served, his mother raised her glass again. “I want to thank my son since he was the one who shot the deer for us today.”

Quiet ‘oh’s and ‘ah’s were uttered.

“Kirishima helped.” Bakugou grumbled. His mother raised her eyebrows, tilting her head.

“Oh? I wasn’t aware of that. Of course, thank you, Sir Kirishima, as well. How come?”

“I—” Kirishima’s eyes widened and Bakugou saw him looking over to him in search for help.

“We just kinda ran into each other. And since I was on my way I just invited him to tag along. He was the one who—” Kirishima stepped on his foot and shook his head almost undetectable. Bakugou stumbled a little over his words and glared at him.

“We both took it down.” He said in the end. His mother nodded again, forming polite conversation with the person next to his father, throwing Bakugou a meaningful look. But Bakugou had already turned his head to Kirishima.

“What the fuck was that about?” He hissed. Kirishima shrugged at him noncommittally.

“I don’t want people to know.” It was rather formed a question as he raised his voice at the end. Bakugou pinched his nose with two fingers, taking a few deep breaths. Why in the world was he keeping up with this? There was no logical reason and he was well aware of that fact, making it even more frustrating to him. Glancing back to Kirishima and seeing him savoring the meat, however, he decided it didn’t matter really that much that he knew why.

“Are all banquets like that?” Kirishima asked in between bites.

Bakugou finally started eating as well. “Mostly. It’s literally a banquet, dumbass.” He scowled at Kirishima’s chuckle. “Sometimes there are dances, though.”

“Dances?” Kirishima beamed at him. “Aw, man, that would have been great.”

“What, you like dances?” Bakugou perked one eyebrow up. “Don’t look like one to dance.”

Kirishima shrugged. “I… don’t actually. I mean, I don’t know how”, lowering his voice Kirishima poked at his meat, “but I wanted to attend a formal dance for so long, you know. Preferable after I learned how to dance.” Another chuckle.

Bakugou eyed him for a second, an idea forming inside his head and before he could stop himself, he said: “I could teach you.”

Kirishima’s head jerked up, staring at him with glistening eyes. “You would?”

“Idiot”, Bakugou cleared his throat, chewing the rest of his meat in his mouth, “that’s what I said, didn’t I?” He fixed his eyes back on the plate since he couldn’t bear looking further at Kirishima’s blinding smile. A few seconds went by without Kirishima answering so he chanced another glance.

Kirishima separated the vegetables from his meat with his fork, poking at it absentmindedly. His smile was already dropped and Bakugou felt his chest tighten, again. Should he see his physician about this?

“Got a problem with that?” he snapped instead.

“Huh?” Kirishima blinked up at him. “No! No, not at all. It’s just…” he bit his lip, avoiding his gaze. “I’ll tell you later, okay?”

“What’s with all that—” – “So, Sir Kirishima”, his mother interrupted him mid-sentence and he had to count from 10 backward to no yell at her.

“Why didn’t your mother come to join us today? I would have thought, she would be delighted as a recently declared Lady?” She took a long sip, fixing Kirishima in his seat with her eyes.

“Y-yes, Your Majesty.” Kirishima voice sounded raspy. “She extends her thanks for the invitation, however, she couldn’t make it because of her health.”

“Oh, dear. I hope she will get better soon.” Bakugou’s mother held a hand to her chest, shaking her head. “I hope she can join us for the next banquet. I’d like to meet the woman who raised such a good boy.”

“To see how it’s actually done?” Bakugou finally quipped. He wasn’t to let it slide that she kept interrupting him and made a fool out of him. His mother shot him a glare.

“For you to see how to treat a mother right, my dear son.”

He heard Kirishima stifle a laugh next to him, so he jerked his head around. “You fucker like laughing about me?”

“N-no”, he grinned, holding a hand up in front of his mouth, “it’s just… I’m happy to see you’re having such a good relationship with your mother.”

“Wha—Where did you get that idea from?!” Bakugou blinked at him incredulously. Kirishima leaned back against his chair, humming.

“Well, you can only really banter like this with someone you actually care about, don’t you?” A fond smile spread over his face. Did he wear make-up? Bakugou noticed the thin black line on his eyelid, giving his eyes a more edged shape. And before, he thought Kirishima looked a little pale, but now he saw the rosy cheeks shimmer through the face powder.

He grabbed his glass and took a long sip, whipping the excess wine away with the back of his hand.

“My old hag and I aren’t—” he couldn’t finish his sentence, as the giant clock on the wall struck 12, the first bell ringing through the hall. Rolling his eyes, Bakugou waited for the next beat to continue but he noticed Kirishima freezing up beside him, his eyes wide.

“It’s already midnight?” he barely breathed.

“Huh? Yeah. We started dinner rather late because of those stupid late runners.” He shrugged and picked up the last piece of meat with his fork.

“I have to go.” Kirishima almost threw down his cutlery, standing up with a screeching chair. Bakugou almost choked on his own spit and whipped his head around.

“What? Why?” He snapped. But Kirishima had already pushed the chair back far enough and took a step back.

“I… I am so, so sorry. I need to go. See you later, Baku—Your Highness!” And with that, he jolted around and started running. Bakugou wheezed. Not again. Kirishima would not ditch him again. With a sharp push, he stood up from his chair, on foot already planted firmly on the ground to give him leverage. He thrust forward only to collide with a servant who suddenly appeared from the side.

Bakugou toppled over with the person but could retain from falling down by rolling over his shoulder. The tray flew high up, falling down with a loud clatter, and dishes shattering on the ground. The servant held his side but was already kneeling down on both knees, head almost touching the ground.

“I am incredibly sorry. Please, forgive me, Your Highness.” Their voice quivered slightly and Bakugou clicked his tongue, growling under his breath. He punched the ground with his fist, flinching just barely at the pain.

Kirishima was gone. Fucking again.

#Boku no Hero Academia #krbkweek2k19 #KiriBakuWeek2019 #KiriBaku #Kirishima Eijirou #Bakugou Katsuki #Cinderella AU #fanfiction

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