Snowed In

Part 17

Kirishima watches.

He stands in the middle of his driveway, watching. He watches Bakugou pull away and watches his car grow smaller in the distance, disappearing down snow plowed and salted streets that he helped with. He carved the path allowing Bakugou to leave and so he must watch him go.

He stands there watching for a long while. Bakugou's car has been out of sight for minutes now. There's nothing else around, nothing to make a sound besides Riot crunching through the snow just a small distance off. The dog finishes his morning stroll and comes to stand beside his owner in time, sitting right beside him and looking up as if to wonder why Kirishima hasn't moved from his spot.

He appears frozen in the cold, mind distant as he simply states at the tree line and the small patch in between where he last saw Bakugou's car before it escaped his view.

Quiet, calm. The world around him with his cabin in the woods feels big and vast and empty. It feels so far away and distant from everything else. Sitting on the edge of the world where no one else can see or find him.

Riot whines. The sharp noise breaks Kirishima's spell as he looks down at his dog, his only companion, and smiles.

He can't dwell on it too much. Looking off where the sun is still rising won't bring Bakugou back and it certainly won't make him feel any better about it.

After all these years, he's gotten used to the empty aching that's made a home in his chest.

"Well, come on then," he sighs, giving Riot a pat on the head. "Let's get you some breakfast and head out, yeah?"

The dog barks in response, tail wagging slowly as he finally trots off when his owner moves and they head back inside for food.

He makes Riot his breakfast and doesn't think about coffee. He moves around in his world feeling like everything's been tilted slightly on its axis. Kirishima finds his usual routine  easy enough-- feed the dog, change clothes, put on shoes, warn Ashido and Sero that he was heading over-- one, two three, back and forth, the exact same thing he's done day in and day out even when Bakugou was still here, but now he does it...slower. It feels off.

He thinks he should maybe clean tonight, not that Bakugou was very dirty to begin with.

Looking around at his living room, keys in hand, scarf wrapped around his throat, he looks to see what can maybe be done when he comes back.

His bed is actually made, however. All the used towels hung up. He could change the sheets, put fresh linens out, but the idea of actually washing them leaves his stomach twisting.

All of the spare blankets have been picked up and folded, thrown over the arms of couches or nested into the little basket he keeps specifically for them. There are no dishes in the sink to clean. The guest bedroom has been picked up, bed made, no trace of Bakugou remains beyond the absence of the lamp at the bedside table.

The fireplace has even been cleaned. Old ash swept out, new logs in place. He wonders when that happened. He thinks of all the little things Bakugou had to touch along the way.

Kirishima sighs and pushes cleaning to the back of his mind. He loads Riot into his truck and drives away.

He thinks about taking a left for a second towards the highway. It's fleeting, but still there, a pull of want, but he pushes that down much like he's done everything else, and takes the right headed in towards downtown.

---

"You're up early," Kirishima grins as he passes by Kaminari who's slumped over on the counter top of the diner, steaming mug of coffee in hand still filled to the top. He looks half dead.