Before And After ||BNHA Kiribaku||

Chapter 14- Pick Up

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Kirishima was sitting upright on his bed, with his legs tucked in and his head on his knees. The hospital was strangely quiet. But he liked the silence, so he didn't mind. 

It was late in the afternoon, after his daily routine of check-ups, therapy sessions, medication, and everything in between. There wasn't much to do.

He scratched at his collar idly, watching Hinansho run in circles on the ground, and occasionally glancing over at the table beside him. 

The half-finished drawing he made a few days ago was gone, and someone had apparently taken it. A small 'camera' was sitting on top of a few magazines, replacing the drawing. Bakugo had given him it.

He didn't know what the camera did, so he just kept moving it around in his hands.

While inspecting the camera, he heard the door opening. Lifting his head up, he expected Bakugo again, but that wasn't the case. 

It was another one of his old classmates. Me- Mid- Midoriya? Yeah, that was it. The greenette waved as he walked in, and Kirishima did the same, but a little more hesitantly.

"Hi, Kirishima!" Midoriya greeted with a friendly smile. "Shoto couldn't come over, so it'll just be me."

The one with the red and white hair... he thinks.

"He said that he might visit later but-" Midoriya paused when he noticed the object in the redhead's hair. "You've got a camera?"

Kirishima didn't respond.

"Do you know how to use it?"

He shook his head.

"Here," Midoriya held out his hand. "I'll show you. B-But it's fine if you don't want me to."

At first, Kirishima held the camera close to his chest protectively. But after a few seconds,  he slowly placed the camera on the floor in front of him, before immediately getting back.

Midoriya smiled. "Thanks."

He picked up the camera and examined it for a few minutes, until he carefully went up to Kirishima and started showing him how to use it.

"You press this button here," Midoriya pointed and pressed. "Then you click this button. When this shows up,"

Midoriya held the camera up to his face, aiming directly at Kirishima. "You snap the photo." He pressed a top button, and a little noise beeped from the device, causing the redhead to jump.

"Ah!" Midoriya gasped. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! But here, look at this."

He showed the back of the camera to Kirishima. The redhead took the device, staring at the screen on it. It was him, sitting on his bed.

He blinked, staring into his own eyes.

"That's you," Midoriya said, stating the obvious. "You can take pictures of all sorts of things. You should take a picture of Hinansho!"

Kirishima thought about that, looked down at the rat, and then brought his camera up. He fiddled with the camera for a few seconds, trying to get the screen to where Midoriya showed him.

Before long, he squinted through the viewfinder aiming at Hinansho. The rat squeaked and looked up at the lens.

'Click!'

Kirishima jolted at the noise, dropping the camera that Midoriya miraculously saved. He stayed shivering for a few seconds before managing to recollect himself.

Midoriya mumbled something under his breath, doing something to the camera Kirishima couldn't see.

"It shouldn't make that beeping noise anymore," Midoriya said. "Sorry..."

Kirishima felt his nails digging into his hand as he shakily took the camera. But on the bright side, he got to see the photo he took.

It really was Hinansho on the screen. A smile quivered on his lips, and he brought the camera down so the rat could see itself in the photo.

"Hey, maybe the next time Kacchan visits you, you should take a picture!" Midoriya suggested.

Kirishima stared at him in confusion.

"Ah- I mean, Bakugo." Midoriya laughed nervously.

Kirishima instantly agreed after the greenette corrected himself, wanting to take a photo of the blond. The camera felt right in his hands at the thought.

Midoriya suddenly had a sad expression on his face. "He really missed you. I don't know if Kacchan ever really got better."

The unexpected change in topic caused Kirishima to look up.

"He's barely anything like what he used to be like. Everybody tried cheering him up, but his memories of you stopped that. Kirishima, do you remember Kac- Bakugo? Even just a little bit?"

Kirishima froze. The question caught him off guard, and he didn't know what to say. Little bits of memories floated around, but they were far away and vague.

He wanted to say yes, but he didn't want to lie. It hurt him knowing he couldn't remember anything about the blond.

But at the same time, he loved spending time with Bakugo. When there was always pain in his eyes, Kirishima felt comfortable.

He liked the Bakugo he knew.

He ended up shaking his head truthfully, and Midoriya's face fell. Though the greenette looked like he expected that answer anyway.

"O-Oh, I guess that makes the most sense," Midoriya said. He looked over at the table with magazines. "Kirishima, you were an amazing person who could always cheer everybody up, and was never afraid to approach anyone. Kacchan needed someone like that."

Kirishima bit his lip, not sure where the greenette was going with his words.

"You're not the same person, but I think you're still a nice person," he continued. "Can you help cheer up Kacchan again?"

Kirishima doesn't hesitate to nod. He doesn't know how, but he would. There's a lot he doesn't know about Bakugo, but he's willing to learn.

It's only a matter of what he can do. Kirishima was scared and fragile, paranoid, but Bakugo was one of the things he wasn't afraid to be next to.

He put his trust in him. That night at the store, he knew he'd done something wrong and Bakugo wasn't intentionally trying to hurt him or anything.

When he nodded, Midoriya seemed to brighten up. "Thank you, Kirishima! I know you can do it," All of a sudden, he gasped. "Oh! I have to go now. I'll see you again sometime. Preferably with Shoto."

Kirishima nodded, watching Midoriya walk up to the door of his hospital room. Before he went out, the greenette looked over at him.

"I don't know if your old self is subconsciously talking to you, but I know that either way, both your old self and your new self is somebody that's meant to be with Kacchan. Bye now, Kirishima."

With that, Midoriya left, leaving Kirishima once again in silence.

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1098 words