Time Without You // kiribaku

Without You Part 6

"For the love of-" Mina started, clearly annoyed. "Bakugou? We have all told you our names multiple times." She grumbled, rubbing her temples.

Her hair had grown out from her time at UA, with it flowing down to about her shoulders, but it was still just as messy and fluffy as it was back then. She sat across from Sero, who seemed just as annoyed as she was.

"Yeah, dude. It was kinda funny for a bit, but now it's just annoying." He mumbled, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair.

"Why did you call us here, anyways?" Denki asked, stirring the straw that was in his shake. He was seated across from Katsuki, examining the room. "I didn't really take you for a guy to ask us to hang out at a cute cafe-"

"Would you all shut up? This is important." Bakugou yelled, causing the others to grumble, but comply. "I'm sure you all know about what happened with Eijirou."

"How could we not be? We were some of the first people to hear about it." Sero muttered, his voice just softer than his usual tone. He picked up his cappuccino and took a small sip.

"Why are you asking?" Mina replied, resting her chin in her hand as she took a sip of her espresso. She avoided eye contact with all the other guys at the table, however.

"Well... You're all going to think I'm crazy." Katsuki muttered, looking down and fiddling with the handle on the cup to his tea. "But, I need help looking for him."

Sero choked on his drink. Mina stared back at him, bug-eyed. And Denki simply stared at him with a sad pout on his face.

The three exchanged glances at each other before Sero spoke up. "Dude... Are you- Do you...?" He stuttered, not sure how to approach the subject.

"I know. I know. I sound crazy. But, I swear. Eijirou is out there." Katsuki explained, looking back up at the group.

They were all huddled together, whispering about what to say next. Denki shook his head about something, and Sero seemed to shrug. Mina exasperatedly broke out of the huddle and looked back at Katsuki with a smile.

"I'll help, Bakugou."

Denki groaned and stood up from his seat, downing what was left of his shake. "Well, I won't."

There were some protests from the other two, but Katuski let him continue.

"I'm not going to help because you need to accept the fact that Eijirou isn't anywhere. And he isn't coming back." Denki glared down at the other blonde before he turned to start to walk towards the door to the cafe. "I'm sorry if that's insensitive. But it needed to be said." Denki muttered, throwing away his cup and walking out of the door.

The other two exchanged another look, then looked back to Katsuki.

"Sorry about him. He's dealt with a lot too." Sero offered, taking another gulp of his drink. "But, I can't say that I don't agree with him."

Mina sputtered something, but it wasn't intelligible. She was clearly angry, but all Katuski could pick out of her words was a small "But the plan, Hanta..."

The black-haired man waited for her to finish before he continued. "Now. I didn't know Kirishima as well as you two, or even as well as Denki did. But he was my friend. I do want to believe he's still out there, but it isn't likely."

Mina looked like she wanted to say something, but was quickly cut off by Katsuki. "You think I don't know that? Of course it isn't likely that he's out there!" He stood up in his seat and gave a pleading look over towards the other man. "But he is! I've seen him- hell, I fought him. So, there's more to the story than anyone else knows about. And I intend to figure it out, and get Eijirou back!" He took a deep breath. "So. Will you help, or not?" He asked, sounding more like a statement than anything else.

Sero gave him a pout and looked back towards the woman sitting across from him, trying to calm Katsuki down. "No. I won't help you look for him." Sero muttered, causing Katuki to sit back down.

"But, I will help you with anything else along the way." He offered, trying his best to give a small smile to the other two sitting at the table.

And that was all Katsuki could hope for. He was sure that they wouldn't even try to help him, so the fact that Mina even offered was a surprise. He expected them all to blow up in his face like Denki did, or even just start making fun of him. But the fact that his friends were there for him was enough to make him smile.

The group continued to talk about things. Some related back to Eijirou. Others were completely random. But they continued to hang out for almost the rest of the day.

______________________________________

Eijirou was angry. Angry at his own confusion. He didn't know what was happening in the world outside of the cold and barren walls of the secret hideout of the Riot Snatchers. And Tomo wasn't much help either. He wouldn't let Eijirou do just about anything without permission now. Eijirou didn't know why. And he definitely didn't know why Tomo said it was good that he didn't know something about Red Riot.

Red Riot.

Red Riot.

The name repeated over and over in his mind as he lay there on his bed, Tomo resting peacefully on his chest. He looked around the room, looking for something that he didn't know as he listened to the snoring of his boyfriend. His eyes landed on a small, old alarm clock on the bedside table next to his head.

5:26 a.m.

He tried his best not to groan. He hadn't been able to sleep all night. There was just something that felt off about everything here since he had gotten back from that night where he fought Bakugou Katsuki...

Wait.

That Bakugou guy had been acting weird when he saw Eijirou, too. He wasn't acting like his explosive usual self that Eijirou had learned about. What was up with that? And, wasn't he friends with Red Riot?

Eijirou continued to think through his own thoughts, waiting for something to click, only to be greeted with more questions than answers. And they all had to do with Red Riot.

He felt his face scowl with confusion as he looked toward the door to the room.

That's it. He was too confused about everything happening. He needed to get answers.

He gently lifted Tomo's head off of his chest, and rested it on the pillow that was under Eijirou's body, and stood up from the bed. He grabbed some of his boots and laced them up. He grabbed a heavy leather jacket and made his way out of the room. He passed some other guys, and gave them a quick nod before exiting the hideout.

He needed answers about everything. And he was going to get them.