Before And After ||BNHA Kiribaku||

Chapter 22- Accolade

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Kirishima slipped past Tokoyami and Uraraka in the hallway, following Bakugo's lead. They were close. Almost all the bugs were planted in the building without getting caught.

Just two more to go, both inside his hand. Kirishima grinned. Despite Bakugo always itching for a fight, he managed to remain quiet for the stealth exercise, leading the two of them through the twists and turns.

Bakugo must've noticed him smiling like an idiot, because he let out a small scoff when they reached the door they were supposed to plant a bug in.

They were given a chain of lock-picking tools they were supposed to use if something was locked, but Kirishima still didn't know how to use them properly, even with the class they gave earlier.

But he tried anyway, inserting the metal into the keyhole. The sounds of the tools clicking seemed to annoy Bakugo, as he repeatedly told his boyfriend to hurry up, and Kirishima responded by saying he was doing his best.

"Agh, these things are so hard to use," Kirishima whispered. He took out one of the hooks. "Is it supposed to bend like that?"

"Hurry up!" Bakugo half-whispered haf-shouted. "Do you want us to lose?!"

"No!" Kirishima said. "But this thingie..." he shifted the tools, "Wait... I almost got it!"

There was a big click soon after, and Kirishima stood up triumphantly. "Hah! It's open!"

Just when he was about to open the door, there was a sudden blast and shout that instantly blew away his ears.  

"EIJI, GET OUTTA THE WAY!" Bakugo yelled, an explosion shaking the hallways. He shot toward Uraraka and Tokoyami, who were now in their view, fighting stance ready.

Kirishima whipped around. His brief moment of surprise was overshadowed by even more surprise. Did he just...

"Did you just call me Eiji?"

"HUH? I DIDN'T CALL YOU ANYTHING!" Bakugo shouted, over all the ruckus from fighting.

"I think he just called you Eiji!" Uraraka answered for him, giggling. She shot pieces of rubble towards them.

"He did." Tokoyami confirmed. Even Dark Shadow agreed.

"SHUT UP, YOU DAMN LOSERS! I DIDN'T CALL EIJI ANYTHING!"

It was about time Kirishima also joined in the fighting. "You did. You gave me a nickname!"

Uraraka's laughs and Tokoyami's light chuckles rang out in the hall, along with the incoherent screaming and explosions of Bakugo. 

It was the stupidest, funniest battle Kirishima ever had. 

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Kirishima woke up to the morning sun settling in between the window curtains, pulling him from his sleep. It was unusual to wake up peacefully from a dream containing violence, but maybe lightheartedness that made it so.

He yawned, pulling himself upright, still thinking about the dream he had. 'Eiji.' He'd been called that before, right? He knew Uraraka and Tokoyami as well... but they didn't visit that often.

In fact, every since Jirou and Yaoyorozu came, nobody else visited. Were they busy?

Kirishima eventually went off on a train of thought, speculating where everybody went, but was shortly interrupted by a knock on his door.

It opened, and peeking into the room was a nurse, who turned on the lights, and was holding a tray of food. She smiled warmly at him. "Hello, Kirishima. I've brought your breakfast."

Kirishima took the tray gratefully, after clearing the random items on his table to one side, and muttered a small, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," the nurse said. "Is there anything else you need?"

Kirishima held his head in thought. Was there? People asked that every day, and even though he almost always said 'no,' he usually put a lot of thought into it.

"No." he eventually said, like always.

"Okay," the nurse responded politely. "I'll leave you be then."

She left, leaving Kirishima alone. And just like that, the entire day passed. The only company he had gotten was Hinansho, who was running around in figure-eights, and the occasional nurse or doctor that came in to check on him.

It wasn't unusual. There would be days when nobody would come visit him, and he was okay with that. He could have talks with his therapist, and Hinansho was nice enough to do weird tricks and stuff to entertain him.

But soon the days flew by, and when an entire two weeks soon passed, that's when the loneliness started sinking in. Sure, therapy was nice. But he missed the outside company, where they could talk about the world outside his headspace.

Then Kirishima started to wonder where his parents were. They were just so... grief-ridden. Half the time it seemed like they were a second away from bursting into tears.

The hero friends that visited him were less like that. More positive, trying to get past the incident as best they could.

Kirishima thought about where they could be.

It wasn't until another sleepless night, Kirishima really started to feel sad. Maybe something happened? Or did they just not want to visit him anymore?

Kirishima walked up to his window, the only source of light entering the room. He brushed the curtains out of the way, peering down to the ground. He wanted some answers.

Quietly, Kirishima went down, doing his best not to disturb anyone. When he was finally on the ground, it dawned on him that he actually didn't know where he was going.

He didn't want to go back up either, though. He hadn't been outside in a while. There were short walks he would go on, but that was usually just around the hospital perimeter. Now he could go out into the city again.

But then Kirishima found himself frozen as he was about to take a step into the street.

The other time he went out flashed in his mind. He remember kicking, screaming, losing control of himself.

The cold air around himself suddenly turned hot. It got so hot, like fire burning at his skin and his neck and it was so painful and all he could see was himself struggling to get out of Bakugo's arms-

Kirishima felt himself lean against something, hidden from public view, wrapping his arms around himself as the mixing temperatures he felt caused a streaking headache.

He wanted someone to be there. Anyone. Even the people who were pulling up to the hospital at night, but no one looked at him. Everybody else had their own problems.

He never should have left. He stayed, huddled against the floor or wall or whatever he was on. Then there was a voice. Multiple, actually.

They were... calling out to him? He couldn't tell. 

The voices went far and near. Kirishima opened his eyes just a crack. Through the darkness, he could faintly make out shadows of people walking around.

He watched and watched until a worker finally took notice of him. Kirishima accepted the hand that was reached out to him. He dragged himself back to the hospital.

It was so, so tiring.

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1152 words